docs/reference/search-connectors/es-connectors-dropbox.md
The Elastic Dropbox connector is a connector for Dropbox. This connector is written in Python using the Elastic connector framework.
View the source code for this connector (branch main, compatible with Elastic 9.0).
This connector is available as a self-managed connector.
This self-managed connector is compatible with Elastic versions 8.9.0+.
To use this connector, satisfy all self-managed connector requirements.
To create a new Dropbox connector:
You can use the {{es}} Create connector API to create a new self-managed Dropbox self-managed connector.
For example:
PUT _connector/my-dropbox-connector
{
"index_name": "my-elasticsearch-index",
"name": "Content synced from Dropbox",
"service_type": "dropbox"
}
% TEST[skip:can’t test in isolation]
:::::{dropdown} You’ll also need to create an API key for the connector to use.
::::{note}
The user needs the cluster privileges manage_api_key, manage_connector and write_connector_secrets to generate API keys programmatically.
::::
To create an API key for the connector:
Run the following command, replacing values where indicated. Note the encoded return values from the response:
POST /_security/api_key
{
"name": "connector_name-connector-api-key",
"role_descriptors": {
"connector_name-connector-role": {
"cluster": [
"monitor",
"manage_connector"
],
"indices": [
{
"names": [
"index_name",
".search-acl-filter-index_name",
".elastic-connectors*"
],
"privileges": [
"all"
],
"allow_restricted_indices": false
}
]
}
}
}
Update your config.yml file with the API key encoded value.
:::::
Refer to the {{es}} API documentation for details of all available Connector APIs.
Before you can configure your connector, you’ll need to:
To use this connector as a self-managed connector, see Self-managed connectors Once set up, for additional usage operations, see Connectors UI in {{kib}}.
You’ll need to create an OAuth app in the Dropbox platform by following these steps:
Register a new app in the Dropbox App Console. Select Full Dropbox API app and choose the following required permissions:
files.content.read
sharing.read
To use document level security, you’ll also need the following permissions:
team_info.read
team_data.member
team_data.content.read
members.read
Once the app is created, make note of the app key and app secret values which you’ll need to configure the Dropbox connector on your Elastic deployment.
To generate a refresh token, follow these steps:
Go to the following URL, replacing <APP_KEY> with the app key value saved earlier: https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=<APP_KEY>&response_type=code&token_access_type=offline
The HTTP response should contain an authorization code that you’ll use to generate a refresh token. An authorization code can only be used once to create a refresh token.
In your terminal, run the following cURL command, replacing <AUTHORIZATION_CODE>, <APP_KEY>:<APP_SECRET> with the values you saved earlier:
curl -X POST "https://api.dropboxapi.com/oauth2/token?code=<AUTHORIZATION_CODE>&grant_type=authorization_code" -u "<APP_KEY>:<APP_SECRET>"
% NOTCONSOLE
Store the refresh token from the response to be used in the connector configuration.
Make sure the response has a list of the following scopes:
account_info.readfiles.content.readfiles.metadata.readsharing.readteam_info.read (if using document level security)team_data.member (if using document level security)team_data.content.read (if using document level security)members.read (if using document level security)The following configuration fields are required to set up the connector:
path
: The folder path to fetch files/folders from Dropbox. Default value is /.
app_key (required)
: The App Key to authenticate your Dropbox application.
app_secret (required)
: The App Secret to authenticate your Dropbox application.
refresh_token (required)
: The refresh token to authenticate your Dropbox application.
use_document_level_security
: Toggle to enable document level security (DLS). When enabled, full syncs will fetch access control lists for each document and store them in the _allow_access_control field. Access control syncs will fetch users' access control lists and store them in a separate index.
retry_count
: The number of retry attempts after a failed request to Dropbox. Default value is 3.
concurrent_downloads
: The number of concurrent downloads for fetching attachment content. This can help speed up content extraction of attachments. Defaults to 100.
use_text_extraction_service
: Requires a separate deployment of the Elastic Text Extraction Service. Requires that pipeline settings disable text extraction. Default value is False.
use_document_level_security
: Toggle to enable document level security (DLS). When enabled, full syncs will fetch access control lists for each document and store them in the _allow_access_control field. Access control syncs will fetch users' access control lists and store them in a separate index.
include_inherited_users_and_groups
: Depends on document level security being enabled. Include groups and inherited users when indexing permissions.
