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Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud

Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud is a data source that connects to Business Central Cloud environments through the Zap Data Source extension installed on your tenant.

The following sections guide you through installing the Zap Data Source extension, configuring user permissions, and choosing an authentication method.

Zap Data Hub for Business Central extension​

The Zap Data Hub for Business Central extension is a single, pre-built AL extension that grants Data Hub dynamic read access to any table in your Business Central Cloud environment, including standard, customized, and third-party tables.

Download and install the extension​

  1. Create a new Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud data source in Data Hub.

  2. Complete the connection settings and sign in.

  3. Click Download extension.

    Dynamics Business Central Cloud data source downloading extension after signing in

  4. In Business Central Cloud, navigate to Extensions under advanced settings.

    Business Central Cloud advanced settings menu

  5. Select Manage > Upload Extension.

  6. Upload the Zap Data Hub for Business Central.app file from the download.

  7. Select Accept and Deploy.

tip

To monitor deployment progress, navigate to Manage > Installation Status. If installation fails, select the failed installation and choose View Details under General for diagnostic information.

Configure user permission sets​

Configure the following permission sets in Business Central Cloud:

  • ZAP Data Source (ZAP DATA SOURCE) - Grants execute access to the codeunit web service actions used by Data Hub. This permission set is published by the Zap Data Hub for Business Central extension and is only available after installing it.
  • For Sandbox environments, Extension Management - Admin (EXTEN. MGT. - ADMIN) - Required to upload and deploy the extension.
  • For Production environments, Snapshot Debug (D365 SNAPSHOT DEBUG) - Required to upload and deploy the extension.
note

Extension Management - Admin is only needed during initial setup. After installation, a different user with ZAP Data Source plus the per-table read permissions described below can connect to the data source.

Table-level permissions​

For each Business Central table you want Data Hub to extract, the connecting user (or service-to-service application) must have read access to that table. If the user does not have read permission for a table, Data Hub returns an error when extracting that table.

Authentication​

Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud supports two authentication methods:

  • Interactive OAuth - Sign in through your browser using your Microsoft Entra ID account. This is the default method.
  • Service-to-service - Use a Microsoft Entra ID app registration with a client ID and client secret. This method does not require browser sign-in and suits automated or unattended scenarios.

Set up service-to-service authentication​

Service-to-service authentication uses the OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow. Before connecting with this method, register an application in Microsoft Entra ID and grant it access in Business Central.

Register an Entra ID application​

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.

  2. Register a new application. Set Supported account types to Single tenant.

  3. Under Certificates & secrets, create a new client secret. Copy the secret value, it is only shown once.

  4. Under API permissions, select Add a permission > Microsoft APIs > Dynamics 365 Business Central, then add the following Application permissions:

    • API.ReadWrite.All
    • Automation.ReadWrite.All

  5. Select Grant admin consent for your tenant.

    Microsoft Entra application setup page in Microsoft Entra admin centre

  6. Copy the Application (client) ID from the app's overview page. You need this and the client secret when configuring the data source.

Grant access in Business Central​

  1. In Business Central, search for Microsoft Entra applications and open the page.

    Microsoft Entra applications page in Dynamics Business Central Cloud

  2. Select New and enter the Application (client) ID from the previous step.

    Microsoft Entra Application Card setup in Dynamics Business Central Cloud

  3. Set State to Enabled. If you did not grant admin consent when registering the Entra ID application, select Grant Consent here.

  4. Assign the required permission sets. At minimum, assign D365 SNAPSHOT DEBUG or EXTEN. MGT. - ADMIN, and ZAP DATA SOURCE, plus read permissions on the tables you want to extract.

important

Service-to-service applications cannot be assigned the SUPER permission set in Business Central. Assign only the permissions required for the integration.

For more details, see Using service-to-service (S2S) authentication in the Microsoft documentation.

Connection settings​

Define the following connection settings for a Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud data source:

  • Domain name - Your Business Central Cloud tenant ID or domain name, taken from your Business Central Cloud URL.
  • Environment - The environment to connect to:
    • Production - Default production environment.
    • Sandbox - Default sandbox environment.
    • Named - Select this option if your environment has been renamed.
  • Environment name - The name of the renamed environment. Only required when Environment is set to Named.
  • Authentication type - The authentication method to use:
    • Interactive OAuth - Sign in through your browser. This is the default.
    • Service-to-service - Use Entra ID client credentials.
  • Client ID - The Application (client) ID from your Entra ID app registration. Only required for service-to-service authentication.
  • Client secret - The client secret from your Entra ID app registration. Only required for service-to-service authentication.

Frequently asked questions​

Q: Do I need to redownload the extension when new Business Central Cloud extensions are installed?

A: No. The Zap Data Hub for Business Central extension can dynamically access tables at runtime, so newly installed tables and fields are available without redeploying the extension.

Q: What happens if I get a permission denied error when reading a table?

A: The connecting user or service-to-service application is missing read permission on that table. Grant the relevant read permission set in Business Central, or assign read access to the specific table object.

Q: What happens if the Zap Data Hub extension is removed from Business Central Cloud?

A: Removing the extension breaks the data source connection. Reinstall the extension to restore connectivity.