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
46 = Compile PVE packages from Source =
48 Download and install the following git modules in order from top to bottom:
50 # git clone git://git.proxmox.com/git/<PACKAGE.git>
52 You currently need the following packages:
59 pve-access-control.git
68 #resource-agents-pve.git
73 ksm-control-daemon.git
75 Most packages can be installed with 'make dinstall' command.
78 5. Learn to use the quilt patch scripts.
81 There is an experimental package containing the API documentation
86 You can view the source code at:
88 https://git.proxmox.com
93 We decided to change our SOAP API (1.X) and use a REST like API. The
94 concept is described in [1] (Resource Oriented Architecture
95 (ROA)). The main advantage is that we are able to remove a lot of code
96 (the whole SOAP stack) to reduce software complexity.
98 We also moved away from server side content generation. Instead we use
99 the ExtJS Rich Internet Application Framework
100 (http://www.sencha.com).
102 That framework, like any other AJAX toolkit, can talk directly to the
103 REST API using JSON. So we were able to remove the server side
104 template toolkit completely.
106 = JSON and JSON Schema =
108 We use JSON as data format, because it is simple and parse-able by any
111 Additionally, we use JSON Schema [2] to formally describe our API. So
112 we can automatically generate the whole API Documentation, and we can
113 verify all parameters and return values.
115 A great side effect was that we are able to use JSON Schema to
116 produce command line argument parsers automatically. In fact, the REST
117 API and the command line tools use the same code.
119 Object linkage is done using the JSON Hyper Schema (links property).
121 A small utility called 'pvesh' exposes the whole REST API on the command
124 So here is a summary of the advantage:
126 - easy, human readable data format (native web browser format)
127 - automatic parameter verification (we can also verify return values)
128 - automatic generation of API documentation
129 - easy way to create command line tools (using same API).
131 = API Implementation (PVE::RESTHandler) =
133 All classes exposing methods on the API use PVE::RESTHandler as base class.
135 use base qw(PVE::RESTHandler);
137 To expose methods, one needs to call register_method():
139 __PACKAGE__->register_method ($schema);
141 Where $schema is a PVE method schema as described in
142 PVE::JSONSchema. It includes a description of parameters and return
143 values, and a reference to the actual code
145 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
149 description => "simple return value of parameter 'text'",
151 additionalProperties => 0,
162 my ($conn, $resp, $param) = @_;
164 return $param->{text};
168 The 'name' property is only used if you want to call the method
169 directly from Perl. You can do that using:
171 print __PACKAGE__->echo({ text => "a test" });
173 We use Perl's AUTOLOAD feature to implement this. Note: You need to
174 pass parameters a HASH reference.
176 There is a special helper method called cli_handler(). This is used by
177 the CLIHandler Class for command line tools, where you want to pass
178 arguments as array of strings. This uses Getopt::Long to parse parameters.
180 There is a second way to map names to methods - using the 'path'
181 property. And you can register subclasses. That way you can set up a
182 filesystem like hierarchy to access methods.
185 ----------------------------
188 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
194 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
203 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
209 -------------------------------
211 The utily method find_handler (in PVE::RESTHandler) can be use to do
212 'path' related method lookups.
214 C1->find_handler('GET', "/index") => C1::list1
215 C1->find_handler('GET', "/sub2/index") => C2::list2
217 The HTTP server use the URL (a path) to find the corresponding method.
222 [1] RESTful Web Services
223 Web services for the real world
226 Leonard Richardson, Sam Ruby
232 [2] JSON Schema links: http://json-schema.org/