Authenticating to Google Drive

The add-in supports using user accounts, service accounts and GCP instance accounts for authentication.

The following sections discuss the available authentication schemes for Google Drive:

• User Accounts (OAuth)
• Service Account (OAuthJWT)
• GCP Instance Account

User Accounts (OAuth)

AuthScheme must be set to OAuth in all user account flows.

Desktop Applications

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

For authentication, the only difference between the two methods is that you must set two additional connection properties when using custom OAuth applications.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) Set this to the Client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) Set this to the Client Secret in the custom OAuth application settings.

When you connect the add-in opens the OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The add-in then completes the OAuth process as follows:

• Extracts the access token from the callback URL.
• Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
• Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation that persist across connections.

Service Accounts (OAuthJWT)

To authenticate using a service account, you must create a new service account and have a copy of the accounts certificate. If you do not already have a service account, you can create one by following the procedure in Create a Custom OAuth App.

For a JSON file, set these properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuthJWT.
• OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to GOOGLEJSON.
• OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .json file provided by Google.
• OAuthJWTSubject: (optional) Only set this value if the service account is part of a GSuite domain and you want to enable delegation. The value of this property should be the email address of the user whose data you want to access.

For a PFX file, set these properties instead:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuthJWT.
• OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to PFXFILE.
• OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the path to the .pfx file provided by Google.
• OAuthJWTCertPassword: (optional) Set this to the .pfx file password. In most cases you must provide this since Google encrypts PFX certificates.
• OAuthJWTCertSubject: (optional) Set this only if you are using a OAuthJWTCertType which stores multiple certificates. Should not be set for PFX certificates generated by Google.
• OAuthJWTIssuer: Set this to the email address of the service account. This address will usually include the domain iam.gserviceaccount.com.
• OAuthJWTSubject: (optional) Only set this value if the service account is part of a GSuite domain and you want to enable delegation. The value of this property should be the email address of the user whose data you want to access.

GCP Instance Accounts

When running on a GCP virtual machine, the add-in can authenticate using a service account tied to the virtual machine. To use this mode, set AuthScheme to GCPInstanceAccount.