Let's assume we are promoting an artifact (e.g., a semantic model) from the Dev environment to the Test environment using Deployment pipelines in PowerBI/Fabric.

1. 📦 Artifact Comparison vs Runtime Behavior

Pipelines compare model files (datasets/reports) — structure, not runtime behavior.
Connection settings at runtime (e.g., database server) are NOT part of artifact comparison.
"No difference" means file is same, not that connection string is right!

2. 🚀 Deployment Rules Behavior

Deployment rules are only applied during promotion.
Saving deployment rules does NOT change already deployed artifacts.
You must promote again after setting deployment rules to apply them!

3. ⚡ How Differences Appear

Action	Pipeline Comparison
Promote cleanly without manual changes	Same ✅
Manually change deployment rules after promote	Different ❗
Promote again with correct deployment rules	Same ✅

4. 🔥 Environment Drift Trap

If you manually change rules after promotion ➔ Environment drift detected ➔ Pipeline shows Different.
If rules applied during promotion ➔ No drift ➔ Pipeline shows Same.

5. 🎯 Key Behavior

Question	Answer
Does saving deployment rule immediately update model?	❌ No
Does promoting apply deployment rules?	✅ Yes
Does "no difference" guarantee connection strings are correct?	❌ No
How to really guarantee correct server?	✅ Check parameters manually in Service + use proper deployment rules

🧠 Quick Pitfalls to Remember

Pitfall	How to Avoid
Thinking "no difference" = correct server connection	Always manually check connection
Saving deployment rules but forgetting to promote again	After saving rules, always promote once more
Manually changing test/prod environment without re-promoting	Prefer controlled promotions with automatic rule apply

Steps

pgsqlCopyEdit[ Dev Model ]
     |
     | (Promote)
     ↓
[ Test Model (initially same as Dev) ]
     |
     | (Edit Deployment Rules? Save? Must Promote Again!)
     ↓
[ Test Model (now runtime behavior changed to Test server) ]

✅ Artifact stays same inside.
✅ Runtime settings change when promoting with deployment rules.

✅ Super Important :

Promotion applies rules. Saving rules alone does nothing. "No difference" checks files, not servers. Manual changes cause drift. Always check connections!

Thanks for Reading ..

Power BI Deployment Pipelines Pitfalls / Lessons Learnt

Table of contents