Note:
To add a custom reference layer to ArcGIS, you must sign in to an ArcGIS organizational account that has been configured with the appropriate user type and role privileges to create content and publish hosted web layers. Additionally, you must have an ArcGIS client that can publish hosted feature layers from ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Pro. For more information about user types, roles, and privileges, see the Accounts topic.
You can publish a hosted feature layer to ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise and add it as a layer to an ArcGIS for Power BI map visualization. See Reference layers to learn about adding layers from ArcGIS to a map.
If your organization has a file that defines custom boundaries (water districts, sales districts, or zoning boundaries, for example), you can publish the file as a hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise and add it as a reference layer to an ArcGIS for Power BI visualization. To use custom reference layers, they must be publicly shared, hosted polygon feature layers in ArcGIS.
Publish a hosted feature layer
To make custom boundaries available as reference layers in ArcGIS for Power BI, upload the shapefiles (packaged in a .zip file) or GeoJSON files (.geojson or .json) to ArcGIS and publish them as hosted feature layers. Then share the layers.
To learn how to publish hosted feature layers in ArcGIS, see Publish a shapefile and Publish a GeoJSON file in the ArcGIS Online help.
Share a hosted feature layer
By default, the new hosted feature layer can only be accessed by you as the publisher or an administrator. To make the layer available to other ArcGIS for Power BI users, you must share the file with the public. To learn how to share items with the public, see Share items in the ArcGIS Online help .