Integrations: Creating Connections to your Primary LMS

Prior To Connection:

• Blackboard Data/Anthology access must be enabled in order to use this connection method.  For more information on enabling this service, please visit Anthology Illuminate

• Ensure access to your institutional Blackboard Data/Anthology account.  Without institutional access, you may not be able to complete setup, or may see incomplete data.

Blackboard Data Setup:

1. Log in to https://data.blackboard.com using your institutional account.

2. If you have previously enabled a service account, please reset your password to avoid connection issues.  If you have not enabled a service account, expand the menu by clicking the 3 bar icon in the top left, then choose "Settings" under Developer:

3. To enable the service account, click "Change Password"

4. Next, click "Developer" in the left menu.

5. From the Developer page, find the "Access Your Institutional Data" card and click "Launch Snowflake"

6. This will open Snowflake in a new tab or window.

7. First, copy the url from the browser's address bar.  Only include the portion between https:// and  .com, such as "xxx12345.snowflakecomputing.com"

8. Use the service account name and password from BB Data to log in.

   1. Note: do not use SSO or a personal account to login, make sure you are logging in with the BB Data service account.

9. From the Left menu, click Data then Databases:

10. Find the database you wish to connect to IBPro in the middle column, and click it to expand permissions in the right hand window:

11. All we need from here is to copy the database name - typically "BLACKBOARD_DATA_" followed by a hash number.  You will need to copy the entire hash number along with the prefix for step 3.4 below.

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IntelliBoard Pro Setup:

1. From your IB Pro admin account, select Integrations from the top menu.

2. Find the BlackBoard Data card and click “+Connect” in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

3. Fill out the form

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LMS Name: Friendly name for the connection for identification purposes

Host: this is the url from Snowflake, step 7 above. Reminder: only include the portion between https://  and ".com"  

URL: https://data.blackboard.com

Port: 443 is the default port for Snowflake.  Confirm the user has not changed this.

Database Name:  this is the database name copied from Snowflake under CDM_LMS.

Username: the service account username (ex: SVC_BLACKBOARD_DATA) or preferred/current Snowflake account.

Password: the service account password or password for your previously activated Snowflake account.

Active: Set the connection to active

Select Hour to Process Daily: Choose the processing frequency, and click save.

IntelliBoard Pro leverages Brightspace's OAuth 2.0 connection with a Brightspace App.  Keys are created which allows IntelliBoard Pro to process the Brightspace data on a daily basis.

Creating Client Key

• From Admin Tools > Manage Extensibility (under Organization Related Header) Direct Pathway: /d2l/lp/extensibility/home

• Click "OAuth 2.0" in the header
  Direct Pathway: /d2l/lp/extensibility/oauth2

• Click "Register and App"

• Insert the follow details under "Register an Application" and Save

• Upon save, Client Key and Client Secret Key will be created.  Copy and paste into IntelliBoard Pro.

Creating a Connection Category

IntelliBoard allows you to create categories for your connections.  For additional information click here.

Select a time for Daily Processing
IntelliBoard allows you to select a time to process your data.  We recommend choosing an 'off hour' to have the freshest data for the next day.

Step 3: Click Continue

Upon clicking Continue, you'll see  green check marks on URL and Keys if the connection is successful and be redirected to authorize the connection through Brightspace.  If unsuccessful, please review the steps above to adjust settings.  For additional assistance, please contact Helpdesk@intelliboard.net 

Step 4: Click Accept

Brightspace LMS will prompt to authorize IntelliBoard to connect. Click "Accept".

Step 5: Review Filter Settings 

From within IntelliBoard, review the following Filter Settings, make selections, and save. 

User Filters: 

1. All Users - All Users in the System 

2. Active Users - All unhidden/unsuspended users in the System

Course Filters > Course:

1. All Courses - All Courses in the System 

2. Active Courses- All unhidden/inactive courses in the System

Course Filters > Semesters:

1. All Semesters - All Semesters in the System, including newly added Semesters

2. Partial Semesters - Partial Semesters; select certain Semesters within your system to bring into IntelliBoard

Course Filters > Org Units: 

1. All Org Units - All Org Units in the System, including newly added Org Units

2. Partial Org Units - Partial Org Units ; select certain Org Units within your system to bring into IntelliBoard

Types of Categories > Categories: 

Choose one of three options, to match how your Org Units are defined by: 1) Department, 2) Semester, OR 3) Course Templates

Step 6: Review Role Settings

From within IntelliBoard, review the following Role Settings, make selections, and save.  Each section is populated with all roles inside your LMS.  

Map your LMS roles to IntelliBoard Roles.  This is important for role clarity within the Builder, IB Users, and the LTI. 

When complete, please click save. 

