Authenticate with Autotask Help Desk

You can authenticate with AutoTask to create your own instance of the Autotask Help Desk element through the UI or through APIs. Once authenticated, you can use the element instance to access the different functionality offered by the Autotask Help Desk platform.

Authenticate Through the UI

Use the UI to authenticate with Autotask Help Desk and create an element instance.

If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To authenticate an element instance:

1. Sign in to Cloud Elements, and then search for Autotask Help Desk in our Elements Catalog.
2. Hover over the element card, and then click Authenticate.
3. Enter a name for the element instance.
4. Provide your Username, Password, and Server URL.
5. Optionally type or select one or more tags to add to the authenticated element instance.
6. Click Create Instance.

After successfully authenticating, we give you several options for next steps. Make requests using the API docs associated with the instance, map the instance to a virtual resource, or use it in a formula template.

Authenticate Through API

Authenticating through API is similar to authenticating via the UI. Instead of clicking and typing through a series of buttons, text boxes, and menus, you will instead send a request to our /instances endpoint. The end result is the same, though: an authenticated element instance with a token and id.

To authenticate an element instance:

1. Construct a JSON body as shown below (see Parameters):

   {
     "element": {
       "key": "autotaskhelpdesk"
     },
     "configuration": {
       "helpdesk.autotask.username": "<AUTOTASK_USERNAME>",
       "helpdesk.autotask.password": "<AUTOTASK_PASSWORD>",
       "helpdesk.autotask.server.url": "<AUTOTASK_LOGIN_URL>"
     },
     "tags": [
       "<Add_Your_Tag>"
     ],
     "name": "<INSTANCE_NAME>"
   }
   

2. Call the following, including the JSON body you constructed in the previous step:

   POST /instances
   

   Note: Make sure that you include the User and Organization keys in the header. See the Overview for details.

3. Locate the token and id in the response and save them for all future requests using the element instance.

Example cURL

curl -X POST \
  https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/instances \
  -H 'authorization: User <USER_SECRET>, Organization <ORGANIZATION_SECRET>' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "element": {
    "key": "autotaskhelpdesk"
  },
  "configuration": {
    "helpdesk.autotask.username": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "helpdesk.autotask.password": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "helpdesk.autotask.server.url": "https://ww2.autotask.net"
  },
  "tags": [
    "Docs"
  ],
  "name": "API Instance"
}'

Parameters

API parameters not shown in Cloud Elements are in code formatting.

Example Response for an Authenticated Element Instance

In this example, the instance ID is 12345 and the instance token starts with "ABC/D...". The actual values returned to you will be unique: make sure you save them for future requests to this new instance.

{
  "id": 12345,
  "name": "API Instance",
  "createdDate": "2017-08-07T18:46:38Z",
  "token": "ABC/Dxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "element": {
    "id": 123,
    "name": "Autotask Helpdesk",
    "hookName": "AutotaskHelpdesk",
    "key": "autotaskhelpdesk",
    "description": "Add an Autotask Helpdesk Instance to connect your existing Autotask account to the Helpdesk Hub, allowing you to manage your incidents, priorities, statuses, users, etc. across multiple Help Desk Elements. You will need your Autotask Helpdesk account information to add an instance.",
    "image": "elements/provider_autotask.png",
    "active": true,
    "deleted": false,
    "typeOauth": false,
    "trialAccount": false,
    "configDescription": "If you do not have an Autotask.com account, you can create one at <a href=\"http://www.autotask.com\" target=\"_blank\">Autotask CRM Signup</a>",
    "signupURL": "http://www.autotask.com",
    "defaultTransformations": [  ],
    "transformationsEnabled": true,
    "bulkDownloadEnabled": true,
    "bulkUploadEnabled": true,
    "cloneable": false,
    "extendable": true,
    "beta": false,
    "authentication": {
        "type": "basic"
    },
    "extended": false,
    "hub": "helpdesk",
    "protocolType": "soap",
    "parameters": [],
    "private": false
    },
    "elementId": 123,
    "tags": [
      "Docs"
      ],
    "provisionInteractions": [  ],
    "valid": true,
    "disabled": false,
    "maxCacheSize": 0,
    "cacheTimeToLive": 0,
    "configuration": {    },
    "eventsEnabled": false,
    "traceLoggingEnabled": false,
    "cachingEnabled": false,
    "externalAuthentication": "none",
    "user": {
        "id": 12345
      }
}