Access Live Active Directory Data in Google Sheets through Connect Spreadsheets

Google Sheets is a web-based spreadsheet program provided by Google. When integrated with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you can effortlessly gain access to Active Directory data directly within Google Sheets for tasks such as data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article offers a comprehensive guide on connecting to Active Directory within Connect Spreadsheets and accessing live Active Directory data seamlessly within Google Sheets.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

Configure Active Directory Connectivity for Google Sheets

Connectivity to Active Directory from Google Sheets is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets. To work with Active Directory data from Google Sheets, we start by creating and configuring a Active Directory connection.

1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Sources and click Add Connection 👁 Adding a Connection
   
2. Select "Active Directory" from the Add Connection panel 👁 Selecting a data source
   
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Active Directory.

   To establish a connection, set the following properties:

   • Valid User and Password credentials (e.g., Domain\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).
   • Server information, including the IP or host name of the Server, as well as the Port.

   • BaseDN: This will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided.

     Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.

   👁 Configuring a connection (OData is shown)
   
4. Click Create & Test

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Active Directory data from Google Sheets.

Access Live Active Directory Data from Google Sheets

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Google Sheets to access live Active Directory data.

1. Log into Google Sheets, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Add-ons and click Get Add-ons (if you have already installed the Add-on, jump to step 5).
3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets Add-On and install the Add-on. 👁 Install the Add-On
   
4. Authorize the Add-On. 👁 Authorize the Add-On
   
5. Back in Google Sheets, click Add-ons and open the Connect Spreadsheets Add-On. 👁 Opening the Add-On
   
6. In the Add-On panel, click "Log in" to sign into and authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account 👁 Authenticating with Connect Spreadsheets
   
7. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Google Sheets, click Import 👁 Connect Spreadsheets panel in Google Sheets
   
8. Choose a Connection (e.g. ActiveDirectory1), Table (e.g. User, and Columns to import 👁 Choosing a Connection, Table, and Columns
   
9. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit 👁 Filters, Sorting, Limits
   
10. Click Execute to import the data and opt to overwrite the existing sheet or create a new one. 👁 Opting where to import the data
    

Live Access to Active Directory Data from Cloud Applications

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Active Directory data from your Google Sheets workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.