OneDrive connector for Simpplr Enterprise Search

Introduction:

The OneDrive connector allows Simpplr Enterprise Search to index Microsoft OneDrive Storage content, making it easily discoverable and searchable directly within Simpplr.

With this connector, you can (use cases):

• Bring OneDrive content into Simpplr Enterprise Search so users can find files alongside intranet content in one place.

• Respect OneDrive access permissions so users only see files they already have access to in OneDrive.

• Use advanced features like autocomplete, hybrid ranking, and Smart Answers on top of OneDrive content.

Indexed content from Simpplr Enterprise Search is available in:

• In main search listing

• Smart answers

Capabilities at a glance

Objects and content supported

1. Objects - List the object types that are indexed, for example:

• Files

• Folder

2. Metadata - For each indexed item, OneDrive captures:

• Title

• URL / link

• Owner

• Created time and Updated Time

• Parent Details

• Folder name and path

• File type, extension and size

• Mime Type

• Permissions (users and groups level access)

3. Permissions model - Permissions are read from OneDrive and enforced in Simpplr Enterprise Search: 

   1. How user and group permissions are synchronized

• OneDrive user and group memberships are fetched and stored in the ACL index.

• When a user is added to or removed from a OneDrive group, the ACL index is updated the next time the ACL sync runs (by default, every hour).

2. How public or link-shared content is handled

• Content that is only available via anonymous or public shared links is not indexed in the current version.

3. What happens when access is removed for a specific document

• When a user loses access to a file or folder in OneDrive, the updated permissions are applied during the next ACL sync.

• The file will no longer appear in that user’s Simpplr search results after the ACL sync completes.

Versions and editions supported

• Supports enabled OneDrive Storage Service.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

1. Source system Access

• Access to Microsoft Entra user account

2. Application / service account permissions

• Sufficient permissions to register an application with your Microsoft Entra tenant, and assign to the application a role in your Azure subscription. To complete these tasks, you'll need the Application.ReadWrite.All permission.

• Ability to grant the admin consent to the application from the Admin console (If you are not an admin, you need to request the Admin to grant consent via their Azure Portal).

OneDrive Source documentation:

• Application Setup and Configuration

• Supporting Doc

Authentication and security

1. Authentication mechanism
   Describe how  Simpplr Enterprise Search connects to OneDrive:

• Auth type: Application Authentication (Client credentials)

• Scopes or permissions required:

  • User.Read.All,

  • File.Read.All

  • Admin Consent to the permissions

2. Data security

   1. Data storage and residency: Indexed content and ACLs from OneDrive are stored within your Simpplr Enterprise Search environment, in the same region as your Simpplr tenant.

   2. Encryption in transit: Server-side encryption with Amazon S3 managed keys (SSE-S3), TLS encryption in Kafka.

   3. Encryption at rest: SSL (TLS 1.2 or higher), Auth: OAuth 2.0 client-credentials.

   4. Permission enforcement: OneDrive access controls (users and groups) are stored in the ACL index and applied at query time. Search results are always filtered by the signed-in user’s identity and OneDrive group memberships.

Setup and Cofiguration

Step 1 - Prepare Microsoft OnedDrive source.

1. Go to the Azure portal and sign in with your Azure account.

2. Search and Navigate to the “App Registration” service.

3. Click on the New registration button to register a new application.

4. Provide a name for your app, and optionally select the supported account types (e.g., single tenant, multi-tenant) based on your Entra-ID.

5. Click on the Register button to create the app registration.

6. After the registration is complete, you will be redirected to the app’s overview page. Take note of the Application (client) ID value and Directory (Tenant) ID, as you’ll need them later.

7. Navigate to Manage → API permissions section and click on the Add a permission button.

8. Click on Add a permission and in the Request API permissions pane, select Microsoft Graph as the API.
   

9. Choose the application permissions and select the following permissions under the Application tab: User.Read.All, Files.Read.All

   

10.  Click on the Add permissions button to add the selected permissions to your app. Finally, click on the Grant admin consent button to grant the required permissions to the app. This step requires administrative privileges.

12. Navigate to  Manage → Certificates & Secrets tab. Go to Client Secrets. Generate a new client secret and keep a note of the string present under the Value column.

Step 2 - Create the connector in Enterprise Application

1. In Simpplr, go to: Manage features → Enterprise search → Add source.

2. Search and Select “ Microsoft Onedrive”.

3. Enter basic information:

   • Connection Name: (Connector Name for this instance)

4. Provide authentication details (Copied from the client Application):

   • Azure Application Client ID

   • Azure Application Client Secret

   • Azure Application Tenant ID

5. Click “Save” and “confirm”.

Step 3 - Define sync scope

• Configure Folder based rules:

  • Include Specific Folders: Include the files belonging to specific folder (links)

  • Exclude Specific Folders: Exclude the files belonging to specific folder (links)

• Configure Common Filters rules (Exclusion only):

  • File extension (e.g., .zip, .exe)

  • File size above a specified threshold

  • Document age (e.g., older than specified date)

• Configure Audience based filtering.

