Configure a Connection Profile

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

Connecting to Microsoft SharePoint

Regardless of whether you will connect online or on-premesis, what architecture will be used, and which Lists and Documents will be accessed, connecting to Microsoft SharePoint requires exactly two things:

• Set the URL connection property.
• Set the appropriate authentication properties for your working environment.

Setting URL:

Microsoft SharePoint works with all Lists and Documents in the global Microsoft Sharepoint site, or all Lists and Documents at individual sites.

To work with all Lists and Documents in the global Microsoft Sharepoint site, set the URL connection property to your Site Collection URL. For example:

https://teams.contoso.com

To work with all Lists and Documents at an individual site, set the URL connection property to your individual site URL. For example:

 https://teams.contoso.com/TeamA

The following sections describe how to set the appropriate authentication properties for your working environment. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application (required for use with AzureAD in a Web application; optional for AzureAD access via a Desktop application or a Headless Server), see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Microsoft SharePoint Online

Set SharePointEdition to "SharePoint Online" and set the User and Password to the credentials you use to log onto SharePoint, for example, the credentials to your Microsoft Online Services account.

Microsoft SharePoint online supports a number of cloud-based architectures, each of which supports a different set of authentication schemes:

• AzureAD
• Single sign-on (SSO) via the ADFS, Okta, OneLogin, or PingFederate SSO identity provider
• Azure MSI
• Azure Password
• OAuthJWT
• SharePointOAuth

If the user account domain is different from the domain configured with the identity provider, set SSODomain to the latter. This property may be required for any SSO.

AzureAD

Azure Active Directory (AzureAD) is a connection type that leverages OAuth to authenticate. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Microsoft SharePoint using an internet browser. The driver facilitates this in several ways as described below. Set your AuthScheme to AzureAD. The AzureAD flows described below assume that you have done so.

Your organization may require Admin Consent when authorizing a new AzureAD application for your Azure Tenant. In all AzureAD flows, any initial installation and use of an AzureAD application requires that an administrator approve the application for their Azure Tenant. For details, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies OAuth desktop authentication. Alternatively, you can create a custom AzureAD application. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application 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 AzureAD applications.

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

• Custom applications only:
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.

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

Single Sign-On Identity Providers

ADFS

Set the AuthScheme to ADFS. You must set the following connection properties:

• User: The ADFS user.
• Password: The user's ADFS password.
• SSODomain (optional): The domain configured with the ADFS identity provider.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=ADFS;User=ADFSUserName;Password=ADFSPassword;URL='http://sharepointserver/mysite';

Okta

Set the AuthScheme to Okta. The following connection properties are used to connect to Okta:

• User: The Okta user.
• Password: The user's Okta password.
• SSODomain (optional): The domain configured with the OKTA identity provider.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=Okta;User=oktaUserName;Password=oktaPassword;URL='http://sharepointserver/mysite';

OneLogin

Set the AuthScheme to OneLogin. The following connection properties are used to connect to OneLogin:

• User: The OneLogin user.
• Password: The user's OneLogin password.
• SSODomain (optional): The domain configured with the OneLogin identity provider.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=OneLogin;User=OneLoginUserName;Password=OneLoginPassword;URL='http://sharepointserver/mysite';

PingFederate

Set the AuthScheme to PingFederate. The following connection properties are used to connect to PingFederate:

• User: The PingFederate user.
• Password: PingFederate password for the user.
• SSODomain (optional): The domain configured with the PingFederate identity provider.

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=PingFederate;User=PingFederateUserName;Password=PingFederatePassword;URL='http://sharepointserver/mysite';

Azure MSI

If you are running Microsoft SharePoint on an Azure VM, you can leverage Azure Managed Service Identity (MSI) credentials to connect:

• AuthScheme: AzureMSI.

The MSI credentials are automatically obtained for authentication.

Azure Password

To connect using your Azure dredentials directly, specify the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: AzurePassword
• User: The user account used to connect to Azure
• Password: The password used to connect to Azure
• AzureTenant: Directory (tenant) ID, found on the Overview page of the OAuth application used to authenticate to Microsoft SharePoint on Azure.

OAuthJWT Certificate

Set the AuthScheme to OAUTHJWT. The following connection properties are used to connect to Microsoft SharePoint:

• AzureTenant: The tenant you wish to connect to.
• OAuthJWTCert: The JWT certificate store.
• OAuthJWTCertType: The type of key store containing the JWT certificate.
• OAuthJWTIssuer: The OAuth client Id.
• OAuthJWTCertPassword: The password associated with the JWT certificate. Set this is your certificate type requires a password.

SharePointOAuth

Set the AuthScheme to SharePointOAuth. The following connection properties are used to connect to SharePointOAuth:

• Schema: REST.
• InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH.
• OAuthClientId: The application's identity/Client Id.
• OAuthClientSecret: The application's Client Secret.

Example connection string:

SharePointEdition='SharepointOnline';URL=https://rssbuscrm.sharepoint.com;Schema=REST;AuthScheme=SharepointOAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111;OAuthClientSecret=1111111111111/11111111111111/11111111111111=;

This AuthScheme works with the custom OAuth application. To generate credentials from a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Microsoft SharePoint On-Premises

Microsoft SharePoint On-Premises supports a number of premise-based architectures:

• Windows (NTLM)
• Kerberos
• ADFS
• Anonymous Access

Set SharePointEdition to "SharePoint On-Premises" to use the following authentication types.

Windows (NTLM)

This is the most common authentication type. As such, the add-in is preconfigured to use NTLM as the default; simply set the Windows User and Password to connect.

Kerberos

Set the AuthScheme to NEGOTIATE, and then set the following Kerberos connection properties:

• KerberosKDC: The host name or IP Address of your Kerberos KDC machine.
• KerberosSPN: The service and host of the Microsoft SharePoint Kerberos Principal. This is the value prior to the '@' symbol (for instance, MyService/MyHost) of the principal value (for instance, MyService/[email protected]).

For details on how to authenticate with Kerberos, see Using Kerberos.

ADFS

Set the AuthScheme to ADFS, and then set the following connection properties:

• User: The ADFS user.
• Password: ADFS password for the user.
• SSOLoginURL: The WS-trust endpoint of the ADFS server.

You also need the to set SSOProperties to authenticate to ADFS. Specify the value of the RelyingParty parameter; it is located on the ADFS server for Sharepoint. Example connection string:

AuthScheme=ADFS;User=ADFSUserName;Password=ADFSPassword;SSOLoginURL='https://<authority>/adfs/services/trust/2005/usernamemixed';SSO Properties ='RelyingParty=urn:sharepoint:sp2016;';

Anonymous Access

Set the AuthScheme to NONE along with the URL.

Connection Properties

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

Managing Connections

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