Description

oVirt api package provides Application programming interface for the oVirt engine.

REST Concept

• Client–server
• Stateless
• Cacheable
• Uniform interface
• Identification of resources
• Manipulation of resources through representations
• Self-descriptive
• Hypermedia as the engine of application state

oVirt-API URI structure

oVirt API follows collection/resource patten:

http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx-xxx/disks/yyy-yyy

1. protocol

2. server details

3. entry point (base resource)

4. collection

5. resource

6. sub-collection

7. sub-resource

oVirt-API How-to (the methods)

• To list all collection resources, use GET.

GET http(s)://server:port/api/vms

• To retrieve specific resource, use GET.

GET http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx

curl -v -u "user@domain:password" -H "Content-type: application/xml" -X GET http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx

• To create a resource, use POST.

POST http(s)://server:port/api/vms
<vm>...</vm>

curl -v -u "user@domain:password" 
-H "Content-type: application/xml" 
-d 
 '<vm>
  <name>my_new_vm</name>
  <cluster><name>cluster_name</name></cluster>
  <template><name>template_name</name></template>
 </vm>' 'http(s)://server:port/api/vms'

• To update the resource, use PUT.

PUT http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx 
<vm><name>aaa</name></vm>

echo "<vm><name>new_name</name></vm>" >  /tmp/upload.xml
curl -v -u "user@domain:password" 
 -H "Content-type: application/xml" 
 -T /tmp/upload.xml 
 'http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx'

• To remove the resource, use DELETE.

DELETE http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx

curl -v -u "user@domain:password" -X DELETE http(s)://server:port/api/vms/xxx

RSDL (RESTful Service Description Language)

RSDL (RESTful Service Description Language) is a machine and human readable XML description of HTTP-based web applications (typically REST web services), it models the resource/s provided by a service, the relationships between them, parameters that has to be supplied for the certain operation, specifies if parameter/s has to be mandated and describes possible overloads as parameters sets, RSDL is intended to simplify the reuse of web services that are based on the HTTP architecture of the Web. It is platform and language independent and aims to promote reuse of applications beyond the basic use in a web browser by both humans and machines

Repository

• git://gerrit.ovirt.org/ovirt-engine (restapi is one of the engine modules located under ovirt/ovirt-engine/backend/manager/modules/restapi/)

Maintainer

Michael Pasternak: mpastern@redhat.com