All CloudStack API requests are submitted in the form of a HTTP GET/POST with an associated command and any parameters. A request is composed of the following whether in HTTP or HTTPS:
CloudStack API URL: This is the web services API entry point(for example, http://www.cloud.com:8080/client/api)
Command: The web services command you wish to execute, such as start a virtual machine or create a disk volume
Parameters: Any additional required or optional parameters for the command
A sample API GET request looks like the following:
http://localhost:8080/client/api?command=deployVirtualMachine&serviceOfferingId=1&diskOfferingId=1&templateId=2&zoneId=4&apiKey=miVr6X7u6bN_sdahOBpjNejPgEsT35eXq-jB8CG20YI3yaxXcgpyuaIRmFI_EJTVwZ0nUkkJbPmY3y2bciKwFQ&signature=Lxx1DM40AjcXU%2FcaiK8RAP0O1hU%3D
Or in a more readable format:
1. http://localhost:8080/client/api
2. ?command=deployVirtualMachine
3. &serviceOfferingId=1
4. &diskOfferingId=1
5. &templateId=2
6. &zoneId=4
7. &apiKey=miVr6X7u6bN_sdahOBpjNejPgEsT35eXqjB8CG20YI3yaxXcgpyuaIRmFI_EJTVwZ0nUkkJbPmY3y2bciKwFQ
8. &signature=Lxx1DM40AjcXU%2FcaiK8RAP0O1hU%3D
The first line is the CloudStack API URL. This is the Cloud instance you wish to interact with.
The second line refers to the command you wish to execute. In our example, we are attempting to deploy a fresh new virtual machine. It is preceded by a (?) to separate itself from the CloudStack API URL.
Lines 3-6 are the parameters for this given command. To see the command and its request parameters, please refer to the appropriate section in the CloudStack API documentation. Each parameter field-value pair (field=value) is preceded by an ampersand character (&).
Line 7 is the user API Key that uniquely identifies the account. See Signing API Requests on page 7.
Line 8 is the signature hash created to authenticate the user account executing the API command. See Signing API Requests on page 7.
