To begin using the API, you request the system to create a Session object. In this request, you supply your credentials in an Authorization header of the form prescribed by the identity provider that your organization uses. The response includes an authorization token, which you must include in subsequent requests.

Every version of the vCloud API supported by vCloud Director has a login URL that a client can obtain by making an unauthenticated GET request to the api/versions URL. See Example: Retrieve the Login URL and List of Supported API Versions. Because all other vCloud API requests must be authenticated, any vCloud API workflow must begin with a login request that creates a session and returns an authorization token. The token must be included in subsequent vCloud API requests.

Prerequisites

Verify that the following conditions are met:

■

You know the type of identity provider that your organization uses. See Create a vCloud API Session for more about identity providers, or ask your organization administrator.

■

You have the login credentials of a user with the predefined vApp Author role or another role that has an equivalent set of rights.

■

Your organization contains at least one VDC and one network. For more information about setting up an organization to support the Hello vCloud workflow, see Managing an Organization.

■

Your organization contains a catalog in which at least one vApp template is available. For more information about adding a vApp template to a catalog, see Provisioning an Organization.

Procedure
1

Make an API versions request to vCloud Director to obtain the vCloud API login URL.

This request has the following form: 

GET http://vcloud.example.com/api/versions
2

POST a request to the login URL to create a login session.

Regardless of the type of identity provider your organization uses, the form of this request is always the same: 

POST https://vcloud.example.com/api/sessions

See Example: Login Session Request and Response .

3

Examine the response.

A successful request returns an authorization token, which you must include in subsequent vCloud API requests.

Example: Login Session Request and Response

To create a session object, you supply your credentials in an Authorization header of the form prescribed by the identity provider that your organization uses, then POST a request to the vCloud API login URL. This request does not have a body. All the information required to create a session is included in the Authorization header. See Create a vCloud API Session for examples of this request for all supported types of identity provider.

The Session response to a successful login request includes an X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-ACCESS-TOKEN header whose value is an encoded key that you can use, along with the value of the X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-TOKEN-TYPE header, to construct an Authorization header to include in subsequent requests

The Session response includes Link elements that reference the vCloud API objects to which you have access rights. This example shows a response for a user named HelloUser who is a member of an organization named ExampleOrg.

Response: 

200 OK
X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-ACCESS-TOKEN: cn9u.../6bM=
X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-TOKEN-TYPE: Bearer
Content-Type: application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.session+xml;version=30.0
...
<Session
   xmlns="http://www.vmware.com/vcloud/v1.5"
   user="HelloUser"
   org="ExampleOrg" 
   ... >
   <Link
      rel="down"
      type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.orgList+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/org"/>
  <Link
      rel="down"
      type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.query.queryList+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/query" />
   <Link
      rel="entityResolver"
      type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.entity+xml"
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/entity/" />
</Session>

The response code indicates whether the request succeeded, or how it failed.

■

If the request is successful, the server returns HTTP response code 200 (OK) and headers that include: 

X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-ACCESS-TOKEN: token
X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-TOKEN-TYPE: type

Use the values of these headers to construct an Authorization header to use in subsequent vCloud API requests. For example, if the value of the X-VMWARE-VCLOUD-TOKEN-TYPE is Bearer, then the constructed header would have this form: 

Authorization Bearer token
Note

A successful request also returns a header of the form: 

x-vcloud-authorization: token

Use of this header for authorization is deprecated as of API version 30.0.

■

If the Authorization header is missing from the request, the server returns HTTP response code 403.

■

If the credentials supplied in the Authorization header are invalid, the server returns HTTP response code 401.

Important

The authorization token expires after a configurable interval of client inactivity. The default interval is 30 minutes. After the token expires, you must log in again to obtain a new token. The system administrator can change this default.

Next topic: Find a Catalog and a VDC
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