As businesses become more reliant on apps like Salesforce.com and SharePoint, the ability to transfer information between them opens up new possibilities for streamlining business operations. The ability to integrate distinct programs reduces the need for users to switch between applications to access related information and avoid data duplication.
Apps like Salesforce.com and Google Drive have become increasingly important to businesses. The ability to transfer information between different systems allows corporate procedures to be streamlined. All that’s required is some simple Salesforce customization, with no need for APIs or complex coding. With the advent of Salesforce Files Connect, providing Google Drive files data to Salesforce users has never been easier.
Previously, this required using Google web services APIs to access data. In addition, Google Drive connectors are available through Files Connect. Salesforce Files Connect for Google Drive lets you connect Google Drive files to any record’s Files section or a Lightning Page component.
Now that you have a brief introduction about Salesforce Files Connect let’s get started with the steps to enable this platform for your organization.
Step 1. Files Connect setup:
- Click on the setting (gear icon) and search for the Files Connect in the quick find box, and set up the setting as given:
In the file-sharing option, there are two options:
i) Copy: Salesforce keeps a copy of external files. So if you share files with a Chatter group, everyone in the group can see them, even if they don’t have access to the external system.
ii) Reference: Points to files that aren’t kept in Salesforce. For example, there are no file previews available, and downloading files requires a user to connect to an external system. (In the Authentication Settings for External Systems part of the personal setup, users must provide the system’s credentials.)
Step 2: To connect features to users, create a permission set to grant access to files.
- Search the permission set in the quick find box and click on New:
- The next step is to set up user permissions for Files Connect. If you use permission sets for managing user permissions, go to Permission Set->System Permissions->Edit, then Select “Files Connect Cloud.” Click Save.
After that, assign this permission set to those users which you want to give access.
Step 3: Create an Application in Google Console:
- With your Google credentials, log in to Google Developer Console https://console.cloud.google.com.
- Create a credential in Google Console(Auth Client ID because we are using AUTH
- Select the Web Application to create new credentials, give the name of your application, and provide the Authorized Javascript origin and Authorized redirect URL after creating an Auth. Provider in Salesforce:
- After creating the credentials, we get the Client Id and Client Secret. We will use this in our salesforce org to Authenticate.
Step 4: Create an Authentication Provider
- Search for Auth. Provider in quick find box and click on New.
- After clicking on new, select the Provider type. There are multiple provider types, but we are connected with Google, so we select Google.
- After that, give the name of your Auth. Provider. The consumer key and consumer secrets are Client ID and Client Secret that we got from the Google console after creating Credential.
- In the authorized endpoint URL, Token endpoint URL and Default Scopes fill the below URLs
- Authorize Endpoint URL: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?access_type=offline&approval_prompt=force
- Token Endpoint URL: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token
- Default Scopes: OpenID email profile https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
- After filling in the information, click on Save.
- Copy the callback URL generated after creating the Auth. Provider and past it to the Authorized redirect URL in Google credentials.
- In the Authorized Javascript origin, paste your Salesforce base URL and paste the callback URL in the Authorized redirect URL.
- Google would allow access to the Google Drive API only if it originated from the URL you give in the Authorized Javascript origin.
Step 5: Create a new External Data Source:
- To create a new External data source, search for External Data source in the quick find box and click on New. Select Type File Connect: Google Drive
- Select the Identity type as Name Principle.
- Name Principle: Need one credential for all users.
- Per-user: Every user needs to provide their username and password for any external data source.
- Once clicked on save the Salesforce will ask to authenticate against Google.
- After Authentication, click on validate and sync and create Google Drive external object(item_GoogleDrive) in your Salesforce org and click on sync.
Step 6: Create a Tab for External Objects (item_GoogleDrive )
- Search for the tab on setup and create a Tab for that external Object.
- Now the item_GoogleDrive object will show all the files stored in Google Drive.
- Search for Google Drive in Salesforce app launcher.
- Open a record, and you can use that record in salesforce.
Conclusion
Salesforce Files Connect is a consolidated, enterprise-wide file-sharing solution. Moreover, Salesforce Files Connect will initially integrate files from Microsoft OneDrive for Business and SharePoint into Salesforce natively, with connectors for other popular enterprise repositories, including Google Drive, to be added in the coming months.
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