Establishing a Connection
The objects available within our connector are accessible from the "cdata.veevavault" module. To use the module's objects directly:
- Import the module as follows:
import cdata.veevavault as mod
- To establish a connection string, call the connect() method from the connector object using an appropriate connection string, such as:
mod.connect("Url=myURL;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;")
Connecting to Veeva Vault
In order to connect to your Veeva Vault account, you will first need to specify the Url connection property to the host you see in the address bar after logging in to your account, ex. https://myvault.veevavault.com.
OpenID Connect with Azure AD
OpenID Connect with Azure AD is a connection type that goes through OAuth. Set the AuthScheme to AzureADOpenID and the OpenIDConnectProfileID connection property to the Id of your Open ID Connect profile, which can be found by navigating to Admin > Settings > OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect Profiles and expanding the details of your OpenID Connect Profile.
Authenticating to Veeva Vault
There are two authentication methods available for connecting to your Veeva Vault data source, Basic and OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect with the Azure AD Authentication Provider.
User Credentials
Set the AuthScheme to Basic and set the User and Password to your user login credentials.
OpenID with AzureAD
OpenID Connect with Azure AD is a connection type that goes through OAuth. Set the AuthScheme to AzureADOpenID. The following sections assume that you have done so.Desktop Applications
Follow the steps below to authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth app. See Creating a Custom AzureAD App. Get an OAuth Access Token
You are ready to connect after setting one of the below connection properties groups depending on the authentication type.
- Authenticating using a Client Secret
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret in your app settings.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URL in your app settings.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken. .
- Optionally, depending on the required claims to complete the authentication with the Veeva Vault data source, you may need to set additional scopes via the Scope property. For example, to get the user name and email claims from the UserInfo endpoint, you will need to set the scope value to: 'openid profile email offline_access'.
- Authenticating using a Certificate
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the JWT Certificate store.
- OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to the type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URL in your app settings.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken. .
- Optionally, depending on the required claims to complete the authentication with the Veeva Vault data source, you may need to set additional scopes via the Scope property. For example, to get the user name and email claims from the UserInfo endpoint, you will need to set the scope value to: 'openid profile email offline_access'.
When you connect the connector opens the OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The connector then completes the OAuth process:
- Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
- Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
- Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
Web Applications
When connecting via a Web application, you need to use the custom OAuth app that you have previously created to Configure the Azure AD Authentication Provider. See Creating a Custom AzureAD App. You can then use the connector to get and manage the OAuth token values. Get an OAuth Access Token
Set one of the following connection properties groups depending on the authentication type to obtain the OAuthAccessToken:
- Authenticating using a Client Secret
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret in your app settings.
- Optionally, depending on the required claims to complete the authentication with the Veeva Vault data source, you may need to set additional scopes via the Scope property. For example, to get the user name and email claims from the UserInfo endpoint, you will need to set the scope value to: 'openid profile email offline_access'.
- Authenticating using a Certificate
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthJWTCert: Set this to the JWT Certificate store.
- OAuthJWTCertType: Set this to the type of the certificate store specified by OAuthJWTCert.
- Optionally, depending on the required claims to complete the authentication with the Veeva Vault data source, you may need to set additional scopes via the Scope property. For example, to get the user name and email claims from the UserInfo endpoint, you will need to set the scope value to: 'openid profile email offline_access'.
You can then call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:
-
Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB and set the CallbackURL input to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings. If necessary, set the Permissions parameter to request custom permissions.
The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint.
- Open the URL, log in, and authorize the 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 callback URL. If necessary, set the Permissions parameter to request custom permissions.
To connect to data, set the OAuthAccessToken connection property to the access token returned by the stored procedure. When the access token expires after ExpiresIn seconds, call GetOAuthAccessToken again to obtain a new access token.
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.
- Choose one of these two options:
- Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier value as described in "Obtain and Exchange a Verifier Code" below.
- Option 2: Install the connector on another machine and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow, as described in "Transfer OAuth Settings" below.
- Then configure the connector to automatically refresh the access token from 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.
- Choose one of these options:
- If you are using the Embedded OAuth Application click Veeva Vault OAuth endpoint to open the endpoint in your browser.
- If you are using a custom OAuth application, create the Authorization URL by setting 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.
- Log in and grant permissions to the connector. You are then redirected to the callback URL, which contains the verifier code.
- Save the value of the verifier code. Later you will set this in the OAuthVerifier connection property.
On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values:
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
- OAuthVerifier: Set this to the verifier code.
- 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.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the location of the file where the driver saves the OAuth token values that persist across connections.
After the OAuth settings file is generated, you need to re-set the following properties to connect:
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
- OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
- OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your application.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the location containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this location grants read and write permissions to the connector to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
Option 2: Transfer OAuth Settings
Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you need to create and install 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.
Once you have successfully tested the connection, copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.
On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to connect to data:
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
- OAuthClientId: (custom applications only) Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your application.
- OAuthClientSecret: (custom applications only) Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your application.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the location of your OAuth settings file. Make sure this location gives read and write permissions to the connector to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.