Analyze Active Directory Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based business intelligence platform. CData Connect Cloud creates a pure, cloud-to-cloud connection to Active Directory and can be used to generate an OData API (natively supported in Analytics Cloud) for Active Directory. By pairing SAP Analytics Cloud with CData Connect Cloud, you get true cloud-to-cloud connectivity to all of your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources — no need to migrate your data or write your integrations. Simply connect to Connect Cloud as you would any other OData service and get instant, consolidated access to all of your data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to Active Directory from SAP Analytics Cloud (through CData Connect Cloud) to create a model and build a simple dashboard.

Connect to Active Directory from SAP Analytics Cloud

To work with live Active Directory data in SAP Analytics Cloud, we need to connect to Active Directory from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the Active Directory data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to Active Directory through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to Active Directory from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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

   To establish a connection, set the following properties:

   • Valid User and Password credentials (e.g., Domain\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).
   • Server information, including the IP or host name of the Server, as well as the Port.

   • BaseDN: This will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided.

     Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.

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

Add Active Directory OData Endpoints in Connect Cloud

After connecting to Active Directory, create OData Endpoints for the desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the OData page and click Add to create new OData endpoints
2. Select the Active Directory connection (e.g. ActiveDirectory1) and click Next
3. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm

With the connection and OData endpoints configured, you are ready to connect to Active Directory data from SAP Analytics Cloud.

Create a Model of Active Directory Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the connection to Active Directory configured and the OData endpoint(s) created, we can create a Model for Active Directory data in SAP Analytics Cloud.

1. Log into your Analytics Cloud instance and click Create -> Model from the menu.
2. Choose "Get data from a datasource" and select "OData Services"
3. Choose an existing connection to your Connect Cloud OData or Create a new one:
   • Set Connection Name
   • Set Data Service URL to the Base URL for your OData API: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/service
   • Set Authentication Type to Basic Authentication
   • Set User Name to the Connect Cloud user (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Set Password to the PAT for the above user
4. Choose "Create a new query" and click Next
5. Name the Execute, select an OData endpoint (like User) and click Next
6. Drag the columns you wish to work with into the Selected Data workspace and click Create
7. At this point, a Draft Data source is created; click the draft to finalize the model
8. Perform any transformations, including creating calculated dimensions, location dimensions, and combining data sources, then click Create Model
9. Name your model and click OK

Build a Dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the model created, you are ready to create a dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud based on Active Directory data.

1. From the menu, click Create -> Story
2. Click on SAP Analytics Template (this article uses the "Dashboard" template)
3. Choose a layout and click Apply
4. From the More menu, select a visualization to insert (Chart)
5. Select a model to visualize
6. Select a structure and the required Measures and Dimensions
7. Save the store

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple but powerful dashboard from live Active Directory data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Active Directory (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Active Directory data in SAP Analytics Cloud.