  • Include audiences

  • Exclude audiences

Step 4 - Configure sync schedule.

• Default schedule: Full crawl at first setup and once in a week, incremental sync every 4 hours, ACL runs every hour

• Configuration options:

  • No option to configure the sync schedule, however sync can be paused and resumed manually

Step 5 - Monitor the sync

1. Monitor the initial full sync status (starts automatically) in the connector dashboard.

Crawling and sync behavior

How the connector works over time:

1.  Initial full crawl

• All the content present in the OneDrive Storage account is indexed during the first run

• How long it may take: Depends on the size of the content.

2. Incremental updates

• Mechanism: Based on Timestamp of previous sync.

• What changes trigger reindexing:

  • New items created

  • Existing items updated

  • Permissions changed

  • Items moved or renamed

  • Items deleted or archived

3. Deletion and permission changes

• Deleted items are removed from index at next sync.

• Permission changes are updated at the next sync cycle.

4. Expected latency

• With the default schedule (incremental sync every 4 hours and ACL sync every hour), changes made to OneDrive content are generally reflected in Simpplr search results within 4 hours of the update, and the permission lag in the system can be up-to 4hours. (as the incremental Sync every 4 hours). On top of that, there can be certain cases, where the permission sync can take up-to 7days (When the full sync is run), subject to content volume and system load.

Field mapping and search experience

1. Default field mapping

Source field One Drive → Index field Simpplr

2.  Search experience - how content from this connector appears in search:

• Result layout: (Icon, Connector name, title (name) as link, body(excerpt), Created Date, File Type icon, file type)

• Available filters and facets:

  • Sources = OneDrive

  • File type

  • Owner

  • Created Date

• Participation in advanced features:

  • Smart Answers / Q&A: Yes

  • Autocomplete: Yes

  • Recommendations / “Suggested for you”: N/A

  • Trending / popular results: N/A

  • Semantic / hybrid ranking: Yes

3. Limits and known limitations

Monitoring and troubleshooting

1. Connector health and monitoring - Describe where admins can see status information:

• Enterprise Search → Connector name

• Available metrics:

  • Last sync status (Success / Warning / Failed)

  • Last sync time

  • Next scheduled sync

  • Sync Type

  • Total items indexed count

2. Common issues and resolutions. Example pattern:

   1. Issue: Authentication failed, Failed to fetch the access token (invalid credentials or missing scopes)
      Possible causes:

      1. Incorrect client ID or secret

      2. App not granted the required permissions

      3. App not granted with the Admin consent

   2. Resolution:

      1. Verify and re-enter credentials

      2. Confirm required permissions are granted

      3. Confirm if the App is granted with the Admin consent.

3. When to contact support. 

   1. Authentication error persists even after trying the above-mentioned resolutions

   2. Sync is stuck in the Pending state,

   3. Sync is in progress but no documents are getting ingested.

   4. Sync failure with cancelled error (when not cancelled manually)

   5. Incomplete or Partial sync.

4. When contacting Support, include:

• Connector name and instance ID (if available)

• Organization URL

• Approximate time and date of the issue

• Error messages or screenshots

• Steps you already tried

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Q1. Can I connect multiple OneDrive tenants or domains?
A. Multiple OneDrive connections can be configured in the Simpplr environment. But functionality to connect multiple tenants or domains in a single connector is not implemented yet.

Q2. How often does OneDrive sync data?
A. The connector runs a full crawl on first setup and then once per week. Incremental sync runs every 4 hours and ACL (permission) sync runs every hour by default.

Q3. Are comments, revisions, or version history indexed?
A. Comments and individual versions are not indexed as separate items. The connector indexes the latest file metadata, including the last updated time and updated-by user.

Q4. Does the connector index content from external guests or shared links?
A. Not implemented yet.

Q5. What happens when a user loses access to an item in OneDrive Storage ?
A. The updated access permissions will be indexed during the next sync.

Note: Though the access control syncs run every hour, the permission lag in the system can be up-to 4hours. (As the incremental sync every 4 hours). On top of that, there can be certain cases, where the permission sync can take up-to 7days (When the full sync is run)

Q6. Can I exclude certain sites/teams/folders from being indexed?
A. Documents can only be excluded based on file extension, size, and age. Additionally, documents can be included or excluded based on audiences.

Q7. How are deletions handled?
A. Objects deleted from the source are permanently deleted from the index.

Q8. Are image files searchable ?
A. No, images are not searchable.