Cisco Server Provisioner 6.6 User's Guide ("Chuck Berry")

API: Application Programming Interface

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API: Application Programming Interface

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API: Application Programming Interface

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The Cisco Server Provisioner API enables customers to interface with Provisioner's provisioning and imaging functions programmatically.

 

This chapter describes how to use the API to integrate with your IT applications (control panel, orchestrator, scheduler, load balancer, etc.)

 

The API is comprised of components to make the software developer's job very easy and quick:

•An authentication layer (by token and by IP address)

•A Provisioning Sample Code Example Generator

•An Imaging Sample Code Example Generator

•An API Enabler

•Supporting components

 

The process to integrate Provisioner is to:

•Obtain an APID (using a script as root, tied to an IP address, user name and password)

•Generate sample Provisioning API calls and return codes (then integrate the functions into your application), and/or

•Generate sample Imaging API calls and return codes (then integrate the functions into your application)

•Reference the generated sample code (calls and return codes) to integrate provisioning and imaging functions into your application

 

Note: before using the API, it is important that you review individual tutorials for provisioning (by OS, in "Create a MAC-Specific Provisioning Template and Role") and imaging so you understand Provisioner functionality and limitations when using the GUI.

 

 

Example: Screenshots of a Customer's Dedicated Server Control Panel integrated using the API

 

Many hosting companies integrate Provisioner into their control panels in order to reduce their operational costs and to provide their customers with a self-service environment.

 

SeFlow.net is a leading Italian hosting company with thousands of systems being regularly provisioned and re-purposed using Cisco Server Provisioner. SeFlow.net empowers its dedicated server customers to re-provision systems 24x7 with different types of Linux and Windows operating systems with no manual intervention by SeFlow.net staff, providing best-in-class Quality of Service.

 

Below are a few screenshots showing SeFlow.net's customers' experience.

 

SeFlow.net customers securely access their systems with strong authentication:

API_SeFlow_01_Login

 

 

From the customized control panel, SeFlow.net customers can elect to re-provision their server:

API_SeFlow_02_Main_Panel

 

 

First they select the new Linux distribution or Windows operating system they wish to provision on their system:

API_SeFlow_03_Select_OS_to_Install

 

Then confirm all the system settings:

API_SeFlow_04_Server_Available_to_Re-provision

 

 

The system will be re-provisioned by the Provisioner PXE Server when the customer reboots the system:

API_SeFlow_05_System_Ready_for_Customer_Reboot

 

But if the customer doesn't want to re-purpose the system after all, the operation can be canceled and the Provisioner PXE Server will not provision the client system:

API_SeFlow_06_Customer_Cancelled_OS_Install

 

 

If the customer can't access or reboot the system, the system can be power-cycled and be provisioned by the Provisioner PXE Server automatically:

API_SeFlow_07_System_Ready_for_Customer_Power_Off_On

 

A fully operational Linux system awaits the customer upon reboot.