C# Azure AD Secured WebAPI - Create DataVerse Table Record as application user without losing initial user information

[MarkuZ]

Hello community,

as described in subject im currently creating a C# WebAPI using ServiceClient of Microsoft.PowerPlatform.Dataverse.Client Nuget package.

Goal:
- Create a record using AAD-App-Credentials for a user who does not have permission to dataverse table without losing data, which user initially executed my web api call.

So if i understand it correctly, i need to use CreatedBy + CreatedByDelegate fields. 
CreatedBy/ModifiedBy = Real User who executed web api call
CreatedByDelegate/ModifiedByDelegate = App User

I only achieve this if both objects (AAD-User + AAD-App) have Write-Access to DataVerse table. It does not work, if the user who called my api does not have direct permissions to create records.

Is there any way to achieve my goal? 

What i tried right now:
crmServiceClient = new ServiceClient(cert, StoreName.My, null, new Uri("https://{EnvironmentUrl}"), true, null, "{ClientId}", null, null);
--> this creates record as app

crmServiceClient.CallerId --> Setting this does not do anything

crmServiceClient.CallerAADObjectId --> Setting this throws exception as the user i set has no permission in dataverse.

Any ideas on how to achieve this or is this scenario even possible? 

[ChrisPiasecki]

Hi @MarkuZ ,

What you're experiencing is as-designed. By setting the CallerAADObjectId field, you are impersonating the user and effectively running the operation with the privileges of that user, so if the user doesn't have permissions to the table, it will fail. 

You can simply try setting the CreatedOnBehalfBy or ModifiedOnBehalfBy to your user who triggered the execution. Don't set the CallerAADObjectId and impersonate, you want it to execute as your application user.

Here are the fields where you can override the system behavior:

Field	Override/on behalf field	Behavior
Created On (createdon)	Record Created On (overriddencreatedon)	When overriddencreatedon is set, createdon will be updated to the overridden date and overriddencreatedon will be the actual date. So in the UI you will see the custom Created On.
Created By (createdby)	Created On (delegate) (createdonbehalfby)	Created By will always be the actual user, but the act on behalf user will be set in createdonbehalfby
Modified By (modifiedby)	Modified By (delegate) (modifiedonbehalfby)	Same as createdonbehalfby

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[MarkuZ1995]

You mean i can simply add createdonbehalfby to my Updatevalues-Dictionary? What Type of value i have to set?

Is it some kind of EntityReference? If yes - reference to which table? 

[ChrisPiasecki]

Hi @MarkuZ1995,

Yes, the createdonbehalfby Lookup would be set to an Entity Reference. You can call the method .ToEntityReference() on the User Entity object.

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[MarkuZ]

Tried it but still no success.

I'm setting field "createdonbehalfby" to EntityReference
Table: "systemuser"
ID: "{systemuserid}"-Field of the desired record/user-dataset

Result: createdonbehalfby-Field of created record is just null.

What am i missing/doing wrong?

[ChrisPiasecki]

Hi @MarkuZ, 

Apologies, I got mixed up. The created by delegate and modified by delegate are read-only, they can only be set by the system and is set when impersonation happens (whether via the web API as you are attempting or a Plugin that runs as a specific user). In this scenario, the created on or modified on will be set to the impersonated user, and the created by delegate or modified by delegate will be set to the account that did the impersonation (application user). 

Because of this, the user you are impersonating needs to have privileges to write to that table.

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