Establishing a Connection

Configure a Connection Profile

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

Connecting to Confluence

You can establish a connection to any Confluence Cloud account or Confluence Data Center (on-premises) instance. To connect, you must set the URL connection property. For Confluence Cloud, the URL follows the format https://yoursitename.atlassian.net. For Confluence Data Center, set URL to the address of your self-hosted instance; for example, https://confluence.yourcompany.com.

Authenticating to Confluence

Confluence Cloud supports the following authentication methods: API token, OAuth, and single sign-on (SSO) via Crowd or Okta.

Confluence Data Center supports the following authentication methods: Basic authentication, OAuth (custom OAuth application required), Personal Access Token (PAT) authentication (Confluence 7.9 or later), and SSO via Crowd or Okta.

API Token

Acquire a Token

An API token is necessary for account authentication. To generate one, log in to your Atlassian account and select API tokens > Create API token. The generated token is displayed.

Authenticate Using the Token

To authenticate to a Cloud account, provide the following connection properties (Note: Password has been deprecated for connecting to a Cloud account and is now used only to connect to a Data Center instance.):

AuthScheme: APIToken.
User: The user to be used to authenticate with the Confluence server.
APIToken: The API token associated with the currently authenticated user.
URL: The URL associated with your Confluence endpoint. For example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

Basic Authentication

To authenticate to a Data Center instance, specify the following properties:

AuthScheme: Basic.
User: The user to authenticate with the Confluence instance.
Password: The password which is used to authenticate with the Confluence server.
URL: The URL associated with your Confluence endpoint. For example, https://confluence.yourcompany.com.

Note: Starting in Confluence Data Center v10.0, Basic authentication is disabled by default. Consider using Personal Access Token (PAT) or OAuth authentication instead.

OAuth

In all cases, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth and Scope to the value obtained from your application settings. In all the flows described below, it is assumed that you have done so. Note: OAuth 1.0 is deprecated in Confluence Cloud and should only be used by hosted Confluence users.

Desktop Applications

For Confluence Cloud, CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop. You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application. See Creating a Custom OAuth Application for more information.

Get an OAuth Access Token

After setting the following, you are ready to connect:

OAuthVersion: 2.0.
URL: The URL to your Confluence endpoint; for example, https://yoursitename.atlassian.net.

If you are using a custom OAuth application, also set the following:

OAuthClientId: The client Id in your application settings.
OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in your application settings.
CallbackURL: The redirect URL 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.

PAT Authentication

PATs are supported for Data Center instances running Confluence 7.9 or later.

Acquire a Token

To generate a PAT, log in to your Atlassian account and select your profile picture at the top right of the screen, then select Profile > Personal Access Tokens > Create token.

Authenticate Using the Token

To authenticate using PAT, specify the following properties:

AuthScheme: PAT.
User: The user to authenticate with the Confluence instance.
PAT: The PAT associated with the authenticated user.
URL: The URL associated with your Confluence endpoint. For example, https://confluence.yourcompany.com.

Crowd

To authenticate via Crowd SSO:

AuthScheme: Crowd
User: The Crowd user account.
Password: The password associated with the Crowd account.<
SSOLoginURL: The login URL associated with the Crowd account. You can find the IDP URL by navigating to your application > SSO > SSO information > Identity provider single sign-on URL.
SSOAppName: The name of the application in which SSO is enabled.
SSOAppPassword: The password of the application in which SSO is enabled.
SSOExchangeURL: The URL used used to exchange the SAML token for Confluence cookies. This URL may have the following formats:
- https://<authority of Confluence instance>/plugins/servlet/samlconsumer
- https://<authority of Confluence instance>/plugins/servlet/samlsso

Example connection string:

AuthScheme=Crowd;Url=https://yoursitename.atlassian.net;SSOLoginURL='https://<authority>/crowd/console/secure/saml/sso.action';User=crowdUserName;Password=crowdPassword;SSOExchangeUrl=https://<authority of Confluence instance>/plugins/servlet/samlconsumer;SSOAppName=CrowdAppName;SSOAppPassword=CrowdAppPassword;

Okta

To connect to Okta, set these properties:

AuthScheme: Okta.
User: The authenticating Okta user.
Password: The password of the authenticating Okta user.
SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login URL.
SSOExchangeURL: The URL used used to exchange the SAML token for Confluence cookies. This URL may have the following formats:
- https://<authority of Confluence instance>/plugins/servlet/samlconsumer
- https://<authority of Confluence instance>/plugins/servlet/samlsso

If you are either using a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request OR configuring MFA, you must use combinations of SSOProperties to authenticate using Okta. Set any of the following, as applicable:

APIToken: When authenticating a user via a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request context, set this to the API Token the customer created from the Okta organization.
MFAType: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to one of the following supported types: OktaVerify, Email, or SMS.
MFAPassCode: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to a valid passcode.
If you set this to empty or an invalid value, the add-in issues a one-time password challenge to your device or email. After the passcode is received, reopen the connection where the retrieved one-time password value is set to the MFAPassCode connection property.
MFARememberDevice: True by default. Okta supports remembering devices when MFA is required. If remembering devices is allowed according to the configured authentication policies, the add-in sends a device token to extend MFA authentication lifetime. If you do not want MFA to be remembered, set this variable to False.