Create Business Data Connectivity Service (BCS) Application in SharePoint 2016

The Business Data Connectivity (BDC or BCS) service application in SharePoint 2016 enables us to connect and manipulate with an external line of business data sources such as SQL Server, web services, WCF Service, SOAP, REST Service Connection, XML file connection, OAuth and other proprietary data sources that are accessed by custom .NET assemblies from SharePoint. Using BDC, you can use SharePoint 2016 and Office clients as interfaces with data that doesn’t live in SharePoint. External content types are the core of BDC, and It interacts with data through external content types, which allows the interaction with external data in SharePoint lists.

During SharePoint farm configuration, If you ran the Farm configuration wizard to configure all services, you may already have the BDC service application configured for you by SharePoint. You can verify if it is created already by going to:

  •     Open SharePoint Central administration site
  •     Click on Application Management >> Service Applications >> Manage service applications
  •     Check if Business Connectivity Services service application is listed.

Create new business data connectivity service application SharePoint 2013/2016:

Let’s see how to create a new business data connectivity service application in SharePoint 2016. BDC service application in SharePoint can be configured by following the below steps:

  • Log in as a Farm administrator and Open SharePoint Central administration site
  • Click on Application Management >> Service Applications >> Manage service applications
  • In the Manage service applications page, click on the New button from the Ribbon.
  • From the menu, choose Business Data Connectivity Service.create new business data connectivity service application sharepoint 2013
  • Provide the Name, Database Name, and database server. You can remove the GUID to keep it clean.
    create business data connectivity service application sharepoint 2016
  • If your SQL Server database for SharePoint is configured with mirroring, then you can include the Business Data Connectivity Service database in mirroring by providing the name of the failover database server in the Failover Database Server. Leave it empty otherwise.
  • Scroll down and set Application Pool settings. You can either select Use existing application pool or create new application Pool by providing name and Managed Account.
    configure bdc service application sharepoint 2016
  • At the bottom of the page, click OK to trigger creating a new BDC service application.
  • Once created, you should get the success popup and your new Business data connectivity service application will be listed under service applications list.
sharepoint business data connectivity service application

Start Business Data Connectivity Service instance:

Once the service application is created, make sure you have the corresponding service instance started.

  1. Browse to SharePoint 2016 Central Administration site
  2. On the “Application Management” page under “Service Applications” click “Manage services on server”
  3. Find Business Data Connectivity Service and then click Start if its not started already.
Note: If you are using the New MinRole Topology in SharePoint 2016 farm, there is no need to start any service instance manually during the process of service application creation. SharePoint 2016 automatically starts necessary service instances on required servers, when you crate a new service application!

Check Service Application’s Association with web applications:

Verify your Service application is associated with all web applications. Otherwise, You may encounter a “There is no default Business Data Connectivity Service Proxy” error. If you have created a new BDC service application, the new BDC service application must be associated with all of your web applications. Here is how you can verify it:

  • Open SharePoint 2016 central administration site
  • Click on Application Management >> Service Applications >> Configure service application associations
  • Make sure your newly created service application is listed with web applications there. 

If it’s not listed under the default list, click on the “Default” link and then “set it as default” to set the service application under the default proxy group. Alternatively, you can select the web application, Choose custom from the drop-down and then select your new BDC service application

 bdc service application sharepoint

Last but not least: Assign Permissions
Make sure you grant appropriate permissions to users before they start working with BDC. Otherwise, You’ll encounter an “Access denied by Business Data Connectivity” error! Just Open the service application from SharePoint Central Administration >> Click on the Set Metadata store permissions button from the ribbon >> Add users and assign permissions such as  Edit, Execute.

sharepoint 2013 bdc service application

To create a BCS service application using PowerShell, use: How to Create Business data connectivity service application using PowerShell in SharePoint 2016?

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two-decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. He has held various positions including SharePoint Architect, Administrator, Developer and consultant, has helped many organizations to implement and optimize SharePoint solutions. Known for his deep technical expertise, He's passionate about sharing the knowledge and insights to help others, through the real-world articles!

One thought on “Create Business Data Connectivity Service (BCS) Application in SharePoint 2016

  • Hi,

    I’m getting time out error while creating service application on SharePoint 2019,Please let me know if you know the issue.
    I’m unable to delete the service applications also using both power shell and GUI also.

    Reply

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