Connect to NAV 2017 or NAV 2018 on-premises

[Symira]

Hi Guys

For the first time I need to connect to an on-premises instance of NAV 2017 or NAV 2018. I have configured the On-Premises Data Gateway, which seems to be running fine.

Now in Powerautomate Flow when I select a NAV Connector action to create record I see following parameters. Now since the NAV Instance is running on-premises I need to tell the connector to rout the request over the On-Premises Gateway which is running and available in power platform. How can this be done?

Regards

-S

[anupam8555]

Hello @Symira ,

You need to download & install On-Premise gateway first in your local computer network and than need to setup gateway on Power Automate. Once you do that you will be able to connect your On-Premise NAV with Power Automate. Detail information is on below link.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/gateway-reference

Thanks

Anupam

(Please mark as resolved if it really helps you)

[Symira]

Hi Anupam

Thank you for your reply. In fact the On-Premises GW is already installed and also configured in Power Automate. What I don't understand is how to tell the connector to route the connection url (Odata feed url) over the Gateway (please ref. the snapshot above). In the snapshot I don't see any field where I can tell the connector to do so. Am I missing some point?

Tnx

-S

[Symira]

Hi @anupam8555 

Just an update.

As you can see in the first screenshot the Gateway is Online

When I try to connect to NAV using the Odata Url I get following error, which is understandable to me, as I don't see any option to tell the connector to resolve the URL by routing it over the Gateway.

Any idea?

-S

[anupam8555]

Hi @Symira ,

Can you make sure you are using correct ODATA URL ? As per my knowledge OData URL for NAV2017 or 2018 could be : 

1. If multitenant, it’s this format: http://mytenant.myservice.com:7048/DynamicsNAV/ODataV4/Company(‘CRONUS-International-Ltd.’)
2. If not multitenant, it’s this format: http://myserver:7048/DynamicsNAV110/ODataV4/Company(”CRONUS-International-Ltd.’)

Let me know if it works. 

Thanks

Anupam

(Please mark as resolve if it helps you really)

[Symira]

Hi @anupam8555 

This didn't work either. In fact the URL I am using is the one displayed on NAV "Web Services" page. It works fine when I invoke the URL in a browser on the server itself. What is troubling me is the fact, that while configuring the connector there is no way to tell the connector to route the request through the on-premises gateway to resolve the URL. How in the world is it supposed to know where that "myserver" part of the URL is? Eg. while configuring a custom connector you can explicitly configure the connector to route via an "on-premises gateway".

Thanks.

[joe_hannes_col]

Hello @Symira,

As this thread is a bit older, I don't know if you're still interested in an answer - here is one anyway 😉

It's my understanding the Dynamics NAV connector on the Power Platform is using independent of the gateway. In fact, there seems to be no way to get the connector to use the on-premises data gateway.

Instead, if you have configured NAV (and your firewall) correctly, you should be able to connect through the OData V4 endpoint using the link you referenced earlier.

The on-premises data gateway would only help you create a connection to the SQL database directly.

[Symira]

Hi @joe_hannes_col 

Thank you for your feedback. Indeed, I am now considering exposing the NAV service to DMZ so it can be accessed from the Flow. I am though not very happy with the solution. The sole purpose of the On-Premises Data Gateway is to connect on-premise resources to the Azure tenant, which it does very well. It is only this NAV Connector which has become obsolete, or lacks the feature to route the traffic over the On-Premises Data Gateway that is already available in that tenant.

Regarding your comment that the On-Premises Data Gateway can only access SQL database. I think this comment is wrong. It exposes many more ressources than only SQL database. Please refer this link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/data-platform/using-dataflows-with-on-premises-data

Regards

-S

[joe_hannes_col]

Hello @Symira,

Thanks for your reply. I agree, connecting to OData correctly is not the best solution, especially from a security perspective. But if we want to use the NAV connector, it is the only way as far as I know.

And you are correct, of course: I meant to say that in an NAV context, the on-prem data gateway can only be used to connect to the database directly.

[rakadakaka · Accepted solution]

Hi @joe_hannes_col ,

Another possible solution for this can be using a custom connector for the Navision On-Premise .

Depending on the SOAP/OData REST service provided by Navision  You can create the custom connector

While creating the custom connector , select connect via On-Premise Data Gateway .

[Symira]

Hi @joe_hannes_col ,

Thanks. I'll try that.

Regards

-S

[Anonymous]

Hello Symira,

Actually I'm facing the same issue. Did you manage to connect to the Odata feed through the gateway? 

I tried the custom connector way but I didn't find relevant information on how to configure that. 

Thanks in advance. 

[bullmau185]

Better late than never. We had the same need and ended up going with an external solution: https://www.connecting-software.com/connect-bridge-for-power-automate/

They are offering a custom connector for Power Automate Cloud now but are going through the certification process. For Power Automate Desktop it works without the need for a custom connector.