Connect to Common Data Service
This topic describes how to set up a connection between Business Central and Common Data Service. Typically, businesses create the connection to integrate and synchronize data with another Dynamics 365 business app, such as Dynamics 365 Sales.
Before You Start
There are a few pieces of information to have ready before you create the connection:
- The URL for the Common Data Service environment that you want to connect to. If you use the CDS Connection Setup assisted setup guide to create the connection we will discover your environments, but you can also enter the URL of another environment in your tenant.
- A user name and password of a user account that is used only for the integration. This account is referred to as the "integration user" account.
- The user name and password of an account that has administrator permissions in Business Central and Common Data Service.
Note
These steps describe the procedure for the online version of Business Central.
Set Up a Connection to Common Data Service
For all authentication types other than Office 365 authentication, you set up your connection to Common Data Service on the CDS Connection Setup page. For Office 365 authentication, we recommend that you use the CDS Connection Setup assisted setup guide. The guide makes it easier to set up the connection and specify advanced features, such as coupling between records.
To use the CDS Connection Setup assisted setup guide
- Choose the
icon, enter Assisted Setup, and then choose the related link. - Choose Set up CDS Base Integration connection to start the assisted setup guide.
- Fill in the fields as necessary.
Note
The CDS Connection Setup assisted setup guide automatically assigns Integration Administrator and Integration User security roles to the user account used for integration, and sets the access mode for the account to non-interactive.
To create or maintain the connection manually
The following procedure describes how to set up the connection manually on the CDS Connection Setup page manually. This is also the page where you manage settings for the integration.
- Choose the icon, enter CDS Connection Setup, and then choose the related link.
- Enter the following information for the connection from Business Central to Common Data Service.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Environment URL | If you own environments in Common Data Service, we will find those for you when you run the setup guide. If you want to connect to a different environment in another tenant, you can enter the administrator credentials for the environment and we will discover those. |
| User Name and Password | The credentials of the user account that is dedicated for the integration. For more information, see Setting Up User Accounts for Integrating with Common Data Service. |
| Enabled | Start using the integration. If you do not enable the connection now, the connection settings will be saved but users will not be able to access Common Data Service data from Business Central. You can return to this page and enable the connection later. |
- In the Ownership Model field, choose whether you want a team entity in Common Data Service to own new records, or one or more specific users. If you choose Person, you must specify each user. If you choose Team, the default business unit BCI_Company will display in the Coupled Business Unit field.
To test the connection settings, choose Connection, and then Test Connection.
Note
If data encryption is not enabled in Business Central, you will be asked whether you want to enable it. To enable data encryption, choose Yes and provide the required information. Otherwise, choose No. You can enable data encryption later. For more information, see Encrypting Data in Dynamics 365 Business Central in Developer and IT-Pro help.
If Common Data Service synchronization is not already set up, you will be asked whether you want to use the default synchronization setup. Depending on whether you want to keep records aligned in Common Data Service and Business Central, choose Yes or No.
Note
Connecting to Common Data Service using the CDS Connection Setup page may require that you assign the Integration Administrator and Integration User security roles to the account used for integration in Dynamics 365 Sales. For more information, see Assign a security role to a user.
To disconnect from Common Data Service
- Choose the icon, enter CDS Connection Setup, and then choose the related link.
- On the CDS Connection Setup page, turn off the Enabled toggle.