Configure the Secure Store Service in SharePoint 2013

About the Secure Store Service

This service is running on an application server and providing the authorization. The Secure Store Service provides a database for storing the credentials. The Secure Store Service provides support for storing multiple sets of credentials for multiple back-end systems.

The primary use of this service includes Excel Services, Visio Services, PerformancePoint, Business Connectivity Services (BCS), Power Pivot and so on.

For example when we are connecting an Excel with external data sources then it needs to pass the user credentials like user name and password. These types of scenarios can be solved by configuring an unattended service account for the external data access.

Target applications

A target application is a collection of information that maps a user or users to a set of encrypted credentials stored in the Secure Store database.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee806889(v=office.15).aspx

Configuration procedure

Open the Central Administration then in "System Settings" click "Manage Services on Server".



Start the Secure Store Service, then open "Security" then in "General Security" click "Configure Managed Account".



Create a user separate user account in the active directory for each service based on your requirements. Please enter the user credentials here.



And open the Manage Service Application.



Click on the New button and select Secure Store Services.



Enter the Service Application Name, DB Server Name, DB Name and Authentication type here.



The new service is created as "Secure Store Service".



Click on the Secure Store Service and Generate New Key.



Enter the Pass Phrase here.



Then we need to create a new Manage Target Application, click on the New button.



Enter the Target Application ID Details here and click on the Next Button



Then Click on "Next".



Enter the Target Application Admin Details here and click OK.




Conclusion

In this article we learned how to configure the Secure Store Service in SharePoint 2013.