Step 7:  Process Data

Direct Link: https://next.intelliboard.net/connections

• From Manage my IntelliBoard Account, click My Connections

• Click the name of the URL or Edit, to open the connection.

• Click on Process Data

IntelliBoard Pro Setup:

1. From your IB Pro admin account, select Integrations from the top menu.

2. Find the D2L card and click “+Connect” in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

3. Fill out the form.

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LMS Name: Friendly name for the connection

URL: Copy and Paste the URL of your LMS Note: Include HTTPS:// and do not include any additional pathways

Client ID: The Client ID was created in the set up within D2L. Copy and paste it into this form.

Client Secret Key: The Client Secret Key was created in the set up within D2L. Copy and paste it into this form.

Category: IntelliBoard allows you to create categories for you connections. Use the drop down menu to view options if wanted.

Active: Set the connection to active

Select Hour to Process Daily: Choose the processing frequency, and click save.

IntelliBoard Pro Setup:

1. From your IB Pro admin account, select Integrations from the top menu.

2. Find the Canvas CD2 card and click “+Connect” in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

3. Fill out the form.

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LMS Name: Friendly name for the connection for identification purposes

URL: Copy and Paste the URL of your LMS Note: Include HTTPS:// and do not include any additional pathways

Client ID: he Client ID was created in steps 1-5 in the Canvas setup. Copy and paste it into this form.

Client Secret Key: The Client Secret Key was created steps 1-5 in the Canvas setup. Copy and paste it into this form.

Category: IntelliBoard allows you to create categories for you connections. Use the drop down menu to view options if wanted.

Active: Set the connection to active

Dynamic Tables: Check the box for Dynamic Tables, also known as LMS Native Tables (eg. Syllabus, Discussion) NOTE: Please consult with your IntelliBoard account manager or solution expert before enabling.

Processing Frequency: Select the processing frequency for the integration. Data is refreshed every 4 hours for CD2.

Data Client ID: The Data Client ID was created in steps 6-11 in the Canvas setup. Copy and paste it into this form.

Data Client Secret: The Data Client Secret was created in steps 6-11 in the Canvas setup. Copy and paste it into this form.

*If you already have Canvas set up in your IntelliBoard account, go to Connection Settings and add the Key and Secret from the last steps under the “Canvas Data Tokens” section.

In Canvas, "Time Spent" tracks the total time a student is logged into a course, "Visits" counts the number of times a student navigates to specific pages or resources, and "Participations" records active engagement activities like submissions and posts. Canvas counts quiz activities twice (when accessed and submitted), but the IntelliBoard platform, using the Canvas API, counts quiz participation only once. This difference is crucial for accurately interpreting student engagement, with IntelliBoard's participation data aligning with Canvas's "Access Report" counts. Understanding these metrics helps educators assess student involvement and identify areas needing support.

The IntelliBoard Pro plugin is called IntelliData and is found on GitHub. 
Direct Link: GitHub - intelliboard/intellidata: IntelliBoard Moodle Plugin for IBNEXT

Step 2: Validate the LMS Settings 

Enable Web Services

Site Administration > Advanced Features

• Find Enable Web Service and click enable.

• Click Save Changes

Enable REST Protocol

Moodle Version 3.10+: Site Administration > Server > Web Services > Manage Protocols

Moodle 3.9: Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > Manage Protocols

• Find REST aned enable (open eye)

• Click Save Changes

Verify Authorized Users through External Services

Moodle Version 3.10+: Site Administration > Server > Web Services > External Services

Moodle 3.9: Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > External Services

• Find IntelliData Service, it should show All Users. 

• If it does not say All Users, please edit to allow All Users or add the Authorized Users who have Site Admin privileges.

Step 3: Review IntelliData Settings + Add Encryption Settings

Administration > Plugins > Local Plugins > IntelliData
Pathway: /admin/settings.php?section=local_intellidata

Tracking Storage
This setting determines where IntelliBoard Time Tracking is stored and has three options: 1) File, 2) Cache, and 3) Database.  Defaults to File, which is the only option for Open LMS users.  Cache can be used for smaller LMS enviroments.  File and Cache both use cron settings to store data to push to the user tracking tables.  Database selection saves the information directly to the database and bypasses cron settings.

API Key and API Identifier: 

Unmask keys, copy and paste keys into IntelliBoard Pro.

• Copy Encryption Key from IntelliBoard (previous step) to Moodle in field API Key.I

• Copy Client Identifier from IntelliBoard (previous step) to Moodle in field API Identifier.

• Click Save.

Step 7: Complete First Time Migration: Click here for required next steps.

