5.5

Table Of Contents
Service APIs
An extension service can define its own request and response body elements if it needs to. API schema files
can be specified as part of service registration or can be added later. Schema files can reside at any location
that is reachable by the extension service.
Support for Idempotent Operations
Most requests to extension services can include an operationKey attribute, which is a string meant to
uniquely identify the operation so that if it is invoked multiple times, the result will be the same as if it had
been invoked only once. The following types support use of the operationKey attribute:
n
AclRuleType
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ApiDefinitionType
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ApiFilterType
n
FileDescriptorType
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ResourceClassActionType
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ResourceClassType
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ServiceLinkType
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ServiceResourceType
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ServiceType
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Summary of vCloud API Extension Services Framework Requests,” on page 330
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“Register an Extension Service,” on page 332
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“Adding or Removing Service Links,” on page 336
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“Service-Specific Tasks and Events,” on page 339
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“Authorization Framework for Extension Service Operations,” on page 342
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“Localization Framework for Extension Services,” on page 350
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“REST APIs for Extension Services,” on page 353
Summary of vCloud API Extension Services Framework Requests
vCloud API extension services framework requests extend the vCloud API to allow you to extend existing
vCloud Director services and integrate new services with vCloud Director.
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API-URL is a URL of the form https://vcloud.example.com/api.
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id is a unique identifier in the form of a UUID, as defined by RFC 4122.
IMPORTANT Request URLs are always available in Link elements contained by the representation of the
object on which they operate. URL forms shown here are for reference purposes only. Although URLs have
a well-known syntax and a well-understood interpretation, a client should treat vCloud API request URLs
as opaque strings. The rules that govern how the server constructs these strings might change in future
releases.
This summary may not cover all requests in this category. For the complete list of requests, along with
detailed information about input and output types, see the Operations lists in the schema reference.
vCloud API Programming Guide
330 VMware, Inc.