Create Assets
Objective
Use Postman for creating various cloud assets. Specify response in either JSON (default) or XML format.
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
The following are prerequisites for completing this tutorial:
- Google Chrome with Postman plugin
- RightScale User account
- Authenticated previously with the RightScale API
- Set the X_API_VERSION URL parameter key value to 1.5
- Basic understanding of how to List and Show Assets (often you will need to list or show some cloud assets before creating others).
Overview
Using Postman to create (HTTP POST) cloud assets is fairly simple and quick. No need to spin up servers, write a bash, Ruby or PowerShell script, etc. Basically, all you need to do is:
- Start Postman
- Authenticate with the RS API
- Lookup the Resource you want to list in the RS API online reference documentation
- Construct the URL request
- Send the POST request
Steps
Having previously authenticated and set the X_API_VERSION HTTP header to 1.5:
- Modify the base request URL (in accord with the online reference documentation)
- Add URL params as needed
- Make sure the method is set to POST (not GET or other method)
- Click the Send button when ready
Notes:
- https://my.rightscale.com/api is common to all requests in the examples used. (Your API endpoint could vary depending on your RightScale account.) Consider it a prefix for all API request URLs.
- JSON is the default response format. Add a ".xml" suffix to the URL for XML format.
Create a Deployment
- Change the base URL to:
- Add URL parameters. Example URL parameter name/value pairs.
| URL Parameter Name | Value |
|---|---|
| deployment[name] | Postman Test Deployment |
| deployment[description] | Create Deployment using POSTman |
- Example URL POSTman constructs:
- Click Send when ready.
POSTman should look similar to the following before you send the POST request.
In addition to the Status "201 Created", you can verify from the Dashboard as needed. For example, from Manage > Deployments:
Clone a ServerTemplate
Clone a previously imported ServerTemplate so it can be customized for a specific use case by servers in your deployment. The following example was used to clone an imported "ServerTemplate Database Manager for Microsoft SQL Server (13.5.1-LTS)".
- Change the base URL to:
https://my.rightscale.com/api/server...28492001/clone
- Note: 328492001 is the example ID of the imported ServerTemplate to clone.
- Add URL paramaters. Example URL parameter name/value pairs.
| URL Parameter Name | Value |
|---|---|
| server_template[name] | Gregs Clone of DbMgr for MySQL |
| server_template[description] | Clone of MySQL Server DbMgr 13.5 LTS |
- Example URL POSTman constructs:
https://my.rightscale.com/api/server...te[name]=Gregs Clone of DbMgr for MySQL&server_template[description]=Clone of MySQL Server DbMgr 13.5
- Click Send when ready.
POSTman should look similar to the following before you send the POST request.
In addition to the Status "201 Created", you can verify from the Dashboard as needed. For example, from Design > ServerTemplates:
Create a Server
Create a Server and add it to a previously created Deployment. This is a rather lengthy example, and requires a basic understanding of the Dashboard and API, including how to use the API Online Reference Documentation.
Notes:
- This assumes that several other cloud resources have previously been created and are available to your account. For example, a ServerTemplate, Security Group, etc.) To get specific resource IDs for your account, you can use the API (or in many instances the Dashboard URI).
- The API endpoint and account used in this example uses the Unified Cloud Platform (UCP) not a legacy account and API endpoint shown in most API examples ("my.rightscale.com"). For more information see UCP.
Do the following to create your new Server:
- Change the base URL to the following (your API endpoint may differ, depending what shard your account is on):
- Add URL parameters. Example URL parameter name/value pairs:
| URL Parameter Name | Value |
|---|---|
| server[name] | Base Linux Server |
| server[description] | Base Linux for POSTman plugin tests |
| server[deployment_href] | /api/deployments/443920003 |
| server[instance][cloud_href] | /api/clouds/3 ### Note: 3 = the static cloud ID for AWS US-West |
| server[instance][server_template_href] | /api/server_templates/320217003 |
| server[instance][multi_cloud_image_href] | /api/multi_cloud_images/356113003 |
| server[instance][instance_type_href] | /api/clouds/3/instance_types/CSB9P9B0US5VA |
| server[instance][security_group_hrefs][] | /api/clouds/3/security_groups/4NASQ1JLPLNM |
- Example URL POSTman constructs:
- https://us-3.rightscale.com/api/serv...ver[name]=Base Linux Server&server[description]=Base Linux for POSTman plugin tests&server[deployment_href]=/api/deployments/443920003&server[instance][cloud_href]=/api/clouds/3&server[instance][server_template_href]=/api/server_templates/320217003&server[instance][multi_cloud_image_href]=/api/multi_cloud_images/356113003&server[instance][instance_type_href]=/api/clouds/3/instance_types/CSB9P9B0US5VA&server[instance][security_group_hrefs][]=/api/clouds/3/security_groups/4NASQ1JLPLNM
- Click Send when ready
POSTman should look similar to the following before you send the POST request.
In addition to the Status "201 Created", you can verify from the Dashboard as needed. For example, from Manage > Deployments > DeploymentName
Notes:
- Browser address bar for Server creation in the Dashboard uses the same API endpoint as used in POSTman (us-3.rightscale.com)
- Server parameters reflect what was specified in POSTMan (ST, Cloud, Instance Type, etc.)
Post Tutorial Steps
Use POSTman to interface with the RightScale API for other list, show or create operations you want to accomplish.
See also
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