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Workflow processes and tasks

Contributors netapp-ranuk dmp-netapp

The BlueXP REST APIs support many different workflows and tasks. You should be familiar with their common characteristics before reviewing and using a specific API.

See ONTAP management service workflow processes for more details about the extensive set of workflow examples included with the ONTAP management service REST API.

Workflows

A workflow is most typically a sequence of one or more steps needed to accomplish a specific administrative task or goal. For BlueXP, each of the workflow steps can be one of the following:

  • REST API call

  • Invocation of another workflow

  • Miscellaneous task or decision, such as deciding on the size of a new volume

The workflows provided with this documentation include the minimum steps and parameters needed to accomplish each task. You can use these workflows as a starting point and customize them for your environment as needed.

Base URLs and REST endpoint paths

The REST API calls in the workflows use different URLs and URL formats depending on the desired service and resource.

Note Every API call used in the workflows includes the resource path to the REST endpoint. The path is relative and appended to the appropriate base URL. Unless otherwise indicated for a specific API call, the base URL addresses the NetApp BlueXP services. You should always carefully review the examples provided in the workflows before using them with a live deployment.
BlueXP endpoints

The majority of the workflow REST API calls are made to the NetApp BlueXP service. The base URL of the SaaS interface is:

https://console.bluexp.netapp.com/

Auth0 authentication service

Some of the REST API calls used in the identity workflows are made to the Auth0 token authentication service. The base URL is:

https://netapp-cloud-account.auth0.com/

Common parameters and variables

There are several parameters or variables common among the workflows.

Request headers

Most of the REST API calls used in the workflows require the following request headers. Rather than cite these headers as a prerequisite in every REST API call, they are considered a universal requirement. If a workflow does not use these headers or has different prerequisites, they are indicated as appropriate.

Authorization request header

To get a bearer token for this header, perform the appropriate workflow at Create a user token and extract the access_token value.

x-agent-id request header

This header contains the agent ID which is used to identify an agent. See Get required identifiers for information about creating this value.

Presentation of common tokens and identifiers

Most of the variable tokens, identifiers, and other variables used in the sample REST API calls consist of long strings of letters, numbers, and special characters. In most case they are opaque with no easily discernible content or meaning. Therefore, rather than including the actual strings, smaller reserved keywords are used instead. For example, <ACCESS_TOKEN> is a shorthand notation for an OAuth2 access token used to establish identity.

This approach has several benefits:

  • The curl and JSON samples are simpler and easier to understand.

  • Because all keywords use a common format, you can quickly identify the content to insert or extract.

  • No value is lost because the original values cannot be copied and used with an actual deployment.

JSON input for curl command

In many cases, a workflow step accepts JSON input in the request body of the REST API call. This input is indicated in the curl command through the -d option, with the corresponding sample typically included in the JSON input example.

Tasks

A task is a sequence of one or more steps needed to accomplish a specific administrative task or goal. Tasks typically differ from workflow processes in several ways:

  • Limited to using the BlueXP web UI

  • Do not make REST API calls

  • If invocation of a workflow is required, it is included as a prerequisite