README.dev

   1 = Setup PVE Development Environment =
   2
   3 1. Install Debian 'jessie'
   4 2. Configure pvetest repository in apt sources.list
   5
   6  deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian jessie pvetest
   7
   8 3. Add our repository key with apt-key:
   9
  10  wget -O- "http://download.proxmox.com/debian/key.asc" | apt-key add -
  11
  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)
  14
  15 5. run: apt-get update
  16 6. run: apt-get dist-upgrade
  17 7. run: apt-get install proxmox-ve
  18
  19 You should now have a working Proxmox VE installation.
  20
  21 = Install build prerequisites for development environment =
  22
  23 apt-get -y install build-essential git-core git-email debhelper \
  24 autotools-dev autogen dh-autoreconf dkms doxygen check pkg-config \
  25 groff quilt dpatch automake autoconf libtool lintian libdevel-cycle-perl \
  26 libjson-perl 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-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 corosync-dev \
  45 libqb-dev libapparmor-dev docbook2x libcap-dev dh-apparmor \
  46 graphviz libseccomp-dev libglib-perl libgtk3-perl libnss3-dev libdlm-dev \
  47 libudev-dev
  48
  49 = Compile PVE packages from Source =
  50
  51 Download and install the following git modules in order from top to bottom:
  52
  53 # git clone git://git.proxmox.com/git/<PACKAGE.git>
  54
  55 You currently need the following packages:
  56
  57 pve-common.git
  58 pve-docs.git
  59 pve-cluster.git
  60 lvm.git
  61 pve-access-control.git
  62 pve-storage.git
  63 pve-qemu-kvm.git
  64 qemu-server.git
  65 vncterm.git
  66 spiceterm.git
  67 #vzquota.git
  68 #vzctl.git
  69 #fence-agents-pve.git
  70 #resource-agents-pve.git
  71 pve-manager.git
  72 #pve-kernel-3.10.0.git
  73 #libiscsi.git
  74 #gfs2-utils.git
  75 ksm-control-daemon.git
  76 pve-container.git
  77 pve-firewall.git
  78 pve-kernel.git
  79
  80 Most packages can be installed with 'make dinstall' command.
  81
  82 4.  Reboot the system.
  83 5.  Learn to use the quilt patch scripts.
  84 6.  Happy coding.
  85
  86 There is an experimental package containing the API documentation
  87 as ExtJS application:
  88
  89 pve2-api-doc.git
  90
  91 You can view the source code at:
  92
  93 https://git.proxmox.com
  94
  95
  96 = REST vs. SOAP =
  97
  98 We decided to change our SOAP API (1.X) and use a REST like API. The
  99 concept is described in [1] (Resource Oriented Architecture
 100 (ROA)). The main advantage is that we are able to remove a lot of code
 101 (the whole SOAP stack) to reduce software complexity.
 102
 103 We also moved away from server side content generation. Instead we use
 104 the ExtJS Rich Internet Application Framework
 105 (http://www.sencha.com).
 106
 107 That framework, like any other AJAX toolkit, can talk directly to the
 108 REST API using JSON. So we were able to remove the server side
 109 template toolkit completely.
 110
 111 = JSON and JSON Schema =
 112
 113 We use JSON as data format, because it is simple and parse-able by any
 114 web browser.
 115
 116 Additionally, we use JSON Schema [2] to formally describe our API. So
 117 we can automatically generate the whole API Documentation, and we can
 118 verify all parameters and return values.
 119
 120 A great side effect was that we are able to use JSON Schema to
 121 produce command line argument parsers automatically. In fact, the REST
 122 API and the command line tools use the same code.
 123
 124 Object linkage is done using the JSON Hyper Schema (links property).
 125
 126 A small utility called 'pvesh' exposes the whole REST API on the command
 127 line.
 128
 129 So here is a summary of the advantage:
 130
 131    - easy, human readable data format (native web browser format)
 132    - automatic parameter verification (we can also verify return values)
 133    - automatic generation of API documentation
 134    - easy way to create command line tools (using same API).
 135
 136 = API Implementation (PVE::RESTHandler) =
 137
 138 All classes exposing methods on the API use PVE::RESTHandler as base class.
 139
 140   use base qw(PVE::RESTHandler);
 141
 142 To expose methods, one needs to call register_method():
 143
 144   __PACKAGE__->register_method ($schema);
 145
 146 Where $schema is a PVE method schema as described in
 147 PVE::JSONSchema. It includes a description of parameters and return
 148 values, and a reference to the actual code
 149
 150 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
 151     name => 'echo',
 152     path => 'echo',
 153     method => 'GET',
 154     description => "simple return value of parameter 'text'",
 155     parameters => {
 156         additionalProperties => 0,
 157         properties => {
 158             text => {
 159                  type => 'string',
 160             }
 161         },
 162     },
 163     returns => {
 164         type => 'string',
 165     },
 166     code => sub {
 167         my ($param) = @_;
 168
 169         return $param->{text};
 170     }
 171 });
 172
 173 The 'name' property is only used if you want to call the method
 174 directly from Perl. You can do that using:
 175
 176   print __PACKAGE__->echo({ text => "a test" });
 177
 178 We use Perl's AUTOLOAD feature to implement this. Note: You need to
 179 pass parameters a HASH reference.
 180
 181 There is a special helper method called cli_handler(). This is used by
 182 the CLIHandler Class for command line tools, where you want to pass
 183 arguments as array of strings. This uses Getopt::Long to parse parameters.
 184
 185 There is a second way to map names to methods - using the 'path'
 186 property.  And you can register subclasses. That way you can set up a
 187 filesystem like hierarchy to access methods.
 188
 189 Here is an example:
 190 ----------------------------
 191 package C1;
 192
 193 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
 194     subclass => "C2",
 195     path => 'sub2',
 196 });
 197
 198
 199 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
 200     name => 'list1',
 201     path => 'index',
 202     method => 'GET',
 203     ...
 204 });
 205
 206 package C2;
 207
 208 __PACKAGE__->register_method ({
 209     name => 'list2',
 210     path => 'index',
 211     method => 'GET',
 212     ...
 213 });
 214 -------------------------------
 215
 216 The utily method find_handler (in PVE::RESTHandler) can be use to do
 217 'path' related method lookups.
 218
 219 C1->find_handler('GET', "/index")      => C1::list1
 220 C1->find_handler('GET', "/sub2/index") => C2::list2
 221
 222 The HTTP server use the URL (a path) to find the corresponding method.
 223
 224
 225 = References =
 226
 227 [1] RESTful Web Services
 228 Web services for the real world
 229
 230 By
 231     Leonard Richardson, Sam Ruby
 232 Publisher:
 233     O'Reilly Media
 234 Released:
 235     May 2007
 236
 237 [2] JSON Schema links: http://json-schema.org/