Using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator

You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to edit the DSN configuration. Note that the DSN is created during the installation process.

Complete the following steps to edit the DSN configuration:

1. Select Start > Search, and enter ODBC Data Sources in the Search box.
2. Choose the version of the ODBC Administrator that corresponds to the bitness of your application (32-bit or 64-bit).
3. Click the System DSN tab.
4. Select the system data source and click Configure.
5. Edit the information on the Connection tab and click OK.

Note: For .NET Framework 4.0, the driver distributes Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable. For .NET Framework 3.5, the driver distributes Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable.

Ensuring Registry Access

The driver stores connection information in the Windows registry. To ensure that the driver can write to the registry, perform either of the following actions:

1. Run the calling application as an administrator.
2. Connect via a User DSN instead of a System DSN.

Connecting to GitHub

To authenticate to GitHub you must connect using a Personal Access Token or OAuth authentication.

Personal Access Tokens

To connect using a Personal Access Token, set the following:

• AuthScheme: PersonalAccessToken.
• Token: The personal access token generated from the user interface.
• OwnerLogin (optional): The name of the user or organization whose repository and projects you plan to query. If you do not explicitly specify an OwnerLogin, the driver uses the currently authenticated user.

Personal access tokens are intended to access resources on behalf of yourself. To access resources on behalf of an organization, or for long-lived integrations, you should use apps instead.

To ensure full driver functionality with either a user or organization account, you must generate a classic Personal Access Token.

1. Navigate to Personal access tokens (classic).
2. Select Generate new token (classic).
3. Enter a description in the Note field to identify the token's purpose.
4. Define an expiration date or set it to No expiration (GitHub strongly recommends setting an expiration date to keep your information secure).
5. Select the following scopes: gist, repo, delete_repo, read:repo_hook, project, admin:org, admin:enterprise, user, read:public_key, read:gpg_key.
6. Select Generate token.

Alternatively, you can generate a fine-grained Personal Access Token from Fine-grained personal access tokens. Because these tokens are highly specific, you must explicitly configure the target resource owner, the expiration date, the level of repository access (such as public repositories only, selected repositories, or all repositories), and the required permissions across Repository, Organization, and Account settings according to your needs and principle of least privilege. Note that fine-grained tokens have limitations. Most notably, they cannot access projects owned by a user account, which prevents making use of full driver functionality. For more details, see Fine-grained personal access tokens limitations.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop Authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom OAuth application. See Creating a Custom OAuth App for information about creating custom applications and reasons for doing so.

Get and Refresh the OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

• OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The client secret assigned when you registered your application.
• CallbackURL (custom application only): The redirect URI defined when you registered your application.
• OwnerLogin (optional): The name of the user or organization whose repository and projects you plan to query. If you do not explicitly specify an OwnerLogin, the driver uses the currently authenticated user.

When you connect, the driver opens GitHub'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 need to 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: Set to OFF.
     • OAuthClientId: Set to the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
     • OAuthClientSecret: Set to the client secret assigned when you registered your 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 then redirected to the redirect URI. There will be a parameter called code appended to the redirect URI. Note the value of this parameter. Later you will set this in the OAuthVerifier connection property.

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

On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values:

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

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

• InitiateOAuth: REFRESH
• OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) The client secret assigned when you registered your application.
• 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.

Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings

Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you need to 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
• OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) The client secret assigned when you registered your application.
• 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.