Using OAuth Authentication
Use the OAuth authentication standard to connect to Dropbox. OAuth requires the authenticating user to interact with Dropbox using the browser. The provider facilitates this in various ways as described below.
Embedded Credentials
Desktop Applications
See Embedded Credentials to connect with the provider's embedded credentials and skip creating a custom OAuth app.Headless Machines
See Headless Machines to skip creating a custom OAuth app and authenticate an application running on a headless server or another machine where the provider is not authorized to open a browser.Custom Credentials
Instead of connecting with the provider's embedded credentials, you can register an app to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret.
When to Create a Custom OAuth App
Web Applications
You need to create a custom OAuth app in the web flow.
Desktop Applications
Creating a custom OAuth app is optional as the provider is already registered with Dropbox and you can connect with its embedded credentials. You might want to create a custom OAuth app to change the information displayed when users log into the Dropbox OAuth endpoint to grant permissions to the provider.
Headless Machines
Creating a custom OAuth app is optional to authenticate a headless machine; the provider is already registered with Dropbox and you can connect with its embedded credentials. In the headless OAuth flow, users need to authenticate via a browser on another machine. You might want to create a custom OAuth app to change the information displayed when users log into the Dropbox OAuth endpoint to grant permissions to the provider.
Creating a Custom OAuth App
See Creating a Custom OAuth App for a procedure.
Embedded Credentials
Authenticate using the Embedded OAuth Credentials
Desktop Authentication with the Embedded OAuth App
You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. After setting InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, you are ready to connect.When you connect, the provider opens the OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application. The provider then completes the OAuth process.
- Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
- Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
Custom Credentials
When to Create a Custom OAuth App
Creating a custom OAuth app is required in the web flow. Creating a custom OAuth app is optional for desktop and headless applications; the provider is already registered with Dropbox and you can connect with its embedded credentials.You might want to create a custom OAuth app to change the information displayed when users log into the Dropbox OAuth endpoint to grant permissions to the provider.
Desktop Authentication with a Custom OAuth App
Follow the steps below to authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth app. See Creating a Custom OAuth App.
Get the OAuth Access Token
After setting the following, you are ready to connect:
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your app.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your app.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the redirect URI defined when you registered your app.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
- Extracts the access token from the callback URL and authenticates requests.
- Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation to be persisted across connections.
Web Authentication with a Custom OAuth App
When connecting via a Web application, you need to register a custom OAuth app with Dropbox. You can then use the provider to get and manage the OAuth token values.
Get an OAuth Access Token
Set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuthAccessToken:
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret in your app settings.
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. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint.
- 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.
Headless Machines
Using OAuth on a Headless Machine
To create Dropbox data sources on headless servers or other machines on which the provider cannot open a browser, you need to authenticate from another machine. Authentication is a two-step process.- Instead of installing the provider on another machine, you can follow the steps below to obtain the OAuthVerifier value. Or, you can install the provider on another machine and transfer the OAuth authentication values, after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow.
- You can then configure the provider to automatically refresh the access token from the headless machine.
Using the Embedded OAuth Credentials
Obtain a Verifier Code
Follow the steps below to authenticate from another machine and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property:
- Click the following link to open the Dropbox OAuth endpoint in your browser.
- Log in and grant permissions to the provider. You are then redirected to the callback URL, which contains the verifier code.
- Save the value of the verifier code. You will set this in the OAuthVerifier connection property.
On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values.
- OAuthVerifier: Set this to the verifier code.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified file.
After the OAuth settings file is generated, set the following properties to connect to data:
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the file containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this file gives read and write permissions to the provider to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
Transfer OAuth Settings
Follow the steps below to install the provider on another machine, authenticate, and then transfer the resulting OAuth values.
On a second machine, install the provider and connect with the following properties set:
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to a writable text file.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to connect to data:
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the path to your OAuth settings file. Make sure this file gives read and write permissions to the provider to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
Using the Credentials for a Custom OAuth App
Create a Custom OAuth App
Creating a custom OAuth app is optional in the headless OAuth flow; you can skip creating an app by connecting with the provider's embedded OAuth credentials. You might want to create a custom OAuth app to change the information displayed when users log into Dropbox to grant permissions to the provider.
See Creating a Custom OAuth App for a procedure. You can then follow the procedures below to authenticate and connect to data.
Obtain a Verifier Code
Set the following properties on the headless machine:
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to OFF.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client Id in your app settings.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret in your app settings.
You can then follow the steps below to authenticate from another machine and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.
- Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure with the CallbackURL input parameter set to the exact Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
- Open the returned URL in a browser. Log in and grant permissions to the provider. You are then redirected to the callback URL, which contains the verifier code.
- Save the value of the verifier code. You will set this in the OAuthVerifier connection property.
On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values:
- OAuthVerifier: Set this to the verifier code.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified file.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
After the OAuth settings file is generated, set the following properties to connect to data:
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the file containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. Make sure this file gives read and write permissions to the provider to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to REFRESH.
Transfer OAuth Settings
Follow the steps below to install the provider on another machine, authenticate, and then transfer the resulting OAuth values.
On a second machine, install the provider and connect with the following properties set:
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to a writable text file.
- InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH.
- OAuthClientId: Set this to the client Id assigned when you registered your app.
- OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client secret assigned when you registered your app.
- CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI you specified in your app settings.
Test the connection to authenticate. The resulting authentication values are written, encrypted, to the path specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. 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.
- OAuthSettingsLocation: Set this to the path to your OAuth settings file. Make sure this file gives read and write permissions to the provider to enable the automatic refreshing of the access token.
Creating a Custom OAuth App
When to Create a Custom OAuth App
Creating a custom OAuth app is required in the web flow. Creating a custom OAuth app is optional for desktop and headless applications; the provider is already registered with Dropbox and you can connect with its embedded credentials.You might want to create a custom OAuth app to change the information displayed when users log into the Dropbox OAuth endpoint to grant permissions to the provider.
Create a Custom OAuth App: Desktop
- Log in to your Dropbox developers dashboard and click Create New App. Select the Dropbox API type. Select the Full Dropbox access for your app.
- After creating your app, you can view Configuration from the main menu that displays your app settings.
- Set the Redirect URI to http://localhost:33333 or a different port number of your choice. When you connect you will need to set the CallbackURL connection property to this exact URL.
The OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are also displayed in the same page.
Create a Custom OAuth App: Web Apps
- Log in to your Dropbox developers dashboard and click Create New App. Select the Dropbox API type. Select the Full Dropbox access for your app.
- After creating your app, you can view Configuration from the main menu that displays your app settings.
If you are making a Web application, set the Redirect URI to a page on your Web app you would like the user to be returned to after they have authorized your application.
The OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are also displayed in the same page.
- Select the scope of user permissions your app will request.
Create a Custom OAuth App: Headless Machines
Follow the procedure below to register an app and obtain the OAuth client credentials.
- Log in to your Dropbox developers dashboard and click Create New App. Select the Dropbox API type. Select the Full Dropbox access for your app.
- After creating your app, you can view Configuration from the main menu that displays your app settings.
- Set the Redirect URI to http://localhost:33333 or a different port number of your choice.
The OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret are also displayed in the same page.
- Select the scope of user permissions your app will request.
Customizing the SSL Configuration
By default, the provider attempts to negotiate SSL/TLS by checking the server's certificate against the system's trusted certificate store. To specify another certificate, see the SSLServerCert property for the available formats to do so.
Connecting Through a Firewall or Proxy
HTTP Proxies
To connect through the Windows system proxy, you do not need to set any additional connection properties. To connect to other proxies, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.
In addition, to authenticate to an HTTP proxy, set ProxyAuthScheme, ProxyUser, and ProxyPassword, in addition to ProxyServer and ProxyPort.
Other Proxies
Set the following properties:
- To use a proxy-based firewall, set FirewallType, FirewallServer, and FirewallPort.
- To tunnel the connection, set FirewallType to TUNNEL.
- To authenticate, specify FirewallUser and FirewallPassword.
- To authenticate to a SOCKS proxy, additionally set FirewallType to SOCKS5.
Troubleshooting the Connection
To show provider activity from query execution to network traffic, use Logfile and Verbosity. The examples of common connection errors below show how to use these properties to get more context. Contact the support team for help tracing the source of an error or circumventing a performance issue.
- Authentication errors: Typically, recording a Logfile at Verbosity 4 is necessary to get full details on an authentication error.
- Queries time out: A server that takes too long to respond will exceed the provider's client-side timeout. Often, setting the Timeout property to a higher value will avoid a connection error. Another option is to disable the timeout by setting the property to 0. Setting Verbosity to 2 will show where the time is being spent.
- The certificate presented by the server cannot be validated: This error indicates that the provider cannot validate the server's certificate through the chain of trust. If you are using a self-signed certificate, there is only one certificate in the chain.
To resolve this error, you must verify yourself that the certificate can be trusted and specify to the provider that you trust the certificate. One way you can specify that you trust a certificate is to add the certificate to the trusted system store; another is to set SSLServerCert.