1 ====================================
2 Setup PVE Development Environment
3 ====================================
5 1. Install Debian 'jessie'
6 2. Install prerequisites for development environment:
9 apt-get -y install build-essential git-core debhelper autotools-dev \
10 doxygen check pkg-config groff quilt dpatch automake autoconf libtool \
11 lintian libdevel-cycle-perl libjson-perl libcommon-sense-perl \
12 liblinux-inotify2-perl libio-stringy-perl libstring-shellquote-perl \
13 dh-systemd rpm2cpio libsqlite3-dev sqlite3 libglib2.0-dev librrd-dev \
14 librrds-perl rrdcached libdigest-hmac-perl libxml-parser-perl \
18 apt-get -y install build-essential git-core debhelper autotools-dev \
19 doxygen check pkg-config libnss3-dev groff quilt dpatch libxml2-dev \
20 libncurses5-dev libslang2-dev libldap2-dev xsltproc python-pexpect \
21 python-pycurl libdbus-1-dev openipmi sg3-utils libnet-snmp-perl \
22 libnet-telnet-perl snmp python-openssl libxml2-utils automake autoconf \
23 libsqlite3-dev sqlite3 libfuse-dev libglib2.0-dev librrd-dev \
24 librrds-perl rrdcached lintian libdevel-cycle-perl libjson-perl \
25 liblinux-inotify2-perl libio-stringy-perl unzip fuse-utils \
26 libcrypt-openssl-random-perl libcrypt-openssl-rsa-perl \
27 libauthen-pam-perl libterm-readline-gnu-perl libssl-dev open-iscsi \
28 libapache2-mod-perl2 libfilesys-df-perl libfile-readbackwards-perl \
29 libpci-dev texi2html libgnutls-dev libsdl1.2-dev bridge-utils \
30 libvncserver0 rpm2cpio apache2-mpm-prefork libintl-perl \
31 libapache2-request-perl libnet-dns-perl vlan libio-socket-ssl-perl \
32 libfile-sync-perl ifenslave-2.6 libnet-ldap-perl console-data \
33 libtool dietlibc-dev liblocale-po-perl libstring-shellquote-perl \
34 libio-multiplex-perl liblockfile-simple-perl
36 3. Download and install the following git modules in order from top to bottom:
38 # git clone git://git.proxmox.com/git/<PACKAGE.git>
40 You currently need the following packages:
47 redhat-cluster-pve.git
49 pve-access-control.git
57 resource-agents-pve.git
62 ksm-control-daemon.git
64 Most packages can be installed with 'make dinstall' command.
67 5. Learn to use the quilt patch scripts.
70 There is an experimental package containing the API documentation
75 You can view the source code at:
77 https://git.proxmox.com
83 We decided to change our SOAP API (1.X) and use a REST like API. The
84 concept is described in [1] (Resource Oriented Architecture
85 (ROA)). The main advantage is that we are able to remove a lot of code
86 (the whole SOAP stack) to reduce software complexity.
88 We also moved away from server side content generation. Instead we use
89 the ExtJS Rich Internet Application Framework
90 (http://www.sencha.com).
92 That framework, like any other AJAX toolkit, can talk directly to the
93 REST API using JSON. So we were able to remove the server side
94 template toolkit completely.
99 We use JSON as data format, because it is simple and parse-able by any
102 Additionally, we use JSON Schema [2] to formally describe our API. So
103 we can automatically generate the whole API Documentation, and we can
104 verify all parameters and return values.
106 A great side effect was that we are able to use JSON Schema to
107 produce command line argument parsers automatically. In fact, the REST
108 API and the command line tools use the same code.
110 Object linkage is done using the JSON Hyper Schema (links property).
112 A small utility called 'pvesh' exposes the whole REST API on the command
115 So here is a summary of the advantage:
117 - easy, human readable data format (native web browser format)
118 - automatic parameter verification (we can also verify return values)
119 - automatic generation of API documentation
120 - easy way to create command line tools (using same API).
122 API Implementation (PVE::RESTHandler)
123 =====================================
125 All classes exposing methods on the API use PVE::RESTHandler as base class.
127 use base qw(PVE::RESTHandler);
129 To expose methods, one needs to call register_method():
131 __PACKAGE__->register_method ($schema);
133 Where $schema is a PVE method schema as described in
134 PVE::JSONSchema. It includes a description of parameters and return
135 values, and a reference to the actual code
137 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
141 description => "simple return value of parameter 'text'",
143 additionalProperties => 0,
154 my ($conn, $resp, $param) = @_;
156 return $param->{text};
160 The 'name' property is only used if you want to call the method
161 directly from Perl. You can do that using:
163 print __PACKAGE__->echo({ text => "a test" });
165 We use Perl's AUTOLOAD feature to implement this. Note: You need to
166 pass parameters a HASH reference.
168 There is a special helper method called cli_handler(). This is used by
169 the CLIHandler Class for command line tools, where you want to pass
170 arguments as array of strings. This uses Getopt::Long to parse parameters.
172 There is a second way to map names to methods - using the 'path'
173 property. And you can register subclasses. That way you can set up a
174 filesystem like hierarchy to access methods.
177 ----------------------------
180 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
186 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
195 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
201 -------------------------------
203 The utily method find_handler (in PVE::RESTHandler) can be use to do
204 'path' related method lookups.
206 C1->find_handler('GET', "/index") => C1::list1
207 C1->find_handler('GET', "/sub2/index") => C2::list2
209 The HTTP server use the URL (a path) to find the corresponding method.
214 [1] RESTful Web Services
215 Web services for the real world
218 Leonard Richardson, Sam Ruby
224 [2] JSON Schema links: http://json-schema.org/