Integrate with Live Dynamics 365 Data in MuleSoft (via CData Connect Cloud)



Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to Dynamics 365 from the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform to integrate live Dynamics 365 data into custom reports and dashboards.

The MuleSoft Anypoint Platform enables the building, deployment, and management of APIs and integrations, facilitating seamless connectivity across applications and systems. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, it provides access to Dynamics 365 data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article explains how to use CData Connect Cloud to create a live connection to Dynamics 365 and how to connect and access live Dynamics 365 data from the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform.

Prerequisites

Before configuring and using MuleSoft with CData Connect Cloud, you must first connect a data source to your CData Connect Cloud account. For more information, see the Connections section.

Additionally, you need to generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) on the Settings page. Be sure to copy it down, as it serves as your password during authentication.

About Dynamics 365 Data Integration

CData simplifies access and integration of live Microsoft Dynamics 365 data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:

  • Read and write data in the full Dynamics 365 ecosystem: Sales, Customer Service, Finance & Operations, Marketing, and more.
  • Extend the native features of Dynamics CRM with customizable caching and intelligent query aggregation and separation.
  • Authenticate securely with Dynamics 365 in a variety of ways, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Managed Service Identity credentials, and Azure Service Principal using either a client secret or a certificate.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to manage their Dynamics 365 entities - listing, creating, and removing associations between entities.

CData customers use our Dynamics 365 connectivity solutions for a variety of reasons, whether they're looking to replicate their data into a data warehouse (alongside other data sources)or analyze live Dynamics 365 data from their preferred data tools inside the Microsoft ecosystem (Power BI, Excel, etc.) or with external tools (Tableau, Looker, etc.).


Getting Started


Configure Dynamics 365 Connectivity for MuleSoft

Connectivity to Dynamics 365 from MuleSoft is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Dynamics 365 data from MuleSoft, we start by creating and configuring a Dynamics 365 connection.

  1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
  2. Select "Dynamics 365" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Dynamics 365.

    Edition and OrganizationUrl are required connection properties. The Dynamics 365 connector supports connecting to the following editions: CustomerService, FieldService, FinOpsOnline, FinOpsOnPremise, HumanResources, Marketing, ProjectOperations and Sales.

    For Dynamics 365 Business Central, use the separate Dynamics 365 Business Central driver.

    OrganizationUrl is the URL to your Dynamics 365 organization. For instance, https://orgcb42e1d0.crm.dynamics.com

  4. Click Create & Test
  5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Dynamics 365 Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 data from MuleSoft.

Connecting to CData Connect Cloud

Follow these steps to establish a connection from Mulesoft to CData Connect Cloud through the JDBC driver:

  1. Download and install the CData Connect Cloud JDBC driver.
    1. Open the Client Tools page of CData Connect Cloud.
    2. Locate MuleSoft and click on Download for Mac/Windows/Linux.
    3. Download and run the setup file.
    4. When the installation is complete, the JAR file can be found in the installation directory (inside the lib folder).
  2. Log into Mulesoft Anypoint Studio or launch the desktop application.
  3. Create a new Mulesoft project. The new project appears in a project folder.
  4. In the Mule Palette located on the right, drag an HTTP Listener to the Message Flow area.
  5. Click on the HTTP Listener to configure it.
  6. Click the + sign on the right of Connector configuration. The HTTP Listener config dialog appears.
  7. Configure the HTTP Listener, providing a Port on which to query your data, and click OK.
  8. Provide a path on which to perform the actions. The HTTP Listener is now configured.
  9. In the Mule Palette on the right, type database in the search bar.
  10. Drag the database operation you want to perform to the Message Flow area. For this example, we choose Select.
  11. Select Generic Connection from the Connection dropdown in the Database Config dialog.
  12. Click the Configure button to configure the JDBC driver. Select Use local file from the drop-down list.
  13. Locate the CData Connect Cloud JAR file from the JDBC driver installation and click OK.
  14. Provide the following information:
    • URL: the URL for the connection, for example: jdbc:connect:Authscheme=Basic;user=username;password=password Note: the password is the PAT created in the Prerequisites section.
    • Driver class name: Enter the Driver class name as: cdata.jdbc.connect.ConnectDriver
  15. Click Test Connection.
  16. If the connection is successful, provide the SQL Query Text in the editor. You can see the table metadata on the right side in the Output tab.
  17. In the Mule Palette, drag Transform Message to the Message Flow area.
  18. Click Transform Message to configure it. Change the Output as follows:
  19. Save your project and run it. In the console, Mulesoft starts initializing the dependencies.
  20. Once you see the message, "Message source 'listener' on flow your_project_name successfully started", you can start querying your data at the endpoint you provided.
  21. Query to check out the data using the Postman application (as shown below).

SQL Access to Dynamics 365 Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live Dynamics 365 data from MuleSoft Anypoint Platform. You can create more connections to ensure seamless data flow, automate business processes, and manage APIs - all without replicating Dynamics 365 data.

To get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Dynamics 365) directly from your cloud applications, explore the CData Connect Cloud.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about CData Connect Cloud or sign up for free trial access:

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