5.5.1

Table Of Contents
Interacting with a Workflow While It Runs
The Orchestrator REST API allows you to perform various operations with a workflow during its run. You
can get the status of a running workflow, answer to a waiting user interaction, and cancel a workflow run.
Get Workflow Run Objects and Check the Workflow Status
You can get information about the runs of a workflow, such as the start and end dates, the state of the run,
and the values for the input parameters. You can also get logs that are generated for a workflow run.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have imported the sample workflows package in Orchestrator. The package is included in
the Orchestrator sample applications ZIP file that you can download from the Orchestrator documentation
page.
Procedure
1 Retrieve the definition of the workflow whose status you want to check by making a GET request at the
URL of the workflow:
GET https://{vcoHost}:{port}/vco/api/workflows/{workflowID}/
You receive the definition of the workflow in the response body of the request. The workflow definition
contains a link to the execution instances of the workflow.
2 Retrieve the available execution instances of the workflow by making a GET request at their URL:
GET https://{vcoHost}:{port}/vco/api/workflows/{workflowID}/executions/
The response body of the request lists the available execution instances of the workflow where you can
view the start and end dates of every workflow run as well their status and initiator.
3 (Optional) To get more details about a particular run of the workflow, make a GET request at the URL of
that run:
GET https://{vcoHost}:{port}/vco/api/workflows/{workflowID}/executions/{executionID}/
In the response body of the request, you receive the XML representation of the particular workflow run.
You can check the values of the input parameters that are passed for this run, the user who initiated the
run, the start and end dates, as well as the state of the run.
4 (Optional) To retrieve the logs that are generated for the workflow run, make a GET request at the URL
that holds the logs:
GET https://{vcoHost}:{port}/vco/api/workflows/{workflowID}/executions/{executionID}/logs/
5 (Optional) To retrieve additional information about the state of the run, make a GET request at the URL
that holds the state of the workflow:
GET https://{vcoHost}:{port}/vco/api/workflows/{workflowID}/executions/{executionID}/state/
Example: Get the Runs of the Send Hello Workflow and Check the State of a Particular Run
If you have run the Send Hello workflow, you can get the available execution objects and check details
about them.
1 Get the definition of the Send Hello workflow by making a GET request at the URL that holds the
definition:
GET https://localhost:
8281/vco/api/workflows/CF808080808080808080808080808080DA808080013086668236014a0614d16e1/
Chapter 2 Using the vCenter Orchestrator REST API
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