How to connect Dropbox with SharePoint

This "how-to-connect" documentation will explain the initial configuration of an example connection from Dropbox to a SharePoint Online Library in Office 365.

This guide presupposes that you have installed the Layer2 Cloud Connector and that you are familiar with its basic functionality. The Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation will provide you with all necessary information.

Contents

1. Setting Up Dropbox

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1 Creating a new connection

2.2 Configuring the Data Entity 1

2.3 Configuring the Data Entity 2

2.4 Running your connection

3. Hints and known issues

3.1 Connection direction

1. Setting up Dropbox

To connect your Dropbox data through the Layer2 Cloud Connector, you only need to authenticate through the Layer2 Cloud Connector and authorize the application to access your account.

We will be synchronizing our Dropbox Files as shown below:

2. Configuring the Layer2 Cloud Connector

2.1. Creating a new connection

Create a new connection by using the Create New Connection option in the Actions pane (right-hand side). The new connection will appear at the bottom of the Connection Manager List (left-hand side). Click on your newly created connection to open the connection configuration settings.

Choose a meaningful name for your connection and replace the current "New Connection" Connection Title with it.

Connections to Dropbox can be bi-directional. An initial connection should always be uni-directional to assure that both data entities are identical before switching to bi-directional. Therefore, choose Left to Right as Direction. You can change this setting after your initial synchronization finished successfully.

2.2. Configuring the Data Entity 1

We will now set up our Data Entities. Go to the data entity “Data Entity 1” to open the configuration settings.

Choose a Data Entity Title. It is recommended to give your entities meaningful names to maintain an overview when you decide to set up multiple connections.

Select the Data Provider for Dropbox from the data provider list. You can search for Dropbox by typing into the selection box.

For the Dropbox provider a connection-string is not needed. Therefore we only must refresh our authentication token and grant the requested permissions for Dropbox to the Layer2 Cloud Connector:

The Select Statement text box is used to define specific data queries and filter some files. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.

To check if all necessary columns are received, you can use the Preview Data option on the right-hand pane and you will get a new pop-up showing your sample data from your Dropbox entity.

2.3. Configuring the Data Entity 2

We are going to send the Files to a custom SharePoint Online Library. It's required that you set up this Library prior to the next steps.

Use the left-hand pane to switch to the data entity "Data Entity 2". We will be using the Office365 Fast File Sync Provider for this setup. 

For more information about the Layer2 SharePoint provider please visit: Layer2 SharePoint Provider

You can copy the below Connection String which contains the minimum of required properties to connect to your custom SharePoint Online Library.

URL=https://your_custom_sharepoint_library_url/AllItems.aspx;Authentication=Microsoft_Modern;

• "URL=https://your_custom_sharepoint_url/AllItems.aspx;" this property defines the URL of your custom list that will be addressed.
• "Authentication=Microsoft_Modern;" this property will determine the authentication method used. Microsoft_Modern is the default authentication method to access Microsoft Office 365 / SharePoint Online.

Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.

In the next step, we will configure our mapping settings. Click on the Mappings option on the left-hand pane. The Enable Auto Mapping option will match the columns. Disabling this option allows you to match your columns as needed. We enabled auto-mapping in our setup. Save your changes by using the right-hand pane option Save Changes.

2.4. Running your connection

To run your connection switch back to the main connection configuration node and use the Run Now Button located on the bottom of the setup page. The Run Synchronization Toolbox will also display the synchronization process. 

This will be the result in our SharePoint Online Library after our initial successful synchronization:

If you want to use a bi-directional synchronization, you can now switch your connection direction after our first initial synchronization run finished successfully. See section 3.1 for further information.

3. Hints and known issues

The Dropbox app that is used for authentication is currently not yet verified by Dropbox which is why you get the warning shown below:

In case you prefer to use your own custom Dropbox app, please refer to the Layer2 Cloud Connector user documentation.

3.1. Connection direction

As far as tested, this connection supports uni-directional as well as bi-directional synchronizations. 

After adjusting the direction to bi-directional, you should check your Mapping settings again because some systems might include read-only columns that cannot be mapped directly.

We also recommend to choose a Conflict Resolution that matches your environments needs. You can find out more about the different conflict resolutions in our Layer2 Cloud Connector User Documentation.

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