Configure a Connection Profile

From the CData ribbon, click Get Data and select From Microsoft Active Directory connection/s to launch the CData Query window. To setup a new connection, you will have to click the New Microsoft Active Directory Connection button. Here you can set the connection settings, test the connection, and save the connection profile.

Connecting to Microsoft Active Directory

Set Server and Port for basic connectivity. Additionally, you can fine-tune the connection with the following:

• FollowReferrals: When set, the add-in surfaces data as views from only referral servers. To modify data on a referral server, you must specify this server with Server and Port.
• LDAPVersion: Set this to the version of the protocol your server implements; by default, the add-in uses version 2.
• UseDefaultDC: Set this to connect to the default Domain Controller and authenticate using the current user credentials.

Authenticating to Microsoft Active Directory

To authenticate requests, set the User and Password properties to valid Microsoft Active Directory credentials (e.g., set User to Domain\\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).

The add-in uses plaintext authentication by default, since the add-in attempts to negotiate TLS/SSL with the server. You can specify another authentication method with AuthMechanism.

See SSL Configuration for more information on TLS/SSL configuration.

Fine Tuning Data Access

The following properties control the scope of data returned:

• BaseDN will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided. Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, a value of cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.
• Scope: This property enables more granular control over the data to return from a subtree.

Customizing Tables

The add-in surfaces the columns most often needed from Microsoft Active Directory entities. However, if you need to work with other data, the tables are easy to modify. Tables are defined in schema files, which have a simple format.

See Working with Active Directory Tables for a guide to extending the default schemas or writing your own. To use custom schemas, set the Location property to the folder containing the schema files.

Connection Properties

The Connection properties describe the various options that can be used to establish a connection.

Managing Connections

After successfully authenticating to Microsoft Active Directory you will be able to customize the data you are importing. To learn more about this, see Managing Connections.

See Also

• Querying Data: Use the data selection wizard to pull data into a spreadsheet. You can also configure scheduled data refresh here.
• Using the Excel Add-In: Find other ways to interact with Microsoft Active Directory data, such as using the available CData Excel Functions.