IntelliBoard Pro leverages a standard Moodle Plugin to create a table structure that then processes Moodle data on a regular schedule into IntelliBoard Pro's unified and dynamic tables.  Before the LMS data can be processed automatically by the connection, they must go through an initial migration. 

When should I complete the migration process? 

• Initial Connection:  The migration must be complete after you make the initial connection and before your first processing. 

• Plugin Update: Restart the migration process each time you update the IntelliData plugin.

• Filter Changes: When you change or add data through additional filters, restart the migration process.

How long does the Migration process take? 

Initial migrations may take between 1 - 3 days depending on the size of your LMS database.  LMS databases that have more than 200 GB of data may take up to 7 days with the default settings.   The number of rows to be migrated and the cron schedule may be updated to speed up the migration process.

Step 1: Trigger Migrations from IntelliData Plugin

After initial plugin install and connection, you will trigger the migration:

1. Via Command Line directly on the Server or 2) Via Cron Tasks within the LMS

1: Via Command Line on the Server:

Please run the following commands.  Note that this is a faster way to complete the task, but will have an impact on server load. 

cd public_html/local/intellidata/cli
php migration_process.php
php export_process.php

2: Via Cron Tasks within the LMS

Site Admin > Plugins > Local Plugins > IntelliData > General

Pathway: admin/settings.php?section=local_intellidata

From General, please review, update and save: 

Required Actions:

• Change Migration Processing Limits if desired. 
  
  

• Enable Export file during migration

• Enable Reset Migration

• Click Save.

Step 2: Enable Migrations from IntelliData Plugin

Site Admin > Plugins > Local Plugins > IntelliData > Migration

Pathway: /local/intellidata/migrations/index.phpPlease click "Enable Migration" in the top right corner.You can monitor the migration process from the Migrations page. After the migration task is enabled, it may take between 1 and 3 days to make your initial migration, depending on the size of your LMS database.  For clients who have more than 200 GB of data, the migration may extend up to 7 days.  Changing the migration limits and cron schedule may speed up or slow down the migration process.

Step 3:  Review Migration Cron Task (Optional)

Site Admin > Severs > Tasks > Scheduled Tasks

Pathway: /admin/tool/task/scheduledtasks.php

Search:  IntelliData

After enabling "Reset Migration Process" in the step above, the Migration Task will be enabled.

After disabling "Export file during migration" in the step above, the Export Task will be disabled. 

Note: You may edit the cron schedule to your desired limits. 

How can I monitor the process to ensure it's successful?

You can monitor the process from the following pages: 

Site Admin > Plugins > Local Plugins > IntelliData > Migration

Pathway: /local/intellidata/migrations/index.php

Expected behavior is that the Status column reads "Completed" or "In Process".   The goal is to have all tables read Completed.

Site Admin > Severs > Tasks > Scheduled Tasks

Pathway: /admin/tool/task/scheduledtasks.php

Search:  IntelliData

Review: Migration Task

Click on the "Logs" view

Pathway: /admin/tasklogs.php?filter=local_intellidata%5Ctask%5Cmigration_task

Review the logs for any failed attempts. 

If you feel the Migration task has stopped or you wish to speed up the Migration task, please contact helpdesk@IntelliBoard.net

Do I need to change any settings or manually process the data after the migration completes? 

No, this will happen automatically.  The migration task will automatically become disabled and the export setting will re-enable.  When the migration is complete, the data will begin processing every 24 hours.

Step 8: Only after Migration is Complete - Process Data

NOTE: This step has to be done only when the migration is finished.

Direct Link: https://next.intelliboard.net/connections

• From Manage my IntelliBoard Account, click My Connections

• Click the name of the URL or Edit, to open the connection.

• Click on Process Data

IntelliBoard Pro Setup:

1. From your IB Pro admin account, select Integrations from the top menu.

2. Find the appropriate connection card and click “+Connect” in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

3. Fill out the form.

Open

LMS Name: Friendly name for the connection for identification purposes

URL: Copy and Paste the URL of your LMS Note: Include HTTPS:// and do not include any additional pathways

Token: Follow the steps below to create a token

Category: IntelliBoard allows you to create categories for you connections. Use the drop down menu to view options if wanted.

Active: Set the connection to active

Dynamic Tables: Check the box for Dynamic Tables, also known as LMS Native Tables (eg. Syllabus, Discussion)

Processing Frequency: Select the frequency of how often you data is processed: Every 4, 6, 12, or 24 hours.

Encryption Key:

Client Identifier:

Creating a Token

Moodle Version 3.10+: Site Administration > Server > Web Services > Manage Tokens
Moodle 3.9: Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > Manage Tokens

• Add a new token

• Add Username or User ID; Note: This must be a Site Administrator.