::::{warning}
Enabling Include groups and inherited users will cause a significant performance degradation.
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You can deploy the Dropbox connector as a self-managed connector using Docker. Follow these instructions.
::::{dropdown} Step 1: Download sample configuration file Download the sample configuration file. You can either download it manually or run the following command:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elastic/connectors/main/app/connectors_service/config.yml.example --output ~/connectors-config/config.yml
% NOTCONSOLE
Remember to update the --output argument value if your directory name is different, or you want to use a different config file name.
::::
::::{dropdown} Step 2: Update the configuration file for your self-managed connector Update the configuration file with the following settings to match your environment:
elasticsearch.hostelasticsearch.api_keyconnectorsIf you’re running the connector service against a Dockerized version of Elasticsearch and Kibana, your config file will look like this:
# When connecting to your cloud deployment you should edit the host value
elasticsearch.host: http://host.docker.internal:9200
elasticsearch.api_key: <ELASTICSEARCH_API_KEY>
connectors:
-
connector_id: <CONNECTOR_ID_FROM_KIBANA>
service_type: dropbox
api_key: <CONNECTOR_API_KEY_FROM_KIBANA> # Optional. If not provided, the connector will use the elasticsearch.api_key instead
% NOTCONSOLE
Using the elasticsearch.api_key is the recommended authentication method. However, you can also use elasticsearch.username and elasticsearch.password to authenticate with your Elasticsearch instance.
Note: You can change other default configurations by simply uncommenting specific settings in the configuration file and modifying their values.
::::
::::{dropdown} Step 3: Run the Docker image Run the Docker image with the Connector Service using the following command:
docker run \
-v ~/connectors-config:/config \
--network "elastic" \
--tty \
--rm \
docker.elastic.co/integrations/elastic-connectors:{{version.stack}} \
/app/bin/elastic-ingest \
-c /config/config.yml
% NOTCONSOLE ::::
Refer to DOCKER.md in the elastic/connectors repo for more details.
Find all available Docker images in the official registry.
::::{tip}
We also have a quickstart self-managed option using Docker Compose, so you can spin up all required services at once: Elasticsearch, Kibana, and the connectors service. Refer to this README in the elastic/connectors repo for more information.
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The connector syncs the following objects and entities:
Files
Folders
::::{note} Due to a Dropbox issue, metadata updates to Paper files from Dropbox Paper are not immediately reflected in the Dropbox UI. This delays the availability of updated results for the connector. Once the metadata changes are visible in the Dropbox UI, the updates are available.
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::::{note}
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Full syncs are supported by default for all connectors.
This connector also supports incremental syncs.
Basic sync rules are identical for all connectors and are available by default.
::::{note} A full sync is required for advanced sync rules to take effect.
::::
The following section describes advanced sync rules for this connector.
Advanced sync rules for Dropbox allow you to sync Dropbox files based on a query that matches strings in the filename. You can optionally filter the results of the query by file_extensions or file_categories. When both are provided, priority is given to file_categories. We have some examples below for illustration.
$$$es-connectors-dropbox-client-sync-rules-advanced-example-1$$$ Example: Query only
[
{
"query": "confidential"
},
{
"query": "dropbox"
}
]
% NOTCONSOLE
$$$es-connectors-dropbox-client-sync-rules-advanced-example-2$$$ Example: Query with file extension filter
[
{
"query": "dropbox",
"options": {
"file_extensions": [
"txt",
"pdf"
]
}
}
]
% NOTCONSOLE
$$$es-connectors-dropbox-client-sync-rules-advanced-example-3$$$ Example: Query with file category filter
[
{
"query": "test",
"options": {
"file_categories": [
{
".tag": "paper"
},
{
".tag": "png"
}
]
}
}
]
% NOTCONSOLE
$$$es-connectors-dropbox-client-sync-rules-advanced-limitations$$$ Limitations
The connector framework enables operators to run functional tests against a real data source. Refer to Connector testing for more details.
To perform E2E testing for the Dropbox connector, run the following command:
$ make ftest NAME=dropbox
For faster tests, add the DATA_SIZE=small flag:
make ftest NAME=dropbox DATA_SIZE=small
Refer to Known issues for a list of known issues for all connectors.
See Troubleshooting for a list of troubleshooting tips for all connectors.
See Security for a list of security tips for all connectors.
See Content extraction.