ODBC Driver for Box

Build 24.0.9060

Linux DSN Configuration

This section describes how to set up ODBC connectivity and configure DSNs on several Linux distributions: Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu, and Red Hat Linux platforms, like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Fedora.

Minimum Linux Versions

Here are the minimum supported versions for Red Hat-based and Debian-based systems:

OSMin. Version
Ubuntu18.04
Debian10
RHEL8
Fedora28
SUSE15

Installing the Driver Dependencies

Run the following commands as root or with sudo to install the necessary dependencies:

  • Debian/Ubuntu: 
    apt-get install libc6 libstdc++6 zlib1g libgcc1
  • RHEL/Fedora: 
    yum install glibc libstdc++ zlib libgcc

Installing the Driver

You can use standard package management systems to install the driver.

On Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu, run the following command with root or sudo: 

dpkg -i /path/to/driver/setup/BoxODBCDriverforUnix.deb

On systems that support the RPM package format, run the following command with root or sudo: 

rpm -ivh /path/to/driver/BoxODBCDriverforUnix.rpm

Licensing the Driver

Run the following commands to license the driver. To activate a trial, omit the <key> input. 

cd /opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-box/bin/
sudo ./install-license.sh <key>

Connecting through the Driver Manager

The driver manager loads the driver and passes function calls from the application to the driver. You need to register the driver with the driver manager and you define DSNs in the driver manager's configuration files.

The driver installation registers the driver with the unixODBC driver manager and creates a system DSN. The unixODBC driver manager can be used from Python and from many other applications. Your application may embed another driver manager.

Creating the DSN

See Using unixODBC to install unixODBC and configure DSNs. See Using the DataDirect Driver Manager to create a DSN to connect to OBIEE, Informatica, and SAS.

Connecting to Box

The driver enables access to metadata for Box tables and folders. Note that the driver cannot update the contents of files stored on Box or model file content as tables and columns.

Authenticating to Box

The driver uses the OAuth authentication standard to connect to Box from either a User account or a Service account.

Box provides embedded OAuth credentials that simplify connection from a Desktop application or a Headless machine. To connect from a Web application, you must create a custom OAuth application, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to Box from the available OAuth flows. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, and why you might want to create one even for auth flows that already have embedded OAuth credentials, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

For a complete list of connection string properties available in Box, see Connection.

User Accounts (OAuth)

AuthScheme must be set to OAuth in all user account flows.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop authentication. You can also create and connect through a custom OAuth application. For further information about custom OAuth applications, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

  • Custom applications only:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your app.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your app.
    • CallbackURL: The redirect URI defined when you registered your app. For example: https://localhost:3333
When you connect, the driver opens Box's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The driver refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Headless Machines

To configure the driver to use OAuth with a user account on a headless machine, you must authenticate on another device that has an internet browser.

  1. Choose one of two options:
    • Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier value, as described in "Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code" below.
    • Option 2: Install the driver on a machine with an internet browser and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow, as described in "Transfer OAuth Settings" below.
  2. Then configure the driver to automatically refresh the access token on the headless machine.

Option 1: Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code

To obtain a verifier code, you must authenticate at the OAuth authorization URL.

Follow the steps below to authenticate from the machine with an internet browser and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.

  1. Choose one of these options:
    • If you are using the Embedded OAuth Application, call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.
    • If you are using a custom OAuth application, set the following properties:
      • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
      • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
      • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
      Then call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure with the appropriate CallbackURL. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.
  2. Log in and grant permissions to the driver. You are redirected to the redirect URI. Notice that a parameter called code is appended to the redirect URI. Note the value of this parameter; it is used to set the OAuthVerifier connection property.

Next, you must exchange the OAuth verifier code for OAuth refresh and access tokens.

At the headless machine, to obtain the OAuth authentication values, set these properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthVerifier: The noted verifier code (the value of the code parameter in the redirect URI).
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified location.
  • Custom applications only:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your custom OAuth application settings.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then re-set the following properties to connect:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the driver to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
  • Custom applications only:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings

Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you must install and create a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described in "Desktop Applications" above.

After completing the instructions in "Desktop Applications", the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the location specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. The default filename is OAuthSettings.txt.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to connect to data:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location of the OAuth settings file you copied from the machine with the browser. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the driver to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
  • Custom applications only:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Service Account (OAuthJWT)

Service accounts have silent authentication, which does not require user authentication in the browser. You can also use a service account to delegate enterprise-wide access scopes to the driver.

To use a service account, you must create and authorize a custom OAuth application, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application. You can then connect to whatever Box data the service account is permitted to access.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  • AuthScheme: OAuthJWT.
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id noted in your custom OAuth application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret noted in your custom OAuth application settings.
  • OAuthJWTCertType: PEMKEY_FILE.
  • OAuthJWTCert: The path to the .pem file you generated.
  • OAuthJWTCertPassword: The password of the .pem file.
  • OAuthJWTCertSubject: The subject of the certificate. If you want to select the first certificate in the Certificate Store, set an * (asterisk).
  • OAuthJWTSubjectType: The same as what you specified in your Application Access Values; either "enterprise" or "user". The default value of this connection property is "enterprise".
  • OAuthJWTSubject: If your subject type is set to enterprise, this should be your enterprise Id. If your subject type is set to user, this should be your application user Id.
  • OAuthJWTPublicKeyId: The Id of your public key in your application settings.

When you connect the driver completes the OAuth flow for a service account.

BOXJSON OAuthJWTCertType

To authenticate using a service account and the BOXJSON OauthJWTCertType, set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: OAuthJWT.
  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH.
  • OAuthJWTCertType BOXJSON. OAuthJWTCert: The path to the Box-provided JSON file.

In cases where it may not be feasible to use a file in your system. you can copy the contents of the JSON file directly into the connection string. Set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: OAuthJWT.
  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH.
  • OAuthJWTCertType: BOXJSONBLOB.
  • OAuthJWTCert: The contents of the Box-provided JSON file.

Refreshing OAuth Values

The driver can refresh the temporary OAuth access tokens obtained during the browser-based OAuth authentication exchange. By default, the driver saves the encrypted tokens in the odbc.ini file corresponding to the DSN. Access to this odbc.ini file can be restricted in the case of System DSNs.

To enable the automatic token exchange, you can give the driver write access to the system odbc.ini. Or, you can set the OAuthSettingsLocation connection property to an alternate file path, to which the driver would have read and write access. 

    OAuthSettingsLocation=/tmp/oauthsettings.txt

Installing Dependencies for OAuth Authentication

The OAuth authentication standard requires the authenticating user to interact with Box, using a web-browser. If the first OAuth interaction is to be done on the same machine the driver is installed on, for example, a desktop application, the driver needs access to the xdg-open program, which opens the default browser.

To satisfy this dependency, install the corresponding package with your package manager:

Debian/Ubuntu PackageRHEL/Fedora PackageFile
xdg-utilsxdg-utilsxdg-open

Set the Driver Encoding

The ODBC drivers need to specify which encoding to use with the ODBC Driver Manager. By default, the CData ODBC Drivers for Unix are configured to use UTF-16 which is compatible with unixODBC, but other Driver Managers may require alternative encoding.

Alternatively, if you are using the ODBC driver from an application that uses the ANSI ODBC API it may be necessary to set the ANSI code page. For example, to import Japanese characters in an ANSI application, you can specify the code page in the config file '/opt/cdata/cdata-odbc-driver-for-box/lib/cdata.odbc.box.ini': 

[Driver]
AnsiCodePage = 932

Copyright (c) 2024 CData Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Build 24.0.9060