Configure a Connection Profile

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

Connecting to Microsoft Exchange

There are two schemas available for connecting to Exchange:

• Exchange Web Services (EWS), which is no longer being updated but is still available for both Exchange OnPremise and Exchange Online.
  Note: Microsoft recommends that Exchange Online users switch to Microsoft Graph.
• Microsoft Graph

For a look at the data model for each of these schemas, see "Data Model".

To switch between EWS and Microsoft Graph, set Schema to either EWS or MSGraph.

Exchange Online users who still want to use EWS should set Schema to EWS and the Platform to Exchange_Online.

Authenticating to Microsoft Exchange OnPremises

Microsoft Exchange OnPremises supports Basic (default), Digest, Negotiate, or NTLM authentication.

Basic (default)

Microsoft Exchange OnPremises defaults sets Basic as the default authentication. To support Basic authentication, set these properties:

• AuthScheme: Basic.
• User: The user's login ID.
• Password: The user's login password.

Digest

To support HTTP Digest authentication in an On-Premises deployment, set these properties:

• AuthScheme: Digest.
• User: The user's login ID.
• Password: The user's login password.

Negotiate

Negotiate is used to direct the driver to negotiate an authentication mechanism with the server. The purpose of this authscheme is to facilitate Kerberos authentication in an On-Premises deployment. To support Kerberos authentication in an On-Premises deployment, set these properties:

• AuthScheme: Negotiate.
• User: The user's login ID.
• Password: The user's login password.

NTLM

To use Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication in an On-Premises deployment, set these parameters:

• AuthScheme: NTLM.
• User: The user's login Id.
• Password: The user's login password.

Authenticating to Microsoft Exchange Online

Microsoft Exchange Online supports several types of OAuth-based authentication.

If you are connecting to Exchange Online platform through EWS, set AuthScheme to AzureAD, AzureServicePrincipal, or AzureMSI.

If you connect to Exchange Online through Microsoft Graph, set Schema to MSGraph. When Schema is set to MSGraph, the Platform is ignored.

Azure AD

Azure AD is Microsoft’s multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service. It is user-based authentication that requires that you set AuthScheme to AzureAD.

Authentication to Azure AD over a Web application always requires the creation of a custom OAuth application. For details, see Creating an Azure AD Application.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies connection to Azure AD from a Desktop application.

You can also authenticate from a desktop application using a custom OAuth application. (For further information, see Creating an Azure AD Application.) To authenticate via Azure AD, set these parameters:

• AuthScheme: AzureAD.

• 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.
  • CallbackURL: The redirect URI you defined when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the add-in opens Microsoft Exchange's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The add-in completes the OAuth process, obtaining an access token from Microsoft Exchange and using it to request data. The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the add-in refreshes it automatically.

Azure Service Principal

Azure Service Principal is role-based application-based authentication. This means that authentication is done per application, rather than per user. All tasks taken on by the application are executed without a default user context, but based on the assigned roles. The application access to the resources is controlled through the assigned roles' permissions.

For information about how to set up Azure Service Principal authentication, see Creating an Azure AD Application with Service Principal.

Managed Service Identity (MSI)

If you are running Microsoft Exchange on an Azure VM and want to leverage MSI to connect, set AuthScheme to AzureMSI.

User-Managed Identities

To obtain a token for a managed identity, use the OAuthClientId property to specify the managed identity's "client_id".

When your VM has multiple user-assigned managed identities, you must also specify OAuthClientId.

Connection Properties

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

Managing Connections

After successfully authenticating to Microsoft Exchange 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 Exchange data, such as using the available CData Excel Functions.