PL-300 Practice Test 2 — 10 Questions

Question 1

You manage a Power BI workspace that contains a dataset refreshed daily from an on-premises SQL Server. Users report that the report shows data from two days ago. You verify that the scheduled refresh ran successfully this morning. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The gateway is using a cached version of the data due to a misconfigured data source.. Option A is correct because the most likely cause is that the on-premises data gateway is using a cached version of the data due to a misconfigured data source. When the data source is misconfigured (e.g., incorrect credentials or connection string), the gateway may fall back to a previously cached dataset, causing the report to show stale data even though the scheduled refresh appears to have run successfully. This explains why users see data from two days ago despite a successful refresh this morning.

Answer

The refresh took longer than expected and timed out.

Answer

The scheduled refresh is not set to refresh the dataset.

Answer

The on-premises data gateway is offline.

Question 2

Which TWO actions should you take to ensure that a Power BI report deployed to production is available to users even if the gateway is offline for maintenance?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate dataset in the cloud that caches the data.. Option D is correct because creating a separate dataset in the cloud that caches the data (e.g., using a scheduled dataflow or a cloud-based dataset with Import mode) ensures that the report can still serve cached data from the Power BI service even when the on-premises gateway is offline for maintenance. This decouples report availability from gateway connectivity, as long as the cached data is refreshed before the maintenance window.

Answer

Create a Power BI Premium capacity to ensure high availability.

Answer

Schedule the dataset refresh to run during the maintenance window.

Answer

Use DirectQuery instead of Import mode to avoid gateway dependency.

Question 3

Which THREE steps should you perform to deploy a Power BI solution from development to production using deployment pipelines?

Accepted Answer

Set up deployment pipeline rules to modify parameters (e.g., database name).. Option B is correct because deployment pipeline rules allow you to modify dataset parameters (e.g., database server or database name) when content moves between pipeline stages, ensuring each stage connects to the appropriate data source without manual reconfiguration. This is a core feature of Power BI deployment pipelines to maintain environment-specific settings.

Answer

Create a new workspace manually in production.

Answer

Assign Power BI Pro licenses to all developers.

Question 4

Your Power BI dataset uses DirectQuery to an Azure SQL Database. Users complain that the report is slow. You need to improve query performance without changing the data source. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Reduce the number of columns and rows retrieved by the report visuals.. Option A is correct because reducing the number of columns and rows retrieved by report visuals directly minimizes the amount of data sent from Azure SQL Database to Power BI via DirectQuery. Since DirectQuery sends native queries to the source for each visual interaction, fewer columns and rows mean smaller, faster queries, which reduces overall latency without altering the underlying data source.

Answer

Add more visuals to the report to distribute the load.

Answer

Switch the dataset to Import mode.

Answer

Increase the scheduled refresh frequency.

Question 5

You deploy a Power BI app to a workspace with an app-only license (Premium Per User). Users report that they can access the app but cannot see any visuals in the reports. The dataset uses Import mode. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The users do not have a Premium Per User license assigned.. The workspace uses a Premium Per User (PPU) license, which requires each user accessing content in that workspace to have a PPU license assigned. Without it, users can see the app in the list but cannot render visuals because the dataset (Import mode) is processed on PPU-capacity nodes that enforce license checks. This is the most likely cause given the symptom of empty visuals.

Answer

The report uses DirectQuery and the data source is offline.

Answer

The report is published to a shared dataset that has been deleted.

Answer

The dataset has row-level security (RLS) that filters all rows for these users.

Question 6

Which THREE factors should you consider when planning the deployment of Power BI content to a large enterprise with multiple regions?

Accepted Answer

Data residency requirements for each region.. Data residency requirements are critical because Power BI stores data in specific Azure regions. For a multi-region enterprise, you must ensure that data does not leave the required geographic boundary due to compliance or legal mandates. This affects where you provision Power BI tenants, capacity, and data sources.

Answer

The number of visuals per report page.

Answer

The currency format used in reports for each region.

Question 7

You review the dataset refresh history. The second refresh took 30 minutes and failed. What is the most likely reason for the failure?

Accepted Answer

The refresh exceeded the timeout limit set in the gateway.. The second refresh took 30 minutes and failed, which strongly indicates the refresh exceeded the default 30-minute timeout limit configured in the on-premises data gateway. When a dataset refresh operation in Power BI runs longer than the gateway's timeout setting, the gateway terminates the connection, causing the refresh to fail. This is a common issue when refreshing large datasets or complex queries through a gateway.

Answer

The refresh schedule conflicted with another refresh.

Answer

The on-premises data gateway was offline.

Answer

The data source was unavailable.

Question 8

You need to ensure that a Power BI report uses the latest data from a cloud-based Azure SQL Database. The report is configured with scheduled refresh. What is the minimum required license for the dataset owner to configure a scheduled refresh?

Accepted Answer

Power BI Pro. Option D is correct because Power BI Pro is the minimum license required for a dataset owner to configure a scheduled refresh against a cloud-based Azure SQL Database. Scheduled refresh is a premium feature that is not available with a Power BI Free license, and while Power BI Premium capacity or Premium Per User can also support scheduled refresh, they are not the minimum requirement. The dataset owner must have a Pro license to schedule refreshes for datasets hosted in shared capacity.

Answer

Power BI Premium capacity

Answer

Power BI Premium Per User

Answer

Power BI Free

Question 9

You manage a Power BI workspace used by the sales team. After updating a dataset with new columns, some users report that their reports show old data. You verify that the scheduled refresh completed successfully. What should you do first?

Accepted Answer

Open the report in Power BI Desktop, refresh the dataset, and republish.. Option A is correct because when a dataset is updated with new columns in Power BI Desktop, the report's underlying data model must be refreshed and republished to the Power BI service. Even if the scheduled refresh completes successfully, it only refreshes the existing data structure; it does not automatically incorporate schema changes like new columns. Republishing the .pbix file ensures the service has the updated metadata and data.

Answer

Clear the users' browser cache.

Answer

Reconfigure the scheduled refresh to run more frequently.

Answer

Reset the on-premises data gateway.

Question 10

You are troubleshooting connectivity to a Power BI Premium dataset via the XMLA endpoint. A user reports that they cannot connect using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) but can view reports in the Power BI service. The user's email is user3@contoso.com. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The user is not in the allowedUsers list for the XMLA endpoint.. Option C is correct because the XMLA endpoint for Power BI Premium datasets requires explicit user membership in the allowedUsers list (or allowedGroups) to enable client tools like SSMS to connect. The user can view reports in the Power BI service, which uses a different permission model (workspace roles), but SSMS connectivity via XMLA is gated by this separate list. Since the user is not in the allowedUsers list, the connection fails even though they have report viewing access.

Answer

External connections are blocked by the configuration.

Answer

The user does not have permission to view reports.

Answer

The XMLA endpoint is disabled.