Overview

To use Cosmos with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central there is an extension available from AppSource that must be installed and configured. This extension enables Cosmos to extract data from Business Central and bring it into the Cosmos reporting database. 

These steps should be completed by a Business Central user who has administrative or Extension Management permissions within Business Central.

Details

When using Cosmos with a Business Central database, it is required to have the Cosmos extension for Business Central installed and configured in your Business Central tenant. This step must be completed by someone who has administrative or Extension Management permissions within Business Central.

Installing the Cosmos Extension for Business Central

The Cosmos extension for Business Central is available from Microsoft's app store, AppSource. 

To install the extension into your environment, log in to Business Central and click on the search icon, which is the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of Business Central. You can then search for "extension" in the search box and then click on the "Extension Marketplace" option that appears in the search results.

Once in the AppSource Marketplace, type "Cosmos" in the search field and you will see the "Cosmos Reporting & Analytics" app appear on the screen. Next, click the "Get it now" button at the bottom of the Cosmos app.

If you have downloaded apps from AppSource previously, you should see a screen that resembles the one below. You can check the box to agree to the Microsoft terms and then click Continue at the bottom. If you have not downloaded an app from AppSource previously then Microsoft may ask to collect some contact information from you. 

You will then see the AppSource installation screen. From here you can click the Install button at the bottom to install the app into your Business Central tenant.

You can check the progress of the installation in Business Central by clicking the search icon, which is the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of Business Central, typing in "extension" in the search field, and clicking the Extension Management option that appears in the search results. From here you can click on "Manage" and then "Deployment Status".

Once the app is finished installing in your tenant the status will show as Completed. 

If there is a failure while installing the app, which is uncommon, the open a support case by navigating to our Support Site and clicking Open a Ticket at the top or email our Support Team directly at support@cosmosdatatech.com. 

Configuring the Cosmos Business Central Extension

Once the Cosmos extension has been installed, the next step is to perform a short configuration process to get things properly hooked up. 

First, open the Cosmos Data Management extension by clicking on the search icon, which is the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of Business Central, and typing in "Cosmos" in the search field. Then click on the "Cosmos Data Management" option that appears in the search results.

The first time that you open the extension you may see the message below. Microsoft requires us to store our logo on the web, and this message is allowing Business Central to go to the web to bring the logo in to the next page. It is recommended that you leave the default "Allow Always" selected and click "OK".

You will then see the main Cosmos Data Management page. To configure the extension, click the "Configure AAD Application" button. This will configure an Azure Active Directory connection that will allow Cosmos to pull information from Business Central into your Cosmos reporting database.

Once this button has been clicked you will see confirmation that the AAD Application was created successfully. Click OK to close the confirmation window.

Next, click the "View AAD Application Card" button on the Cosmos Data Management main page.

Once the AAD Application Card page loads, nothing needs to be changed on the page. You will just need to click the "Grant Consent" button to give Cosmos consent to pull data out of your tenant and into your Cosmos reporting database. 

When you click the "Grant Consent" button you may then be asked to log in with your Microsoft account if you are not currently logged in.

Microsoft will then display a page letting you know that Cosmos is requesting access to pull data from your Business Central tenant. Click the "Accept" button at the bottom.

You will then be shown a confirmation message letting you know that consent has been given successfully. Click the OK button to close the confirmation window.

Your Cosmos app for Business Central is now successfully installed and configured. 

Additional Information on the Cosmos Data Management Page

There are two additional buttons on the "Cosmos Data Management" page that may be helpful to you. These buttons are:

• Contact Support
  • This will enable you to email our Support Team directly from Business Central. Note that email must be configured in Business Central for this to work. This is accomplished by clicking the search button in Business Central, typing "email" in the search field, and then clicking on "Set up email" from the search results
• Visit Knowledgebase
  • This will take you directly to our Knowledgebase site for quick access to all our articles