Power BI Connector for MYOB

Build 24.0.9060

Creating the Data Source Name

This section describes how to edit the DSN configuration and then authenticate and connect to MYOB APIs.

DSN Configuration

You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to edit the DSN configuration. Note that the installation process creates a both a user DSN and a system DSN, as described in Installing the Connector.

Note: The connector stores connection information in the Windows registry. To ensure that the connector can write to the registry, either run Power BI as an administrator or use a User DSN for your connection instead of a System DSN.

User DSN

Complete the following steps to edit the DSN configuration:

  1. Select Start > Search, and enter ODBC Data Sources in the Search box.
  2. Choose the version of the ODBC Administrator that corresponds to the bitness of your Power BI Desktop installation (32-bit or 64-bit).
  3. Select the system data source and click Configure.
  4. Edit the information on the Connection tab and click OK.

System DSN

Configure the system DSN the same way as the user DSN, except you will need to switch to the System DSN tab before performing Step 3.

If you're using Power BI's On-Premises Data Gateway with Standard mode, you must use the system DSN.

You must also specify a valid location for OAuthSettingsLocation (a path where OAuth credentials are locally stored to avoid repeated OAuth prompts).

This is because the Standard mode runs on service mode and can only access permitted locations, such as C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\PBIEgwService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\On-premises data gateway.

Connecting to MYOB

To connect to a MYOB company file, set CompanyFileId to the ID of the company file you want to retrieve data from. If not specified, the ID of the first returned company file (sorted alphabetically) is used.

This connection property is required to access all tables and views, except for the CompanyFiles view, which you can use to view the company files associated with your account (and their associated IDs). Use this view if you don't know the ID of your company file.

Set the following additional properties:

On-premise instance Instance: Set this to OnPremise.
AuthScheme: Set this to Basic.
User: The username associated with your company file. When you create your company file, a user account called Administrator is automatically created. By default, the Administrator user account doesn't have a password assigned.
InitiateOAuth: OFF.
Url: The Url of your MYOB instance.
Cloud instance Instance: Set this to Cloud.
AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH.
User: The username associated with your company file.
Password: Set to password of authorized user of company file (if password is set).

See further details on OAuth below:

Authenticating to MYOB

MYOB supports OAuth authentication only. To enable this authentication from all OAuth flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to MYOB from three common authentication flows:

  • Desktop: a connection to a server on the user's local machine, frequently used for testing and prototyping. Authenticated via either embedded OAuth or custom OAuth.
  • Web: access to data via a shared website. Authenticated via custom OAuth only.
  • Headless Server: a dedicated op that provides services to other computers and their users, which is configured to operate without a monitor and keyboard. Authenticated via embedded OAuth or custom OAuth.

For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, and why you might want to create one even for auth flows that have embedded OAuth credentials, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

For a complete list of connection string properties available in MYOB, see Connection.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop. You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the MYOB console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

Before you connect, set these properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. Used to automatically get and refresh the OAuthAccessToken.
  • Custom OAuth 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 defined when you registered your custom OAuth application.

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

When the access token expires, the connector refreshes it automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the connector automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:

  1. The first time you connect to data, set these connection parameters:
    • 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.
    • OAuthSettingsLocation: The path where you want the connector to save the OAuth values, which persist across connections.
  2. On subsequent data connections, set:
    • InitiateOAuth
    • OAuthSettingsLocation

Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAUth access token is the OAuth refresh token.

  1. To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
  2. Set these connection properties:

    • OAuthClientId: The Client Id in your application settings.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The Client Secret in your application settings.

  3. Call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
  4. After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.

Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

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 connector 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.

    If you are using the embedded OAuth application, call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Open the URL returned by the stored procedure in a browser.

    If you are using a custom OAuth application, set these properties:

    • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

  2. Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. The stored procedure returns the CallbackURL established when the custom OAuth application was registered. (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 connector. 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 OAuthAccessToken, set these connection 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.
    • Custom OAuth applications only:
      • OAuthClientId: The client Id in your custom OAuth application settings.
      • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret in the custom OAuth application settings.

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

  6. You are ready 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 connector.
    • Custom OAuth applications only:
      • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your application.
      • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your application.

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 connector.
  • Custom OAuth 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.

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Build 24.0.9060