How to connect to Dynamics CRM Data from MS Excel on Mac OS X



Create a Data Source Name in iODBC with the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM and work with Dynamics CRM data in Microsoft Excel on Mac OS X.

Microsoft Excel features calculations, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language that allows users to work with data in many of the ways that suit their needs, whether on a Windows machine or a Macintosh machine. This article walks through creating a DSN for Dynamics CRM data in iODBC and accessing Dynamics CRM data in Microsoft Excel, all on a machine running Mac OS X.

Installing the CData ODBC Drivers on Mac OS X

The CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM is preconfigured for the iODBC driver manager, as are many other products like Microsoft Excel. This makes the driver easy to use with these tools.

Licensing the Driver

In a terminal run the following commands to license the driver. To activate a trial license, omit the key input.

cd "/Applications/CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM/bin"
sudo ./install-license <key>

Defining a DSN for iODBC with odbc.ini

You can define ODBC data sources in sections in the odbc.ini file. User data sources can only be accessed by the user account whose home folder the odbc.ini is located in. System data sources can be accessed by all users. You can find the correct odbc.ini in the following paths:

Privileges  Path
User/Users/myuser/Library/ODBC/odbc.ini
System/Library/ODBC/odbc.ini

Modifying iODBC's system-wide settings requires elevated permissions; to do so, you can use following to open a text editor from the terminal:

sudo nano /Library/ODBC/odbc.ini

The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

In addition to the connection properties required to connect to Dynamics CRM, the Driver property specifies either a driver definition in the odbcinst.ini file or the path to the driver library. Place your connection properties at the beginning of odbc.ini:

[CData Dynamics CRM Sources]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM
User = myuseraccount
Password = mypassword
URL = https://myOrg.crm.dynamics.com/
CRM Version = CRM Online

If you wish to authenticate using OAuth, you will need to add an additional connection property to ensure that the OAuth flow can execute properly:

Other = CheckPromptMode=False

Mac OS validates our drivers separately so you need to copy the license file to the appropriate path as well. After you have configured odbc.ini, run the following command.

sudo cp /Applications/CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM/lib/CData.ODBC.DynamicsCRM.lic /Users/<YOUR_USER>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/.cdata/

Additionally, in the ODBC Data Sources section, the DSN must be set to a driver defined in the odbcinst.ini file. For example, below is the entry for the DSN created during the driver install:

[ODBC Data Sources]
CData Dynamics CRM Source = CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM

Registering a DSN for iODBC with odbcinst.ini

You may need to modify the installed driver definition if you change the path to the driver library. To register an ODBC driver, modify the odbcinst.ini file. With iODBC, drivers can be available to only one user account or drivers can be available system wide. You can find the correct odbcinst.ini in the following paths:

Privileges  Path
User/Users/myuser/Library/ODBC/odbcinst.ini
System/Library/ODBC/odbcinst.ini

Drivers are defined in sections in the odbcinst.ini file. The section name specifies the name of the driver. In this section, the Driver property specifies the path to the driver library. The driver library is the .dylib file located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory, by default in /Applications/CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM.

[CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM]
Driver = /Applications/CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM/lib/libdynamicscrm.odbc.dylib

The ODBC Drivers section must also contain a property with the driver name, set to "Installed".

[ODBC Drivers]
CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM = Installed

Testing the Connection

You can test your connection using the iODBC administrator.

  1. Open a terminal and enter the following command to start the iODBC Administrator with the necessary permissions:
    sudo /Applications/iODBC/iODBC\ Administrator64.app/Contents/MacOS/iODBC\ Administrator64
    
  2. On the Users tab, select CData Dynamics CRM Source.
  3. Click the Test button.

Accessing Dynamics CRM Data from Microsoft Excel

You can use the DSN configured above to access Dynamics CRM data from Microsoft Excel.

  1. Open Microsoft Excel and open a spreadsheet (new or existing).
  2. Navigate to the data ribbon, click the drop down next to "Get Data (Power Query)," and select "From Database (Microsoft Query)"
  3. Select the User or System DSN that you previously configured and click OK.
  4. Build your SQL query in the Microsoft Query wizard:
  5. Click Return Data to execute the query and pull data into Excel.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Dynamics CRM, you can easily pull your Dynamics CRM data directly into Excel. Once there, you can leverage all of the powerful features native to Excel to analyze, report, transform your Dynamics CRM data, and more!

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Dynamics CRM ODBC Driver to get started:

 Download Now

Learn more:

Dynamics CRM Icon Dynamics CRM ODBC Driver

The Dynamics CRM ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live Dynamics CRM (OnPremise & Online) account data, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Dynamics CRM data like you would a database - read, write, and update Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, Accounts, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.