SharePoint connector in Power Automate is very rich with various actions that can make the developers or makers life simple when it comes to interacting with SharePoint data. There might be some actions like
- Breaking permission to a list item
- Creating a site
- Adding user to a SharePoint group etc
which is not possible through the SharePoint standard connector or MS Graph API as of the time I am writing this article, SharePoint REST API to rescue. The SharePoint online REST API enables developers to remotely interact with SharePoint data. There is an action Send an HTTP request to SharePoint which could come handy in many scenarios, the point to note here is the action uses the context of user aka flow creator while executing the API. In this blogpost, let us see how to call a SharePoint REST API to create a Modern SharePoint communication site as an application in a Power Automate cloud flow using the HTTP connector with the help of a Self-Signed certificate. Find below the list of steps to enable calling the SharePoint REST API using certificate credentials
- Creation of Self-Signed certificate
- Application Registration in Azure AD Portal
- Creation of Power Automate cloud flow with the HTTP Connector
- Method 1: Without using Azure Key Vault
- Method 2: Azure Key Vault to store Certificate
Pre-Requisites:
- Access to HTTP Premium Connector in Power Automate
- Access to register Azure AD Application in Azure AD Portal
- Install PnP PowerShell Module
Creation of Self-Signed certificate:
The first step is to create a certificate. Refer to this blog post for instructions creating a self signed certificate using the PnP utility
Application Registration in Azure AD Portal:
Register an application in Azure AD and obtain the client id & tenant id for the registered application. In this example I have added the Sites.Read.All Application permission with Admin Consent to create the SharePoint communication site, this permission is more than enough to create the site as an Application. Grant appropriate permission based on the requirements, for e.g to break permission on list items grant Sites.Manage.All. Find below screenshot for your reference for granting permissions
To add the above created self-signed certificate, click Certificates & secrets under the Manage blade. Click Upload certificate > Select the certificate file MSFlow.cer > Add
Creation of Power Automate cloud flow with the HTTP Connector:
Let us see below how to access the SharePoint REST API to create a SharePoint site with & without using the Azure Key Vault.
- Method 1: Without using Azure Key Vault
- Method 2: Azure Key Vault to store Certificate
Method 1: Without using Azure Key Vault
In the cloud flow, add a Compose action to store the PfxBase64 value copied during the creation of the certificate. Now add the HTTP action to create a Modern Communication site
Request Type: POST
URL: https://tenantname.sharepoint.com/_api/SPSiteManager/create
Headers:
Key: accept
Value: application/json
Body:
{
"request": {
"Title": "Communication Site from Cloud Flow",
"Url": "https://tenantname.sharepoint.com/sites/commsitefromPA",
"Lcid": 1033,
"ShareByEmailEnabled": false,
"Description": "Description",
"WebTemplate": "SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0",
"SiteDesignId": "6142d2a0-63a5-4ba0-aede-d9fefca2c767",
"Owner": "UPNoftheSiteAdministrator@domain.com",
"WebTemplateExtensionId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
}
}Change the SiteDesignId for the different site teamplate Topic, Showcase, Blank
Authentication: Active Directory OAuth
- Tenant: TenantId
- Audience: https://tenantname.microsoft.com
- Client ID: Azure AD Client Id
- Pfx: Output of the compose action
- Password: Certificate password given during the creation
Find below screenshot for your reference
Run the flow, it should be able to create the Site. Find below screenshot of the flow run
Method 2: Azure Key Vault to store Certificate
Azure Key Vault is a cloud service for storing and accessing secrets enabling your applications accessing it in a secure manner. Follow my blog article which I have written to call a Microsoft Graph API with Certificate using a Azure Key Vault to store the certificate
Summary:
Custom Connector can be used to call a SharePoint REST api in the context of the user. If you are visiting my blog for the first time, please do look at my other blogposts.
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Mohamed Ashiq Faleel 