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Tom Kretzmer's avatar
Tom Kretzmer
Bronze Contributor
Aug 16, 2017

Generating an Administrator Token

The administrator functions built into Yammer work well, but what if you want to perform an administrator function outside of what's built for you?  If you ask around, you may find someone advising you to take advantage of the REST API, but if you don't know where to start, then you've come to the right place.

 

Because you can't fully use the REST API and you can't run any of the scripts posted in this community if you don't have a token.  This token is like your username and password, and is what allows you to tell Yammer that the script you're running is you.

 

Getting one of these things used to be relatively complicated, but is much simpler now.  

 

Step 1:  Log into Yammer normally, then click this - https://www.yammer.com/client_applications

 

Step 2:  Click the big green box, Register a New App   

 

 

Step 3:  Fill in the form.  The name can be whatever you want, and the organization and email should match what is approprate for your organization.  I always use Yammer as the redirect URI.

 

Step 4:  Now you're on the information screen and can go get your token.  On the bottom of the screen is a link called "Generate a developer token for this application".  Click that.

 

 

Like magic, your very own scripting token will now appear.  Copy and paste that into something safe and secure.  Remember, this is your username and password all rolled up into one, and if someone gets that, they can perform the same functions on your network as you can.  Guard it carefully.  And then use it for the scripts you'll find elsewhere in this community.  Enjoy!

 

 

4 Replies

  • Tristan ROTH's avatar
    Tristan ROTH
    Copper Contributor

    Hey,

     

    I have tried this method, but here is what happens. Would you know how to resolve it ?

     

     

    Thanks,

     

    TR

  • Vidya Ranjit's avatar
    Vidya Ranjit
    Copper Contributor

    Hi, is there a way to automate the generation of this token, we need to generate a new token everytime we need to do an export to keep security risks to a minimum.

    thanks and regards,

    VR

    • Tom Kretzmer's avatar
      Tom Kretzmer
      Bronze Contributor

      Actually, I have the same problem in my current environment.  I haven't found a way to automate it, but if I do, I'll share it with you.  If anyone else does, feel free to share.

       

      Typically, however, this isn't something one would write an API to accomplish, because of the significant security implications of mishandling that token.

      • Vidya Ranjit's avatar
        Vidya Ranjit
        Copper Contributor

        thanks Tom,

        Still facing the same problem; how to generate the admin token via a script?

        we can encrypt and deactivate the token after each use , so there is less concern about security.

        but  we  are planning to automate the export api feed and rest api feed , so we need to know how to automate the generation of yammer admin token, so that we can automate the entire process without manual intervention. 

        so wondering if any one has found a way to automatically generate the token.

        regards,

        Vidya Ranjit.

         

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