ADO.NET Provider for SAP SuccessFactors

Build 24.0.9060

Establishing a Connection

Connecting to SAPSuccessFactors

The CData ADO.NET Provider for SAP SuccessFactors communicates to SAP SuccessFactors over the OData API, which is enabled by default. If you need to provide additional permissions, see this SAP Support Site article.

You can authenticate to SAP SuccessFactors using Basic authentication, Azure AD authentication, or OAuth authentication (preferred).

Basic

To use Basic authentication, you must set a number of connection properties and you must grant access to the API.

Required Connection Properties

  • AuthScheme: BASIC.
  • URL: The URL of the server hosting Success Factors. Some of the servers are listed here.
  • User: The account username.
  • Password: The account password.
  • CompanyId: Your company's unique identifier.

Be aware that in Basic authentication, after your first request to connect, SAP SuccessFactors uses cookies to reuse the session. For all subsequent connection requests, authentication is accomplished using cookies returned from SAP SuccessFactors.

Granting Access to the API

Once OData is enabled, you must grant access to the API to activate Basic Auth for a given user.

For an RBP System:

  1. Navigate to Administrator Permissions > Manage Integration Tools.
  2. Assign Allow Admin to Access OData API through Basic Authentication to the user.

For a User-Based System:

  1. Navigate to Administrative Privileges > Integration Tools.
  2. Assign Allow Admin to Access OData API Through Basic Authentication to the user.
  3. Navigate to the Managing Administrative Privilege page.
  4. Assign Employee Export and Employee Import to the user.

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.

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 provider opens SAP SuccessFactors's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The provider completes the OAuth process, obtaining an access token from SAP SuccessFactors 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 provider refreshes it automatically.

Web Applications

To authenticate via Azure AD using a Web application, you must register a custom OAuth application with SAP SuccessFactors (see Creating an Azure AD Application). You can then use the provider to get and manage the OAuth token values.

Get an Azure AD OAuth Access Token

First, set these connection properties to obtain the OAuthAccessToken:

  • AuthScheme: AzureAD.
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

To complete the OAuth exchange:

  1. Return to the redirect URI you configured when you set up your custom OAuth application.
  2. Open the URL, log in, and authorize the application. You are redirected back to the callback URL.
  3. 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 callback URL. If necessary, set the Permissions parameter to request custom permissions.

Once you have obtained the access and refresh tokens, you can connect to data and refresh the Azure AD access token either automatically or manually.

Automatic Refresh of the Azure AD OAuth Access Token

To have the provider automatically refresh the Azure AD OAuth access token, set the following parameters the first time you connect to data:

  • AuthScheme: AzureAD.
  • 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.
  • OAuthRefreshToken: The refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: The location where the driver saves the OAuth token values, which persist across connections.

On subsequent data connections, the values for OAuthAccessToken and OAuthRefreshToken are taken from OAuthSettingsLocation, and do not need to be set on the connection.

Headless Machines

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

You can do this by installing the provider on another machine as described below. After you authenticate via the usual browser-based flow, transfer the OAuth authentication values.

Before you can connect via a headless machine, you must create and install a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described above, in Desktop Applications.

After you complete 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.

Once you have successfully tested the connection, copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

At the headless machine, set these properties:

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

OAuth

SAP SuccessFactors supports OAuth authentication with two grant types:

  • Client grant type for SAP SuccessFactors LMS instances
  • SAML-2 Bearer grant type
To enable OAuth authentication from all OAuth flows, you must create a custom OAuth application as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application, and you must set the appropriate properties.

Note: SAP SuccessFactors does not retrieve a refresh token as part of the API response, therefore it is not surfaced. Instead, the provider uses the expiration time of the access token to detect when to initiate the process of obtaining a new token.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to SAP SuccessFactors from three common authentication flows. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application. For a complete list of connection string properties available in SAP SuccessFactors, see Connection.

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

Set the following properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
  • CallbackURL: The redirect URI that was defined when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret that was assigned when you registered your application.
  • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

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

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

  1. The provider obtains an access token from SAP SuccessFactors 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.

Web Applications

Authenticating via the Web requires you to create and register a custom OAuth application with SAP SuccessFactors, 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, and how to have the driver refresh the OAuth access token automatically.

Get the OAuth Access Token

  1. To obtain the OAuthAccessToken, set these connection properties:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
    • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret in your custom OAuth application settings.
    • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

  2. Call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:
    • Navigate to the URL that you defined as the OAuth endpoint when you set up your custom OAuth application. (See Creating a Custom OAuth Application.)
    • 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 these connection parameters:
    • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth 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.
    • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret in your custom OAuth application settings.
    • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.
  2. On subsequent data connections, set:
    • InitiateOAuth
    • OAuthSettingsLocation

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 as follows:

  1. Authenticate from the machine with an internet browser, and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property. Set these properties:
    • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
    • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

  2. Get the CallbackURL you established when you registered the custom OAuth application. (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, 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 file.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
    • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings.
    • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

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

  6. You are ready to connect after you re-set these properties:

    • 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 custo OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret (Client grant type only): The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
    • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

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 these 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 (Client grant type only): The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • PrivateKey (SAML-2 Bearer grant type only): The path of the Private Key certificate you downloaded during the creation of your custom OAuth application OR the base64-encoded content of that certificate.

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Build 24.0.9060