1.5
Table Of Contents
- vCloud API Programming Guide
- Contents
- vCloud API Programming Guide
- About the VMware vCloud API
- Hello vCloud: A Simplified RESTful Workflow
- Exploring a Cloud
- Provisioning an Organization with vApps, Templates, and Media
- Deploying and Operating vApps
- Summary of vCloud API vApp and Virtual Machine Operations Requests
- Create a vApp From a Template
- Compose a vApp From Existing Virtual Machines
- Recompose a vApp to Add or Remove Virtual Machines
- Operate a vApp
- Configuring vApps and Virtual Machines
- Retrieve the Configuration Links for a vApp
- Retrieve the Configuration Links for a Virtual Machine
- Retrieve or Update a Modifiable Section
- Update a vApp Network Configuration
- Update the NetworkConnectionSection of a Virtual Machine
- Retrieve or Modify the CPU Configuration of a Virtual Machine
- Retrieve or Modify the GuestCustomizationSection of a Virtual Machine
- Retrieve or Modify ProductSection Elements
- Retrieve or Modify Groups of Related Sections in a Virtual Machine
- Retrieve or Modify the Hard Disk Configuration of a Virtual Machine
- Creating, Provisioning, and Managing Organizations
- Summary of Administrative Requests
- Administrator Credentials and Privileges
- Organization Administration
- Network Administration
- vDC Administration
- Catalog Administration
- User and Group Administration
- Working With Roles and Rights
- Controlling Access to vApps and Catalogs
- Using vCloud API Extensions to Provision and Manage a Cloud
- Working With Object Metadata
- Using the Query Service
- Configuring and Using Blocking Tasks and Notifications
- XML Representations in the vCloud API
- Index
The response is encoded using gzip encoding as described in RFC 1952, and
includes the following header:
Content-Encoding: gzip
In the default configuration, responses smaller than 64KB are never
compressed.
Authorization
All requests from authenticated clients must include an Authorization header.
See “Logging In,” on page 24 for details about the value of this header.
Content-Type
Requests that include a body must start with the appropriate HTTP Content-
Type header. Content types for all elements are included in the schema
reference. In addition, the type attribute of a response body indicates the
content type of the document. For example, this response fragment indicates
that the content type associated with a CatalogItem object is
application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.catalogItem+xml.
<CatalogItem
type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.catalogItem+xml"
href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/catalogItem/221"
name="Ubuntu Template with vsftpd"/>
A POST or PUT request that supplies a CatalogItem in the request body
requires the following Content-Type header:
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.catalogItem+xml
When it appears as the value of a Content-Type header or the type attribute of
an element in the vCloud API, this string is case-insensitive in requests, and
can be returned in either mixed case or lowercase characters in responses.
Request Bodies
vCloud Director uses a validating XML parser that requires elements in a request body to agree with the schema
in order and number. Request bodies are rejected as invalid unless they meet the following criteria:
n
XML namespace attributes must be supplied for all namespaces represented by elements in the request.
See “XML Namespace Identifiers,” on page 234.
n
If multiple namespaces are represented in the request, XML namespace attributes must include an
identifying prefix, and that prefix must be used with all elements from that namespace.
n
All required elements must appear in request bodies. All elements that appear in request bodies must
appear in the order that the schema establishes, and with content that conforms to the type constraint that
the schema specifies.
vCloud API REST Responses
All responses include an HTTP status code and, unless the status code is 204 (No Content), a Content-Type
header. Response content depends on the request. Some responses include a document body, some include
only a URL, and some are empty.
A vCloud API client can expect a subset of HTTP status codes in a response.
Chapter 1 About the VMware vCloud API
VMware, Inc. 17