Authenticating to SAP Concur

SAP Concur supports OAuth authentication only. To enable this authentication from all OAuth flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth, and you must create a custom OAuth application.

Desktop Applications

To authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth application, you must get and refresh the OAuth access token. After you do that, you are ready to connect.

Get and refresh the OAuth access token:

• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
• CallbackURL: The redirect URI that was defined when you registered your application.

When you connect, the provider opens SAP Concur's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

After you grant permissions to the application, the provider then completes the OAuth process:

1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP Concur and uses it to request data.
2. The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the provider refreshes it automatically.

Note: For information about OAuth grant types, and how Desktop client applications call the OAuth2 endpoint to obtain a token, see "Desktop Authentication Grant Types", later in this chapter.

Web Applications

Authenticating via the Web requires you to create and register a custom OAuth application with SAP Concur, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application. You can then use the provider to get and manage the OAuth token values.

This section describes how to get the OAuth access token, how to have the driver refresh the OAuth access token automatically, and how to refresh the OAuth access token manually.

Get the OAuth access token:

1. Set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuthAccessToken:
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

2. Call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:
   • Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB and the CallbackURL to the Redirect URI you specified in your application settings. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint.
   • Navigate to the URL that the stored procedure returned in Step 1. Log in and authorize the web application. You are redirected back to the callback URL.
   • Call the GetOAuthAccessToken stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB. Set the Verifier input to the code parameter in the query string of the redirect URI.

After you obtain the access and refresh tokens, you can connect to data and refresh the OAuth access token automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the provider automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:

1. Before connecting to data for the first time, set the following connection parameters:
   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.
   • OAuthAccessToken: The access token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The path where you want the provider to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
2. On subsequent data connections, set the following:
   • InitiateOAuth
   • OAuthSettingsLocation

Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token is the OAuth refresh token.

1. To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
2. Set the following connection properties:
   • OAuthClientId: The Client Id in your application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret in your application settings.

3. Call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
4. After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.

Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

Headless Machines

If you need to log in to a resource that resides on a headless machine, you must authenticate on another device that has an internet browser. You can do this in either of the following ways:

• Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier value.
• Option 2: Install the provider on a machine with an internet browser and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow.

After you execute either Option 1 or Option 2, configure the driver to automatically refresh the access token on the headless machine.

Option 1: Obtaining and Exchanging a Verifier Code

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

1. Authenticate from the machine with an internet browser, and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.

   Set the following properties:

   • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

2. Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. The stored procedure returns the CallbackURL established when the custom OAuth application was registered. (See Creating a Custom OAuth Application.)

   Copy this URL and paste it into a new browser tab.

3. Log in and grant permissions to the provider. The OAuth application redirects you the redirect URI, with a parameter called code appended. Note the value of this parameter; you will need it later, to configure the OAuthVerifier connection property.

4. 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).
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: Persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified file.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings.

5. Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file.

6. After you re-set the following properties, you are ready to connect:

   • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
   • OAuthSettingsLocation: The file containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. To enable the automatic refreshing of the access token, be sure that this file gives read and write permissions to the provider.
   • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
   • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

Option 2: Transferring 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 above in "Desktop Applications".

After completing the instructions in "Desktop Applications", the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the path 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.

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

• InitiateOAuth: REFRESH
• OAuthSettingsLocation: The path to the OAuth settings file you copied from the machine with the browser. To enable automatic refreshing of the access token, ensure that this file gives read and write permissions to the provider.
• OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
• OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

Desktop Authentication Grant Types

In order to obtain a token, the client application needs to call the Oauth2 endpoint using various grants, depending on the authentication scenarios required. The supported scenarios from our driver are CODE and PASSWORD grant type.

CODE

CODE is the default OAuthGrantType. In addition to the variables already described above, using the CODE grant type requires you to set the following additional variables:

• UseSandbox: If you are authenticating via an implementation server, set this to True.
• Region: The region of geolocation, received along with the other credentials. Possible values are EU for Europe, CN for China and US (default).

PASSWORD

The PASSWORD grant can be used with a Desktop application, when there is a trust relationship between the user and the application.

In addition to the variables already described above, using the PASSWORD grant type requires you to set the following additional variables:

• AuthScheme: OAuthPassword.
• Username: The username or userId.
• Password: The user's password.
• UseSandbox: If you are authenticating using an implementation server, set this to True.

Company-Level Authentication

Company is a top-level principal within the SAP Concur platform. You can obtain an access token and a refresh token on a Company's behalf the same way you can do it for a User.

After creating an custom OAuth application as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application, you must generate a Company Request Token. If the Company Request Token Tool is available, you can use that. Otherwise, you must contact the SAP Concur support team for generating the Company Request Token.

After the Company Request Token is generated successfully, the request token tool displays the Company UUID and the Company Request Token. Save these values for later use.

In addition to the variables already described above, using company-level authentication, using the CODE grant type requires you to set the following additional variables:

• AuthScheme: CompanyLevelAuth.
• CompanyId: The Company's unique identifier.
• CompanyRequestToken: The generated Company Request Token.
• UseSandbox: If you are authenticating using an implementation server, set this to True.

Using the SAP Concur Login ID Variable

Login ID (the user's login ID) can be used if the user account associated with the OAuth 2.0 access token has a Concur account with one of the following roles:

• Web Services Administrator for Professional
• Can Administer for Standard

Setting Login ID to ALL retrieves information for all accounts that support the Login ID argument.