Third-Party Credentials

Purpose

The Third-Party Credentials page in the Admin Console allows you to manage credentials for connecting to external systems. These credentials are stored in the Secure Credentials Store.

The following entities can use these credentials:

• Authorized plug-ins through the public API.
• Built-in smart services and functions such as the Call Web Service smart service and the webservicequery expression function.

Access

To access the Third-Party Credentials page, go to the Admin Console. Then, in the left navigation menu, under Integration, click Third-Party Credentials.

Settings

The Third-Party Credentials page contains a grid view of all configured sets of credentials. Initially, the grid will be empty.

To create a set of third-party credentials:

1. Click CREATE to create a new entry. A form with the following properties will display.

2. Configure the following properties:

   Property	Description
   Identity
   Name	The name of the third-party credentials entry. This name represents the external system to which the credentials will be used to authenticate. The name given here is displayed anywhere that this set of credentials can be selected, such as on grid on the main page of the admin page, in the Predefined Credentials dropdown list in the Call Web Service smart service, and on the Third-Party Credentials settings page available to end-users.
   Key	The key field is auto-generated and not editable. The key is generated based on the given name. The key does not change when the credentials set is renamed. The key is used when accessing the credentials through the Secure Credentials Store public API and used as a reference to the credentials when inspecting the audit log for the Secure Credentials Store.
   Description	A short description of the credentials set and/or the external system.
   Plug-ins List
   Plug-ins	The plug-ins that are authorized to use this set of credentials. When deploying a plug-in that uses the Secure Credentials Store API, that plug-in must be added to this list for each set of third-party credentials that it will be allowed to access. The input will auto-complete and allow selection of a deployed plug-in as you type the name or plug-in key of the plug-in. Any plug-ins that were previously added to the list, but have since been removed from the system, will appear in the list as the plug-in key rather than the plug-in name. These plug-ins may be safely removed if you know that they will not be re-deployed to the system.
   Credentials
   see description	This section of the form allows you to define the fields of the credentials (for example, "Username" and "Password") as well as the site-wide values for these fields. Once fields are defined, a checkbox allows you to make these fields available to end-users on the Third-Party Credentials settings page, so that they can store their own personal credentials that are used to connect to the external system. For each set of credentials, the designer of an application has the ability to select whether to use the site-wide credentials (for use cases where there is a single integration user), or use the per-user credentials (for use cases where the individual's access rights to the external system are important). Using an individual's credentials is only possible when that user is logged in and acting in the system. Per-user third-party credentials are not available for Appian accounts that authenticate via SAML. When configuring credentials for the first time, the section will be empty except for an Add field link. Clicking the link will display a grid with the following columns: Field name: The display name of the credentials field (for example, "Password"). This name will appear as the label of the input in the Third-Party Credentials settings page for end-users to enter their credentials. When accessing the credentials through the Secure Credentials Store Public API, the key for this field will be the same as the given field name, except all lower-case, with dots instead of spaces. Key: The key field is auto-generated and not editable. The key is generated based on the given name. The key does not change when the field is renamed. The key is used when accessing the credentials through the Secure Credentials Store Public API. Value: This is the value for the credentials field that will be used when a designer chooses to use the site-wide credentials rather than per-user credentials. Mask: This Yes/No toggle is only available when the checkbox to allow individuals to set their credentials has been checked. When selected, the value for this field will appear as masked in the Third-Party Credentials settings page for end-users.
   Test Connection
   Expression	This section of the form allows you to test the values for site-wide credentials. Provide an expression that returns true if the connection was successful. As a best practice, define the expression in a rule and use the rule here. When testing the connection, the expression only has access to the current credentials on the form, and you must use the unique identifier key as generated to retrieve the credentials from the Secure Credentials Store. If testing using a function that is provided in a plug-in, that plug-in must be in the authorization list.

3. Click SAVE.

Deleting individual credentials fields will cause all site-wide and per-user values for that field to be deleted. Deleting a set of third-party credentials from the grid on the Third-Party Credentials page will cause all site-wide and per-user values for the entire set of credentials fields to be deleted.

All credential changes result in an audit log message with the username of the user who made the change, the previous values, and the new values.

See also:

• Settings Page

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