Making an API Request
This section describes the structure of a REST API request, and uses the IAM API for obtaining a user token as an example to demonstrate how to call an API. The obtained token can then be used to authenticate the calling of other APIs.
Request URI
The format of a request URI is as follows:
{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 transmitted 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. The endpoint varies between services in different regions. It can be obtained from Regions and Endpoints. For example, the endpoint of IAM in the my-kualalumpur-1 region is iam.my-kualalumpur-1.myhuaweicloud.com. |
resource-path |
Access path of an API for performing a specified operation. Obtain the path from the URI of an API. For example, the resource-path of the API used to obtain a user token is /v3/auth/tokens. |
query-string |
Query parameter, which is optional. Not all APIs have a query parameter. 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 a maximum of 10 data records will be displayed. |
For example, to obtain an IAM token in the my-kualalumpur-1 region, obtain the endpoint of IAM (iam.my-kualalumpur-1.myhuaweicloud.com) for this region and the resource-path (/v3/auth/tokens) in the URI of the API used to obtaining a user token. Then, construct the URI as follows:
1
|
https://iam.my-kualalumpur-1.alphaedge.tmone.com.my/v3/auth/tokens |
To simplify the URI display, each API is provided only with a resource-path and a request method. The URI-scheme of all APIs is HTTPS, and the endpoints of all APIs in the same region are identical.
Request Methods
Method |
Description |
---|---|
GET |
Requests a server to return a specified resource. |
PUT |
Requests the server to update a specified resource. |
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). |
HEAD |
Requests a server resource header. |
PATCH |
Requests a server to update partial contents of a specified resource. If the resource does not exist, a new resource will be created. |
For example, in the case of the API used to obtaining a user token, the request method is POST. The request is as follows:
POST https://iam.my-kualalumpur-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens
Request Header
You can also add additional fields to a request, such as the fields required by a specified URI or HTTP method. For example, to request for the authentication information, add Content-Type, which specifies the request body type.
Name |
Description |
Mandatory |
Example Value |
---|---|---|---|
Host |
Server domain name and port number of the resource being requested. The value can be obtained from the URL of the service API. The value is in the format of Hostname:Port number. If the port number is not specified, the default port is used. The default port number for HTTPS is 443. |
No This parameter is mandatory for AK/SK authentication. |
code.test.com or code.test.com:443 |
Content-Type |
Specifies the type (or format) of the message body. The default value application/json is recommended. Other values of this field will be provided for specific APIs if any. |
Yes |
application/json |
Content-Length |
Length of the request body. The unit is byte. |
No |
3495 |
X-Project-Id |
Specifies a project ID. Obtain the project ID by following the instructions in Obtaining a Project ID. |
No |
e9993fc787d94b6c886cbaa340f9c0f4 |
X-Auth-Token |
User token. It is a response to the API for obtaining a user token (This is the only API that does not require authentication). After the request is processed, the value of X-Subject-Token in the response header is the token value. |
No Mandatory for token-based authentication. |
The following is part of an example token: MIIPAgYJKoZIhvcNAQcCo...ggg1BBIINPXsidG9rZ |
In addition to supporting token-based authentication, cloud service APIs also support authentication using the AK/SK. During AK/SK-based authentication, an SDK is used to sign the request, and the Authorization (signature information) and X-Sdk-Date (time when the request is sent) header fields are automatically added to the request.
For more information, see "AK/SK-based Authentication" in Authentication.
The API used to obtaining a user token does not require authentication. Therefore, only the Content-Type field needs to be added to requests for calling the API. An example of such requests is as follows:
POST https://iam.my-kualalumpur-1.myhuaweicloud.com/v3/auth/tokens Content-Type: application/json
(Optional) Request Body
The request body is optional. A request body is often sent in a structured format (for example, JSON or XML) as defined 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 with APIs. Some APIs do not require a request body, such as the APIs requested using the GET and DELETE methods.
In the case of the API used to obtaining a user token, the request parameters and parameter description can be obtained from the API request. The following provides an example request with a body included. Replace username, domainname, ******** (login password), and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (project name) with the actual values. Obtain a project name 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.my-kualalumpur-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" } } } } |
If all data required by a request is available, you can send the request to call the 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. Use the token to authenticate the calling of other APIs.
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