Error while crawling LOB contents SharePoint BDC

Question

I have configured BDC in SharePoint. I am able to get data in my external list. I need this data in search too. So I created another content source for BDC. Now when I crawl this content source, it gives below error:

Error while crawling LOB contents. ( Error caused by exception: Microsoft.BusinessData.Infrastructure.AccessDeniedException Access denied by Business Data Connectivity.)

So I googled this error and find out that I need to assign farm admin permission for BDC service. When I provide it, I got following error:

Error while crawling LOB contents. ( Error caused by exception: Microsoft.BusinessData.Runtime.SsoAuthenticationException Message from External System : 'The username returned by the Secure Store Provider is not of the form 'Domain\User'.'. )

I am using SharePoint Farm account. I have given permission in secure store,search,BDC, and in database. But I am not able to resolve it. Can any one tell what causes this issue and how can I resolve it?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You don't and shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet. Particularly in regard to SharePoint. You don't and shouldn't grant the farm account access to anything it does not need access to.

What you do need is for the CRAWL account to have EXECUTE rights on the External Content Type. Look in the Search Service Application for what account is used for CRAWL, it should NOT be the FARM account either. Now go to the BCS Service App and grant the crawl account EXECUTE rights on the External Content Type. (While you are there ensure that the ECT is flagged as CRAWLABLE. If its not this won't work and you need to fix your ECT.)

OK, you are not necessarily done. If you used the Secure Store Service for the data connection you need to be sure the Crawl account is also a member of the group that can use the Application you created. If you used an Individual type, you need to Set Credentials for the Crawl account here too.

It always helps to test by logging into the External List you created as the Crawl Account. If you can't get the External List to work AS THE CRAWL ACCOUNT, crawling won't work.