Applies to: RackConnect v2.0

The RackConnect API provides a way for you to access certain read-only information about your cloud servers and their RackConnect configuration. The RackConnect API is available to all customers who can manage their RackConnect configurations through the MyRackspace Portal interface.

You can use the RackConnect API to access the following information:

  • When you are scripting or automating any post-server-build configuration tasks, you can query the API to learn when RackConnect automation is done configuring your server. If you have this information, you can avoid performing tasks that conflict with the automation.

  • When you are setting up the network configuration manually on your cloud server (when the Configure Network Stack automation feature is disabled on your cloud account), the API can return the gateway IP address to use as the default gateway on your server. You can use this address to correctly configure the cloud server network stack.

  • When you want to determine the specific actions that the automation will perform against one of your cloud servers, you can view the status of each automation feature for a specific server.

Note: In addition to using the RackConnect API, you can now use the Cloud Servers API to query the RackConnect automation status of your cloud servers. The benefit of using the Cloud Servers API is that you do not need to perform the query from the cloud server for which you want the status. The limitations of this method are that only the RackConnect automation status is available, and this method is compatible only with cloud servers. If you are interested in this method, see Programmatically determine the RackConnect v2.0 automation status of your cloud servers.

API basics#

The RackConnect API is exposed via regional endpoints. Use the endpoint that matches the region where your cloud server resides.

  • https://dfw.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

  • https://hkg.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

  • https://iad.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

  • https://lon.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

  • https://ord.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

  • https://syd.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com

Note: The URLs for each API operation include a version number. When future versions of the calls available, this article will be updated. It is important to note that this version number does not relate to the version of RackConnect that you are using.

Authentication#

The RackConnect API authenticates all requests based on the source IP address that is initiating the request. The API endpoints are exposed only on the private (ServiceNet) network, so the private (ServiceNet) network IP address of your cloud server is used to determine the source of the request and to respond with the appropriate information. API responses are limited to information about the specific cloud server from which you are querying. Hypervisor-level protections are in place that prevent these IP addresses from being spoofed, ensuring that the instance making the request to the API endpoint is, in fact, your cloud server.

Note: You cannot query the RackConnect API from outside of your cloud server.

Rate limiting#

There is a limit of 30 requests per minute from each of your cloud servers. If you exceed the number of allowed requests per minute, you will receive an HTTP 403 (Forbidden) response code. The counter resets each minute.

Operations#

The following operations are supported by the API. The format query string parameter is optional on each request. If it is not supplied, the default response format is used.

GET /v1/automation_status?format={format}

  • Response formats: text, JSON, XML

  • Default response format: text

  • Expected HTTP response code: 200

  • Description: Returns the automation status of the cloud server (DEPLOYING, DEPLOYED, or FAILED).

GET /v1/automation_status/details?format={format}

  • Response formats: JSON, XML

  • Default response format: JSON

  • Expected HTTP response code: 200

  • Description: Returns the automation status of the cloud server (DEPLOYING, DEPLOYED, or FAILED) and an array of cloud server tasks with their associated statuses.

GET /v1/gateway_ip?format={format}

  • Response formats: text, JSON, XML

  • Default response format: text

  • Expected HTTP response code: 200

  • Description: Returns the gateway IP address for the cloud server. If the gateway IP address has not yet been assigned, an HTTP 404 response code is returned

GET /v1/automation_features?format={format}

  • Response formats: JSON, XML

  • Default response format: JSON

  • Expected HTTP response code: 200

  • Description: Returns a collection of automation features and their associated statuses for the cloud server

API example#

The following example uses cURL to retrieve the automation status. Alternatively, you can use a web browser to query the RackConnect API.

Request:

$ curl https://dfw.api.rackconnect.rackspace.com/v1/automation_status?format=text

Response:

DEPLOYED