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Use the API Server and Freshdesk ADO.NET Provider to Access Freshdesk Data in Microsoft PowerPivot
Use the API Server to connect to live Freshdesk data in the PowerPivot business intelligence tool.
This article will explain how to use the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Freshdesk (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers) to provide Freshdesk data as OData services and then consume the data in Microsoft Excel's PowerPivot business intelligence tool. Follow the steps below to retrieve and edit Freshdesk data in Power Pivot.
Set Up the API Server
Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Freshdesk OData services:
Deploy
The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.
The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.
Connect to Freshdesk
After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Freshdesk, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Freshdesk by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.
FreshDesk makes use of basic authentication. To connect to data, set the following connection properties:
- Domain: Set this to the domain associated with your FreshDesk account. For example, in your URL: https://my_domain.freshdesk.com.
- APIKey: Set this to the API key associated with your FreshDesk account. To retrieve your API key, Log into your support Portal -> Click on profile picture in the top right corner -> profile settings page. The API key will be available below the change password section to the right.
You can then choose the Freshdesk entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.
Additionally, click Settings -> Server and set the Default Format to XML (Atom) for compatibility with Excel.
Authorize API Server Users
After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.
Import Freshdesk Tables in Power Pivot
Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:
- In Excel, click the PowerPivot Window icon in the PowerPivot tab to open PowerPivot.
- Click Home -> Get External Data -> From Data Service -> From OData Data Feed.
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Add authentication parameters. Click Advanced and set the Integrated Security option to Basic. You will need to enter the User Id and Password of a user who has access to the CData API Server. Set the password to the user's authtoken.
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In the Base URL box, enter the OData URL of the CData API Server. For example, http://localhost:8032/api.rsc.
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Select which tables you want to import and click Finish.
You can now work with Freshdesk data in Power Pivot.