• Select Service: IntelliData Service

• Click Save 

• Copy and Paste Token into IntelliBoard

What are the recommended/best configurations for plugin when connecting IntelliBoard and migrating data?

We recommend to have Custom DB driver setting enabled during your initial migration and future remigrations.

New Tracking configuration should be enabled on the continuous basis in order to utilize our custom events tracking instead of Moodle Native Events tracking.

Both settings can be found and enabled under Site Administration > Plugins > Local Plugins > IntelliData > General > Advanced settings:

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What is the difference between New Tracking and Custom DB Driver?

New Tracking: this is IntelliBoard’s custom feature that allows our plguin to track events in your LMS instead of using Moodle standard events Tracking. New Tracking allows us to not only track events in the LMS more accurately and faster than Moodle events tracking but it also allows us to track more events and support wider spectrum of the LMS database tables which can be brought into IntelliBoard as Native LMS tables in addition to our unified schema. We recommend having this setting enabled at all times for the best and accurate data records.

Custom DB Driver: IntelliBoard’s custom feature for mysql, mariadb and auroramysql databases that includes significant optimizations to the migration and remigration process that allows us to migrate clients faster and with lowest impact on the database servers. This setting can be enabled only when the initial migration or data remigration needs to be triggered, and remain enabled, however, should you have a need, you can deactivated it once migrations are completed.

Please note, that we are not recommending running data migrations with the Custom DB driver at the same time as you are running any other massive processes that are taking large amount of resources from your server. It is expected for the migrations to add load to your servers as your server will be triggering the cron tasks, process the request from the cron task and return data to IntelliBoard temporary migration files. It is expected to have additional load on server with migrations as with any other crons that are processed by your server. Please note that we have a list of the configurations that can reduce load on your server by migrating and exporting lower limits of data, if you need help with adjusting the limits, please reach out to HelpDesk@IntelliBoard.net

How do I track the migration process?

When migrating or remigrating your data you can always track it under Site Administration > Plugins > Local Plugins >IntelliData > Migrations: under this tab you will see all the database tables that we are migrating.

In Progress - the database tables that are currently migrating

Compelted - the database tables fully migrated

If you don’t see any status next to the database tables but see In Progress or Complete for other tables, it means that the rest of the tables are in the queue for the migration and to be migrated.

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You don’t have to worry about 0/0 under Progress, we have deactivated database tables count as it requires additional cron task to run on your server. For large clients with millions of records it will create load on the server as your server would need to calculate the total records in the database tables and already migrated number of records from the tables, therefore we deactivated it by defalt. You can always enable calculation during migration under plugin settings.

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How do I see if the migrations are completed succesfully?

You can track the completion by following the steps from above Migration Tracking FAQ.

You can also track the success of cron tasks for your migrations under Site Administration > Server > Tasks > Scheduled tasks > Migration task (\local_intellidata\task\migration_task). From here you would see the “Fail Delay” column that would he highlighted as red and number of errors, if there are errors.

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You can then click on the logs page and see the list of earch trigger of the Migration cron task and if it was succesfull or not. Should you see unsuccesfull cron task, please click on gear button to download the error log and email HelpDesk@IntelliBoard.net

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Do I have to update my plugins?

IntelliBoard recommends to update your plugins quaterly. The latest version of plugins are always released on GitHub GitHub - intelliboard/intellidata: IntelliBoard Moodle Plugin for IBNEXT

You will see the release notes every 3 weeks following our release schedule upon logging in to your IntelliBoard Pro account.

What plugin version do I need to have for the New Tracking and Custom Database driver configurations?

The New Tracking and Custom DB driver were first released in May 2024 with continuous upgrades till July 2024. If you are on older plguin version than May 2024, we would recommend updating to the latest version.

When do I need to remigrate my data?

If your plugin version was older than 8 months and you have just updated the plugin, we hightly recommend data remigration as we are adding new database tables to our unified tables as well as improvements to migrations and export. This will ensure that you are not missing out on any new data availability.

If you have changed your Connection Filter settings under your IntelliBoard Account > Manage my connections > my connection settings. Connection Fitlers are controling what data IntelliBoard will migrate and store on its server. If you are making changes to the filters, you are required to remigrate your data. You also will see the pop up message to trigger migration process.

If you just updated your plugin and enabled IntelliBoard’s New Tracking, we would recommend remigrating.

If you have submitted HelpDesk ticket and the fix was part of the new plugin release or Client Success has recommended data remigration for data loss/inconsistency (combined with enabling IntelliBoard’s New Tracking).

Validate the LMS Settings 

Enable Web Services

Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services 

• Find Enable Web Service and click enable.

• Click Save Changes

Enable REST Protocol

Site Administration > Plugins > Web Services > Manage Protocol