1.3. Request and response types

The OpenStack Compute API supports both JSON and XML data serialization request and response formats.

You specify the request format in the Content-Type header in the request. This header is required for operations that have a request body. The syntax for the Content-Type header is:

Content-Type: application/format

Where format is either json or xml, you specify the response format by using one of the following methods:

Accept header. The syntax for the Accept header is:
```
Accept: application/format
```
Where format is either json or xml, the default format is json.
Query extension. Add an .xml or .json extension to the request URI. For example, the .xml extension in the following URI request specifies that the response body is returned in XML format:
POST /v2/010101/servers.xml

If you do not specify a response format, JSON is the default.

If you specify conflicting formats in the Accept header and the query extension, the format specified in the query extension takes precedence. For example, if the query extension is .xml and the Accept header specifies application/json, the response is returned in XML format.

You can serialize a response in a different format from the request format. Example 1.1, “JSON request with headers” and Example 1.2, “XML response with headers” show a request body in JSON format and a response body in XML format.

Example 1.1. JSON request with headers

POST /v2/010101/servers HTTP/1.1
Host: servers.api.openstack.org
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/xml
X-Auth-Token: eaaafd18-0fed-4b3a-81b4-663c99ec1cbb

{
   "server":{
      "flavorRef":"http://openstack.example.com/openstack/flavors/1",
      "imageRef":"http://openstack.example.com/openstack/images/70a599e0-31e7-49b7-b260-868f441e862b",
      "metadata":{
         "My Server Name":"Apache1"
      },
      "name":"new-server-test",
      "personality":[
         {
            "contents":"ICAgICAgDQoiQSBjbG91ZCBkb2VzIG5vdCBrbm93IHdoeSBpdCBtb3ZlcyBpbiBqdXN0IHN1Y2ggYSBkaXJlY3Rpb24gYW5kIGF0IHN1Y2ggYSBzcGVlZC4uLkl0IGZlZWxzIGFuIGltcHVsc2lvbi4uLnRoaXMgaXMgdGhlIHBsYWNlIHRvIGdvIG5vdy4gQnV0IHRoZSBza3kga25vd3MgdGhlIHJlYXNvbnMgYW5kIHRoZSBwYXR0ZXJucyBiZWhpbmQgYWxsIGNsb3VkcywgYW5kIHlvdSB3aWxsIGtub3csIHRvbywgd2hlbiB5b3UgbGlmdCB5b3Vyc2VsZiBoaWdoIGVub3VnaCB0byBzZWUgYmV5b25kIGhvcml6b25zLiINCg0KLVJpY2hhcmQgQmFjaA==",
            "path":"/etc/banner.txt"
         }
      ],
      "networks":[
         {
            "uuid":"c6a48469-4638-4346-b755-6e66ed7abdff",
            "fixed_ip":"10.0.0.10"
         }
      ]
   }
}

Example 1.2, “XML response with headers” shows the headers and XML response returned by the JSON request:

Example 1.2. XML response with headers

HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:24:48 GMT
Content-Length: 582
Location: https://servers.api.openstack.org/v2/010101/servers/06dba123-2c7e-4639-bea0-09fbe219b056
Content-Type: application/xml
X-Compute-Request-Id: req-ab05045a-452f-4b46-be0d-86494da02a2b
Server: Jetty(8.0.y.z-SNAPSHOT)

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<server xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
  xmlns="http://docs.openstack.org/compute/api/v1.1"
  id="ea8417a1-7957-4ed5-8b3c-0befc1724308" adminPass="FoFw84XtQj3c">
  <metadata/>
  <atom:link
    href="http://openstack.example.com/v2/openstack/servers/ea8417a1-7957-4ed5-8b3c-0befc1724308"
    rel="self"/>
  <atom:link
    href="http://openstack.example.com/openstack/servers/ea8417a1-7957-4ed5-8b3c-0befc1724308"
    rel="bookmark"/>
</server>

The following example shows an alternative method of achieving the same result. The following request uses an URI extension of .xml instead of an Accept header to request an XML response.

	Note
	The XML response is not shown.

Example 1.3. JSON request with XML query extension for the response

POST /v2/010101/servers.xml HTTP/1.1
Host: servers.api.openstack.org
Content-Type: application/json
X-Auth-Token: eaaafd18-0fed-4b3a-81b4-663c99ec1cbb

{
   "server":{
      "flavorRef":"http://openstack.example.com/openstack/flavors/1",
      "imageRef":"http://openstack.example.com/openstack/images/70a599e0-31e7-49b7-b260-868f441e862b",
      "metadata":{
         "My Server Name":"Apache1"
      },
      "name":"new-server-test",
      "personality":[
         {
            "contents":"ICAgICAgDQoiQSBjbG91ZCBkb2VzIG5vdCBrbm93IHdoeSBpdCBtb3ZlcyBpbiBqdXN0IHN1Y2ggYSBkaXJlY3Rpb24gYW5kIGF0IHN1Y2ggYSBzcGVlZC4uLkl0IGZlZWxzIGFuIGltcHVsc2lvbi4uLnRoaXMgaXMgdGhlIHBsYWNlIHRvIGdvIG5vdy4gQnV0IHRoZSBza3kga25vd3MgdGhlIHJlYXNvbnMgYW5kIHRoZSBwYXR0ZXJucyBiZWhpbmQgYWxsIGNsb3VkcywgYW5kIHlvdSB3aWxsIGtub3csIHRvbywgd2hlbiB5b3UgbGlmdCB5b3Vyc2VsZiBoaWdoIGVub3VnaCB0byBzZWUgYmV5b25kIGhvcml6b25zLiINCg0KLVJpY2hhcmQgQmFjaA==",
            "path":"/etc/banner.txt"
         }
      ],
      "networks":[
         {
            "uuid":"c6a48469-4638-4346-b755-6e66ed7abdff",
            "fixed_ip":"10.0.0.10"
         }
      ]
   }
}

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