1 = Setup PVE Development Environment =
3 1. Install Debian 'jessie'
4 2. Configure pvetest repository in apt sources.list
6 deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian jessie pvetest
8 3. Add our repository key with apt-key:
10 wget -O- "http://download.proxmox.com/debian/key.asc" | apt-key add -
12 4. make sure you have a read IP address for your hostname in /etc/hosts
13 (using 127.0.1.1 will not work)
15 5. run: apt-get update
16 6. run: apt-get dist-upgrade
17 7. run: apt-get install proxmox-ve-3.10.0
19 You should now have a working Proxmox VE installation.
21 = Install build prerequisites for development environment =
23 apt-get -y install build-essential git-core debhelper autotools-dev \
24 autogen dh-autoreconf dkms doxygen check pkg-config groff quilt dpatch \
25 automake autoconf libtool lintian libdevel-cycle-perl libjson-perl \
26 libcommon-sense-perl liblinux-inotify2-perl libio-stringy-perl \
27 libstring-shellquote-perl dh-systemd rpm2cpio libsqlite3-dev sqlite3 \
28 libglib2.0-dev librrd-dev librrds-perl rrdcached libdigest-hmac-perl \
29 libxml-parser-perl gdb libcrypt-openssl-random-perl \
30 libcrypt-openssl-rsa-perl libnet-ldap-perl libauthen-pam-perl \
31 libjson-xs-perl libterm-readline-gnu-perl oathtool libmime-base32-perl \
32 liboath0 libpci-dev texi2html libsdl1.2-dev libgnutls28-dev \
33 libspice-protocol-dev xfslibs-dev libnuma-dev libaio-dev \
34 pve-libspice-server-dev libusbredirparser-dev glusterfs-common \
35 libusb-1.0-0-dev librbd-dev libpopt-dev iproute bridge-utils numactl \
36 glusterfs-common ceph-common python-ceph libgoogle-perftools4 \
37 libfile-chdir-perl lvm2 glusterfs-client liblockfile-simple-perl \
38 libsystemd-daemon-dev libreadline-gplv2-dev libio-multiplex-perl \
39 libnetfilter-log-dev libipset3 ipset socat libsasl2-dev libogg-dev \
40 python-pyparsing libfilesys-df-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl \
41 libfile-readbackwards-perl libanyevent-perl libanyevent-http-perl \
42 unzip liblocale-po-perl vlan ifenslave-2.6 libfile-sync-perl cstream \
43 lzop dtach apt-transport-https hdparm gdisk parted ttf-dejavu-core \
44 liblzma-dev dosfstools mtools libxen-dev libfuse-dev libcorosync-pve-dev \
47 = Compile PVE packages from Source =
49 Download and install the following git modules in order from top to bottom:
51 # git clone git://git.proxmox.com/git/<PACKAGE.git>
53 You currently need the following packages:
60 pve-access-control.git
69 #resource-agents-pve.git
74 ksm-control-daemon.git
76 Most packages can be installed with 'make dinstall' command.
79 5. Learn to use the quilt patch scripts.
82 There is an experimental package containing the API documentation
87 You can view the source code at:
89 https://git.proxmox.com
94 We decided to change our SOAP API (1.X) and use a REST like API. The
95 concept is described in [1] (Resource Oriented Architecture
96 (ROA)). The main advantage is that we are able to remove a lot of code
97 (the whole SOAP stack) to reduce software complexity.
99 We also moved away from server side content generation. Instead we use
100 the ExtJS Rich Internet Application Framework
101 (http://www.sencha.com).
103 That framework, like any other AJAX toolkit, can talk directly to the
104 REST API using JSON. So we were able to remove the server side
105 template toolkit completely.
107 = JSON and JSON Schema =
109 We use JSON as data format, because it is simple and parse-able by any
112 Additionally, we use JSON Schema [2] to formally describe our API. So
113 we can automatically generate the whole API Documentation, and we can
114 verify all parameters and return values.
116 A great side effect was that we are able to use JSON Schema to
117 produce command line argument parsers automatically. In fact, the REST
118 API and the command line tools use the same code.
120 Object linkage is done using the JSON Hyper Schema (links property).
122 A small utility called 'pvesh' exposes the whole REST API on the command
125 So here is a summary of the advantage:
127 - easy, human readable data format (native web browser format)
128 - automatic parameter verification (we can also verify return values)
129 - automatic generation of API documentation
130 - easy way to create command line tools (using same API).
132 = API Implementation (PVE::RESTHandler) =
134 All classes exposing methods on the API use PVE::RESTHandler as base class.
136 use base qw(PVE::RESTHandler);
138 To expose methods, one needs to call register_method():
140 __PACKAGE__->register_method ($schema);
142 Where $schema is a PVE method schema as described in
143 PVE::JSONSchema. It includes a description of parameters and return
144 values, and a reference to the actual code
146 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
150 description => "simple return value of parameter 'text'",
152 additionalProperties => 0,
163 my ($conn, $resp, $param) = @_;
165 return $param->{text};
169 The 'name' property is only used if you want to call the method
170 directly from Perl. You can do that using:
172 print __PACKAGE__->echo({ text => "a test" });
174 We use Perl's AUTOLOAD feature to implement this. Note: You need to
175 pass parameters a HASH reference.
177 There is a special helper method called cli_handler(). This is used by
178 the CLIHandler Class for command line tools, where you want to pass
179 arguments as array of strings. This uses Getopt::Long to parse parameters.
181 There is a second way to map names to methods - using the 'path'
182 property. And you can register subclasses. That way you can set up a
183 filesystem like hierarchy to access methods.
186 ----------------------------
189 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
195 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
204 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
210 -------------------------------
212 The utily method find_handler (in PVE::RESTHandler) can be use to do
213 'path' related method lookups.
215 C1->find_handler('GET', "/index") => C1::list1
216 C1->find_handler('GET', "/sub2/index") => C2::list2
218 The HTTP server use the URL (a path) to find the corresponding method.
223 [1] RESTful Web Services
224 Web services for the real world
227 Leonard Richardson, Sam Ruby
233 [2] JSON Schema links: http://json-schema.org/