Virtual Automation API Guide › About the Virtual Automation API

About the Virtual Automation API

The virtual automation API allows you to deploy event collection for virtual machines using CA User Activity Reporting Module. You can use the API to trigger a preset collection profile, which contains all the information necessary to provision event collection.

You can also use the API to set access credentials for event collection, identify available resources, and other related functions.

More information:

Virtual Automation API Structure

Virtual Automation API Overview

Virtual Automation API Overview

To use the virtual API, you invoke HTTP methods against resources, each of which has its own URI. The API uses the following HTTP methods:

• POST - creates a resource, supplying the resource parameters in a message body. You can use this method to deploy event collection for a virtual machine.
• GET - retrieves the current representation of a resource. You can use this method to get a list of tenants or information about a deployment.
• PUT - updates a resource, replacing the current resource representation with the one you supply in the message body. You can use this method to change existing event source credentials.
• DELETE - deletes a resource. You can use this method to halt event collection.

Provide a valid CA User Activity Reporting Module user and password, or certificate name and password, on each API call. Do this using HTTP Basic Authentication (the Authorization header).

For example, you could use the available methods to deploy and control event collection this way:

1. Deploy a connector and start event collection on a virtual machine by using POST to the fixed resource “/deploycollection”. POST creates a resource that represents your event source.

   This method returns a URI for the new resource.

2. Check the status of the event source, by using GET against the resource URI.
3. Remove the event source, if necessary, by using DELETE against the same URI.

Some resources support multiple HTTP methods, others support only one. The documentation for each identifies the supported methods.

Virtual Automation API Structure

All resource URIs for the virtual API have a defined structure, as illustrated in the following example:

https://hostname:8443/rest/am/1/collectionprofiles

The first part of the URI identifies the target server. Replace "hostname" with the name of the CA User Activity Reporting Module server you want to contact.

The second part of the URI, "/rest/am/1" is common to all the resources on that server. The “1” specifies the version of the API you want to access.

The third element defines the resource you want to access, in this case “/collectionprofiles”.

You can return data or send data in either XML or JSON format. To specify data return format, include values in the HTTP Accept header to specify which you format you want:

• "Accept: application/xml"
• "Accept: application/json"

To specify sent the format of data you send using PUT or POST, use the HTTP Content-Type header:

• "Content-Type: application/xml"
• “Content-Type: application/json”

Note: All API examples in this guide are shown using the cURL command line HTTP client.