RESTful APIs have been a cornerstone of web development for over two decades, allowing different systems to communicate with each other seamlessly. In this blog post, we will delve into how to use RESTful APIs in vRA 8.x to automate various tasks and access endpoints. We’ll also explore how to authenticate requests and filter results using query strings.

First, let’s set the record straight – REST (Representational State Transfer) is not a specific technology or protocol, but rather an architectural style for designing networked applications. It was first introduced in 1994 as part of the HTTP 1.1 standard, but it wasn’t until around the year 2000 that REST became more widely adopted and defined. The principle of REST is to promote an image of how a web application is composed, with multiple service endpoints and resource operations like POST, GET, and PUT.

To get started with using RESTful APIs in vRA 8.x, you’ll need to meet a few prerequisites. First, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of RESTful APIs and how they work. Additionally, you’ll need to have vRA 8.x installed and configured on your system.

Once you have the necessary knowledge and tools in place, you can start making API calls to vRA 8.x service endpoints using the Http protocol. One of the most commonly used software packages for making REST calls is Code Stream, which contains a REST task that simplifies the process of communicating with endpoints and systems.

To authenticate your requests, vRA 8.x accepts a username and password of a registered user in vRA. If authenticated successfully, a token will be issued, which can then be used in subsequent calls to the vRA service endpoints. The token is passed in the header of the REST request, along with other entries like the Authorization entry, which feeds in the output of the Obtain vRA Token task.

Now that we have our token, let’s use it to make a REST request to obtain a list of all Cloud Accounts configured on our vRA instance. The token will be used to authenticate the call to get all of your Cloud Accounts. To filter down the results based on a specific query, we can append a query string to the REST request’s URL.

For example, if we want to retrieve only the Cloud Account with the name “aprovc1.automationpro.lan”, we can modify the URL as follows:

“`

https://vra-8-3-instance/rest/cloud-accounts?name=aprovc1.automationpro.lan

“`

By appending the query string “name=aprovc1.automationpro.lan” to the URL, we can filter out all results that do not match this query and return only the single result that matches our criteria.

If you’re interested in learning more about the available filters and how to use them, you can check out the API documents hosted on your vRA 8.3 instance. These documents provide detailed information on the available filters, their syntax, and examples of how to use them.

In conclusion, using RESTful APIs in vRA 8.x is a powerful way to automate various tasks and access endpoints. By understanding the basics of REST and how to use software packages like Code Stream, you can simplify the process of communicating with vRA 8.x and perform tasks like authenticating requests, obtaining tokens, and filtering results using query strings.