The AXL Philosophy and Function
We, as programmers, typically take a look at an API with wild goals about constructing dazzling user-facing functions that encourage jaw-dropping amazement. That’s simply how we’re constructed. And the AXL API has the facility to allow you to do this.
One phrase… DON’T.
AXL shouldn’t be an API for user-facing functions. It’s an administration and configuration API. You don’t wish to push an end-user software constructed on AXL to 1,000 customers. And for those who do, you’re going to have a foul time.
Consider AXL as a programmatic solution to carry out internet GUI administration and configuration duties. For instance, within the internet GUI, you add an finish consumer this manner.
- Choose the Person Administration menu
- Choose Finish Person
- Click on on +Add New
- Fill out the shape
- Save.
Now, programming which may appear foolish and extra work than utilizing the net GUI. However consider it this manner. You could have a textual content file with a listing of names, electronic mail addresses, cellphone numbers, assigned firm cellphone extension and different private knowledge of latest workers. Now you possibly can write an software that reads the file and creates and configures an end-user account for every of the individuals and creates and configures strains and telephones entries for them. That’s automating an administration and configuration activity in a approach that makes your life as an administrator simpler.
The Fundamentals
AXL is a SOAP-based API. There’s no REST for the depraved right here.
Essentially the most typically used AXL APIs fall into the next teams:
- addSomething (e.g., add a cellphone)
- getSomething (e.g., get a cellphone’s information and settings)
- updateSomething (e.g., change a cellphone’s information and settings)
- applySomething (e.g., apply the modifications you made for the cellphone)
- removeSomething (e.g., take away a cellphone)
- listSomething (e.g., listing all telephones)
There are a couple of different AXL APIs not in these teams that you simply’ll want at instances, however these are essentially the most steadily used operations.
Getting Began: Preparation
One of the best ways to get accustomed to AXL is to make use of a free, open-source software referred to as SoapUI. SoapUI makes it simple to experiment with the AXL API. However first, you have to obtain the recordsdata you’ll use with SoapUI.
Log into Name Supervisor as an administrator. Beneath the Utility menu, choose Plugins.
Click on the Discover button (not proven on this display screen shot). The primary merchandise is the Cisco AXL Toolkit. Click on on Obtain and reserve it someplace.
The saved file ought to appear to be this:
Open the zip file to see its contents
Open the schema listing.
Decide the model of Name Supervisor you might be utilizing. On this pattern, we’ll decide present.
Copy the three recordsdata above to a working listing. I selected C:SOAP.
Obtain and set up the open-source SoapUI from this web page. You’re carried out with preparation. Now, it’s time to create an AXL challenge to play with the API.
Set Up a SoapUI AXL Challenge
Click on on the File menu and select New SOAP Challenge.
Decide a reputation on your challenge. Set the Preliminary WSDL to level to the AXLAPI.wsdl file you saved to a working listing earlier. Click on OK.
Within the left column, it is best to see this (assuming you used the identify New AXL Take a look at, in any other case search for the identify you selected).
Proper click on on AXLAPIBinding and choose Present Interface Viewer. You must see this Dialog Field.
Click on on the Service Endpoints tab and also you’ll see the place you possibly can enter info for AXLAPI binding.
Sort what you see within the Endpoint subject, besides level to your server the place it says YOURSERVER. Assuming it’s secure on your work atmosphere to do, enter your Administrator username and password within the acceptable fields. You possibly can create an Administrator account in Name Supervisor particularly to be used with the AXL API, or you need to use your main Administrator account.
You possibly can shut this dialog field now.
Now let’s play with one of many requests. Within the left column, discover listPhone and click on on its plus signal. Then double-click on Request 1. You must see all of the XML for this request pop up in a brand new dialog.
The listPhone request has a couple of potential hangups which might be good to learn to keep away from. Any listSomething request goes to return, properly, a listing of issues. Scroll all the way down to the underside of the request XML and also you’ll see these choices. These provide the choice to skip plenty of outcomes, or outline the start line. We don’t wish to mess with these choices proper now, so choose them and delete them.
On the prime, search for what I’ve chosen right here, choose it and delete it. This attribute may be helpful, and also you don’t at all times need to delete it, however on this case, you’ll must take away the ‘sequence=”?”’ for the request to work correctly.
There’s another factor. Eliminate what you see chosen on this display screen shot. Choose it and delete it.
There are approach too many values to specify, so let’s chop down the request to appear to be this. Be sure to place a p.c signal within the <identify></identify> tag. It is a wild card, which suggests it should listing ALL the telephones. You wish to begin easy, so it is a simplified listPhone operation.
Now’s the time to strive it out. Click on on the inexperienced “run” icon within the higher left. You must see the suitable facet of the request change to this:
That is an unlucky bug within the present model of SoapUI. It ought to present you the XML response by default, nevertheless it as a substitute exhibits you uncooked info. Till the app is mounted, you’ll need to click on on the higher left XML tab to view the response.
The response may look one thing like this:
With that, you now have sufficient fundamental information to experiment with any of the AXL APIs. Hey now, you’re an all-star, get your sport on, go play.
As soon as you might be accustomed to how the API works, strive programming with the API:
Programming Tip
And for those who actually wish to run with the large boys, right here’s a tip for working a number of AXL request sequentially. Each time you make an AXL request, Name Supervisor launches a Tomcat session. While you make many requests in a row, Name Supervisor will launch a number of Tomcat classes, which expend CPU and RAM.
Right here’s a approach round that. On the backside of the response, open up the headers and also you’ll see a cookie named JSESSIONID and its worth.
In the event you set the JSESSIONID cookie and use the identical worth on your subsequent AXL request, Name Supervisor will re-use the Tomcat session as a substitute of launching a brand new one.
What to Keep away from and Frequent Errors
Many requests have a listing of elective search parameter tags, generally <identify> and <uuid>. You’ll often have to decide on one and delete the others.
As logical as it might appear, you possibly can’t carry out a getPhone, change some values, after which copy and paste the modified XML into an updatePhone request. getPhone and updatePhone XML tags usually are not mirror photos.
Watch out when utilizing APIs that offer you direct entry to the Name Supervisor database, like executeSqlQuery. Sophisticated joins could also be intelligent, however they will additionally suck up CPU and reminiscence the dimensions of a spy balloon, and that eats into the efficiency of each different operation.
Assets
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