Making an API Request

Request URI

A request URI is in the following format:

{URI-scheme}://{Endpoint}/{resource-path}?{query-string}

Although a request URI is included in a request header, most programming languages or frameworks require the request URI to be separately transmitted, rather than being conveyed in a request message.

For example, to obtain an IAM token in the CN-Hong Kong region, obtain the endpoint of IAM (iam.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com) for this region and the resource-path (/v3/auth/tokens) in the URI of the API used to obtain a user token. Then, construct the URI as follows:

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https://iam.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens

Figure 1 Example URI

To simplify the URI display in this document, each API is provided only with a resource-path and a request method. This is because the URI-scheme of all APIs is HTTPS, and the endpoints in a region are the same.

Request Methods

For example, in the case of the API used to obtain a user token, the request method is POST. The request is as follows:

POST https://iam.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens

Request Header

You can also add additional header fields to a request, such as the fields required by an URI or HTTP method. For example, add Content-Type that defines a request body type to request for the authentication information.

In addition to supporting authentication using tokens, APIs support authentication using AK/SK, which uses SDKs to sign a request. During the signature, the Authorization (signature authentication) and X-Sdk-Date (time when a request is sent) headers are automatically added in the request.

For details, see "AK/SK Authentication" in Authentication.

The obtain a user token API only requires to add the Content-Type because authentication is not required, the request with the added header is as follows:

POST https://iam.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens
Content-Type: application/json

(Optional) Request Body

This part is optional. The body of a request is often sent in a structured format (for example, JSON or XML) as specified in the Content-Type header field. The request body transfers content except the request header. 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 obtain a user token API, the request parameters and parameter description are available in the request. The following provides an example request with a body included. Replace username, domainname, ******** (login password), and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (project ID) with the actual values, for example, ap-southeast-1. Obtain the value from Regions and Endpoints.

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 more information about this API, see Obtaining a User Token.

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POST https://iam.ap-southeast-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "auth": {
        "identity": {
            "methods": [
                "password"
            ],
            "password": {
                "user": {
                    "name": "username",
                    "password": "********",
                    "domain": {
                        "name": "domainname"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "scope": {
            "project": {
                "name": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
            }
        }
    }
}

After all data required for the API request is available, send the request to call the API through curl, Postman, or coding. In the response to the API used to obtain a user token, x-subject-token is the desired user token. This token can then be used to authenticate the calling of other APIs.