Advanced D2L Setup & Configuration

Updated September 21, 2026 17:39

Watermark Support

Overview

This article provides a step-by-step guide to setting up the Advanced Desire2Learn (D2L) Integration for Watermark Planning & Self-Study (P&SS). The process covers creating a specialized "Integration Role" with necessary permissions, establishing an "Integration User" with this role, registering an OAuth 2.0 application in D2L to obtain the Client ID and Secret needed for P&SS integration, and configuring system variables to display Organization Defined IDs.

Important Notes and Prerequisites

*Note: The Advanced D2L Integration needs to be enabled by Watermark before proceeding with the steps below.*

Important: Complete all required data mappings before setting up the integration. The data sync process begins immediately after the integration is activated. If data mappings are not configured beforehand, no data will be pulled into the application during the initial sync. Refer to the Advanced D2L- Required Data Mapping article for detailed setup instructions.

Creating a Role in Desire2Learn (D2L)

Log in to D2L as an administrator.
Navigate to Admin Tools > Security > Roles and Permissions.
Click "Create/Copy".
Select "Start Fresh".
Enter a Role Name (for example, "Integration Role").
Enable the Cascading Role option by selecting the checkbox.
Under "Course Access Options", select the following checkboxes:
- Access inactive courses
- Access past courses
- Access future courses
Click "Save and Close".

Assigning Role Permissions

Locate the newly created role in the role list.
Select the Down Arrow next to the role and click "Edit Permissions".
Ensure the new role is selected in the Filter by Role dropdown menu and the target tool is selected in the Filter by Tool dropdown menu, then click "Apply Filter".
Enable the following permissions across the listed tool areas:
- Assignments: "See and Manage Assignment Submission Folders (All)" and "View Submitted Files (All)."
- Classlist: "Has Access to the Classlist (All)," "View Group Enrollments (All)," and "View Section Enrollments (All)."
Discussions: "View Discussions (All)" and "Access Hidden Forums and Topics (All)."
Grades: "See the Grades tool (All)," "See user grade values (API Only)," and "Retrieve Grade Values for Course Offering Descendants (API Only)."
Quizzes: "View Quizzes (All)," "View hidden quizzes and details," and "View Out-of-Date Quizzes."
User Information Privacy: "See First Names," "See Last Names," "See Usernames," "See Org Defined IDs," and "See Email Addresses (All)."
Click "Save and Close".

Creating an Integration User in D2L

Navigate to Admin Tools > Users.
Click "Create New User".
Provide a unique Org Defined ID, First Name, and Last Name.
Select the newly created Integration Role from the Role dropdown menu.
Select the checkbox to Make User Active.
Click "Save".

Registering an Application in D2L

Navigate to Admin Tools > Manage Extensibility > OAuth 2.0 tab.
Click "Register an App".
Fill in the Application Name, Redirect URI (copied from Planning & Self-Study), and Scope (copied from P&SS).
Confirm the Access Token Lifetime is set to 3600 seconds (default).
Enable the following options by selecting their checkboxes: Prompt for user consent, Enable refresh tokens, and Accept the Non-Commercial Developer Agreement.
Click "Register".
Save the generated Client ID and Client Secret for entry in P&SS.

Configuring System Variables in the Config Variable Browser

Configuring the Config Variable Browser is required to pull user Organization Defined IDs (Org Defined IDs) via the D2L Application Programming Interface (API).

Navigate to the settings tab > Config Variable Browser > Tools.
Navigate to Classlist > DisplayOrgId and check if the Instance Value is set to "ON". If the value is not set to "ON", proceed with the activation steps below.
To turn the variable on, click "Add Value", search for and select the root organization, and ensure the value dropdown menu option is set to "ON".