Migrate to the OAuth Authentication Model

We are planning to deprecate the support for authtoken in each DCs as mentioned below.

  • IN and CN DC - January 31st, 2021
  • EU DC - February 15th, 2021
  • US DC - February 28th, 2021

We recommend you to use Zoho OAuthTokens instead of authtokens.

About OAuth Authentication Model

OAuth 2.0, an industry-standard protocol specification, enables third-party applications (clients) to gain delegated access to protected resources via an API in Zoho.

1. What are the Advantages of using the OAuth Authentication Model?

The following are the advantages of using OAuth Authentication model:

  • Clients do not have to support password authentication or store user credentials
  • Clients gain delegated access, i.e., access only to resources authenticated by the user.
  • Users can revoke third-party application's delegated access anytime.
  • OAuth access tokens expire after a set time. If the client faces a security breach, user data will be compromised only until the access token is valid.

2. Why should you move from Authtoken to OAuth?

The below comparison between OAuth and Authtoken describes why you should move to OAuth. 

OAuthAuthtoken
OAuth follows a specific standard protocol.Authtoken doesn't have a standard protocol. This makes the process more complicated as the clients must find out how authorization via authtoken is implemented in Zoho before using it.
An OAuth access token's access must be viewed and authorized by the user.An authtoken can be generated without the user viewing authtokens access reach.

3. What will happen if you do not migrate to OAuth?

Zoho Analytics APIs/ Older versions of UploadTool requests will not work after the time period stated above. So we recommend to migrate to OAuth by following the steps mentioned in the below section.

How to Migrate?

1. I'm using the older version of the Zoho Analytics Client Libraries. How should I upgrade?

If you are using the authtoken in Zoho Analytics API client libraries offered for Java, C#, Python, PHP, and Go, then follow the below steps to upgrade to the latest version.

  1. Download the latest library from the below link.
    https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/#client-libraries
  2. Specify the CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, and REFRESH_TOKEN in ReportClient constructor. Refer to this link to generate these parameters.
  3. Start using the latest library.

2. I'm using Zoho Analytics APIs from my application environment. How should I upgrade?

If you are using Zoho Analytics APIs from your application environment, then you need to modify your API request to use OAuth model as provided in the API Doc.

3. I'm using the older version of the Zoho Analytics Upload Tool. How should I upgrade?

If your Upload Tool uses authtoken (or) Zoho account password, then your Upload Tool needs an upgrade. If you are already having CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET and REFRESH_TOKEN configured in your Upload Tool, then no action is required.

Option 1 - Move to the latest version of the Upload Tool

Follow the below steps to move to the latest version of Upload Tool:

  1. Download the latest Upload Tool from the below link.
    https://www.zoho.com/analytics/help/upload-tool/download-and-setup.html#download-tool
  2. Move all the files from your <Old_UploadTool_Home>/conf folder (excluding the logging.properties file) to the <New_UploadTool_Home>/conf folder
  3. Remove the AUTHTOKEN property from the common_params.conf file
  4. Specify CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, and REFRESH_TOKEN properties in the common_params.conf file. Refer to this link to generate these parameters.
  5. Start using the latest Upload Tool. Refer to the steps in the link below to use OAuth parameters in command line arguments.
    https://www.zoho.com/analytics/help/upload-tool/uploading-data-from-csv-files-console-mode.html#upload-data
    https://www.zoho.com/analytics/help/import-data/upload-tool/my-sql.html#executing-upload-tool

Option 2 - Migrate to Zoho Databridge

Zoho Analytics now has a next-generation upload agent, called  Zoho Databridge. Zoho Databridge is a lightweight independent utility that helps you to easily set up the import process, right from the Zoho Analytics interface.

To migrate to Zoho Databridge, please refer to Migration from Upload Tool to the Zoho Databridge document.