1.0
Table Of Contents
- vCloud API Programming Guide
- Contents
- About This Book
- Introducing the VMware vCloud API
- Hello vCloud: A Structured REST Workflow Example
- Logging In and Getting an Organization List
- Browsing an Organization
- Finding a vApp Template
- Getting Information About a vDC
- Instantiating the Template in the vDC
- Deploying and Powering On the vApp
- Getting Information About the vApp
- Displaying the Console
- Deleting the vApp
- Logging Out
- Moving on to Additional Use Cases
- Browsing
- Provisioning
- Summary of Provisioning Requests
- Upload OVF to Create a vApp Template
- View the OVF Descriptor of a vApp Template
- Download a vApp Template as OVF
- Upload a Media Image
- Copying and Moving
- Changing a Name or Description
- Delete a vAppTemplate, vApp, or Media Image
- Cataloging vApp Templates and Media Images
- Controlling Access
- Datacenter Operations
- Summary of Datacenter Operations Requests
- vApp Lifecycle
- Instantiate a vApp Template
- Compose a vApp
- Recompose a vApp to Add or Remove Virtual Machines
- Capture a vApp to Create a vApp Template
- Reconfiguring vApps and Virtual Machines
- Deploying and Controlling vApps and Virtual Machines
- Deploy a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Undeploy a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Power On a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Power Off a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Reset a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Suspend a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Discard the Suspended State of a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Shut Down a vApp or Virtual Machine
- Reboot a vApp or Virtual Machine
- List Media Devices of a Virtual Machine
- Insert Media Into a Virtual Machine
- Eject Media from a Virtual Machine
- Get a Screen Thumbnail for a Virtual Machine
- Get a Screen Ticket for a Virtual Machine
- Provide User Input Requested by a Virtual Machine
- Control Access to vApps
- Retrieve a Task
- Administrative Operations
- VMware vSphere Platform Operations
- Summary of vSphere Platform Operations Requests
- List vSphere Platform Operations and Objects for a vCloud
- List Provider vDCs in a vCloud
- List External Networks in a vCloud
- List Network Pools in a vCloud
- List vCenter Servers Registered to a vCloud
- List ESX/ESXi Hosts in a vCloud
- Create a Provider vDC
- Create an External Network
- Create a Network Pool
- Import a Virtual Machine from vCenter
- XML Representations in the vCloud API
- User API Reference
- Request Parameters Reference
- Administrative API Reference
- vSphere Platform Extensions Reference
- OVF and the vCloud API
- An Introduction to REST for vCloud API Users
- Index
VMware, Inc. 15
Chapter 1 Introducing the VMware vCloud API
Virtual Systems and Media Images in a vCloud
VirtualsystemsandmediaimagesarestoredinavDCandcanbeincludedinacatalog.Mediaimagesare
storedintheirnativerepresentation(ISOorfloppy).Virtualsystemsarestoredastemplates,usinganopen
standardformat(OVF1.0).Thesetemplatescanberetrievedfromcatalogsandtransformedinto
virtual
systems,calledvApps,throughaprocesscalledinstantiation,whichbindsatemplate’sabstractresource
requirementstoresourcesavailableinavDC.AvAppcontainsoneormoreindividualvirtualmachines(Vm
elements),alongwithparametersthatdefineoperationaldetailssuchas:
Howthecontainedvirtualmachinesareconnectedtoeachotherandtoexternalnetworks.
Theorderinwhichindividualvirtualmachinesarepoweredonoroff.
End‐userlicenseagreementtermsforeachvirtualmachine.
Deploymentleaseterms(typicallyinheritedfromthecontainingorganization)thatconstrainthevApp’s
consumptionofvDCresources
Accesscontrolinformationspecifyingwhichusersandgroupscanperformoperationssuchasdeploy,
poweron,modify,andsuspendonthevAppandthevirtualmachinesitcontains.
Objects, References, and Representations
ThevCloudAPIrepresentsobjectsinthevCloudasXMLdocumentsinwhichobjectpropertiesareencoded
aselementsandattributeswithtypedvaluesandanexplicitobjecthierarchydefinedbyanXMLschema.
EveryobjectinavCloudisuniquelyidentifiedbyaURL.ThisURLisconstructedbythe
serverandreturned
inthevalueofthehrefattributeoftheXMLelementthatrepresentstheobject.Italsoappearsinvarious
elementsofLinkTypeandReferenceType.ThisURLservesasauniqueidentifierthatpersistsforthelifeof
theobjectandisneverre‐used.AlthoughURLs
haveawell‐knownsyntaxandawell‐understood
interpretation,aclientshouldtreateachhrefasanopaquestring.Therulesthatgovernconstructionofhref
stringsbytheservermightchangeinfuturereleases.
Objecttypes,specifiedasMIMEcontenttypes,areincludedintheXMLrepresentationsoffirst
‐classobjects
suchastheonesshowninFigure 1‐1.Formoreinformation,see“ContentType”onpage 142.
Links and Link Relations
ThevCloudAPImakesextensiveuseoflinks(URLs)toprovidereferencestoobjectsandtheactionsthatthey
support.Theselinksaretheprimarymechanismbywhichaservertellsaclienthowtoaccessandoperateon
anobject.Linksarecreatedbytheserver,andareread‐only
attheclient.(Ifaclientrequestbodyincludesa
link,theserverignoresit.)
IntheXMLrepresentationofavCloudobject,eachlinkisdefinedinaLinkelementthathasthefollowing
form:
<Link rel="
relationship
" type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.type+xml" href="
URL
" name="
string
"/>
TherelattributevaluedefinestherelationshipoftheobjectwhoseXMLrepresentationcontainstheLink
toatargetobject.TherelationshipalsoindicatestheHTTPrequesttypetousewhenmakingarequest
withthehrefattributeofthelink,asshowninTable 1‐1:
Table 1-1. Link Relationships and HTTP Request Types
rel Attribute Value Relation Description HTTP Request
add addsanitemtothiscontainer POST
alternate alinktoanalternaterepresentationofthisobject GET
catalogItem alinktothecatalogItemthatcontainsareferencetothisobject. GET
controlAccess applyaccesscontrols POST
copy notsupportedinthisrelease N/A
deploy deploythisobject POST