Making an API Request
This section describes the structure of a REST API, and uses the IAM API for obtaining a user token as an example to describe how to call an API. The obtained token is used to authenticate the calling of other APIs.
Request URI
A request URI consists of the following:
{URI-scheme}://{Endpoint}/{resource-path}?{query-string}
Although a request URI is included in the request header, most programming languages or frameworks require the request URI to be separately transmitted, rather than being conveyed in a request message separately.
Parameter |
Description |
---|---|
URI-scheme |
Protocol used to transmit requests. All APIs use HTTPS. |
Endpoint |
Domain name or IP address of the server bearing the REST service endpoint. The endpoint varies depending on services and regions. It can be obtained from the administrator. For example, the endpoint of IAM in the EU-Dublin region is iam.eu-west-101.myhuaweicloud.eu. |
resource-path |
Access path of an API for performing a specified operation. Obtain the path from the URI of the API. For example, the resource-path of the API for obtaining a user token is /v3/auth/tokens. |
query-string |
Query parameter, which is optional. Ensure that a question mark (?) is included before each query parameter that is in the format of "Parameter name=Parameter value". For example, ? limit=10 indicates that up to 10 data records will be displayed. |
Request Methods
Method |
Description |
---|---|
GET |
Requests a server to return specified resources. |
PUT |
Requests a server to update specified resources. |
POST |
Requests a server to add a resource or perform a special operation. |
DELETE |
Requests a server to delete a specified resource (for example, an object). |
For example, in the URI for obtaining a user token, the request method is POST. The request is as follows:
POST https://iam.eu-west-101.myhuaweicloud.eu/v3/auth/tokens
Request Header
You can also add additional header fields to a request, such as the fields required by a specified URI or HTTP method. For example, add Content-Type that defines a request body type to request for authentication information.
Parameter |
Description |
Mandatory |
Example Value |
---|---|---|---|
Content-Type |
MIME type of the request body. Use the default value application/json. For APIs used to upload objects or images, the value varies depending on the flow type. |
Yes |
application/json |
Content-Length |
Length of the request body. The unit is byte. |
This field is optional for POST requests, but must be left blank for GET requests. |
3495 |
X-Project-Id |
Project ID. To obtain the project ID, see Obtaining a Project ID. |
No |
e9993fc787d94b6c886cbaa340f9c0f4 |
X-Auth-Token |
User token. After a request is processed, the value of X-Subject-Token in the header is the token value. |
Yes |
The following is part of an example token: MIIPAgYJKoZIhvcNAQcCo...ggg1BBIINPXsidG9rZ |
The API used to obtain a user token does not require authentication. Therefore, this API only requires adding the Content-Type field. The following is an example request:
POST https://iam.eu-west-101.myhuaweicloud.eu/v3/auth/tokens Content-Type: application/json
(Optional) Request Body
This part is optional. The request body is often sent in a structured format (for example, JSON or XML) as specified in the Content-Type header field. If the request body contains full-width characters, these characters must be coded in UTF-8.
Request bodies vary depending on APIs. Some APIs do not require a request body, such as the APIs requested using the GET and DELETE methods.
For the API of obtaining a user token, request parameters and parameter description can be obtained from the API request. The following is an example request with a body included. Replace username, domianname, ******** (login password), and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (project name) with required values. You can obtain the values from the administrator.
The scope parameter specifies where a token takes effect. You can set scope to an account or a project under an account. In the following example, the token takes effect only for the resources in a specified project. For details, see Obtaining a User Token.
POST https://iam.eu-west-101.myhuaweicloud.eu/v3/auth/tokens Content-Type: application/json { "auth": { "identity": { "methods": [ "password" ], "password": { "user": { "name": "username", "password": "********", "domain": { "name": "domianname" } } } }, "scope": { "project": { "name": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" } } } }
If all data required for the API request is available, you can send a request to call an API through curl, Postman, or coding. For the API of obtaining a user token, x-subject-token in the response header is the required user token. Then, this token can be used to authenticate the calling of other APIs.
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