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Create Dynamics 365 Dashboards in Bold BI
Use CData Connect Server to create a virtual SQL Server Database for Dynamics 365 data to build custom dashboards in Bold BI.
Bold BI allows you to create, share, and collaborate on interactive BI dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Server, you get instant access to Dynamics 365 data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to create a virtual database for Dynamics 365 and build reports from Dynamics 365 data in Bold BI.
CData Connect Server provides a pure SQL Server interface for Dynamics 365, allowing you to easily build reports from live Dynamics 365 data in Bold BI — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you build visualizations, Bold BI generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Server pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Dynamics 365, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return the requested Dynamics 365 data.
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
Create a Virtual SQL Server Database for Dynamics 365 Data
CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.
- Login to Connect Server and click Connections.
![]( "Adding a connection")
- Select "Dynamics 365" from Available Data Sources.
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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
![]( "Configuring a connection (SQL Server is shown).")
- Click Save Changes
- Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.
With the virtual database created, you are ready to connect to Dynamics 365 data from Bold BI.
Visualize Live Dynamics 365 Data in Bold BI
The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Server from Bold BI to create a new Dynamics 365 data source and build a simple visualization from the data.
- Log into your Bold BI instance, click the data sources tab, create a new data source, and choose the SQL Server connector.
- Choose the basic configuration and set the connection properties:
- Name: Name your connection
- Server name: Your Connect Server instance (CONNECT_SERVER_URL)
- Port: 1433
- Username: Your Connect Server username
- Password: Your Connect Server password
- Mode: Choose Live to query Dynamics 365 on-demand or choose Extract to load the data into Bold BI
- Database: Choose the database you created from the drop-down menu (dynamics365db)
- Click Connect
- Select the table to visualize and drag it onto the workspace.
- Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
- Click the gear icon for the visualization to configure the visualization properties and assign columns to the visualization.
SQL Access to Dynamics 365 Data from Applications
Now you have a direct connection to live Dynamics 365 data from your Bold BI workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Dynamics 365 data.
To get SQL data access to 200+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your applications, see the CData Connect page.
