The OpenStack APIs and SDKs are meant to be called from software applications that are written in programming languages, rather than from shell scripts. Applications written in programming languages have an easier time integrating with functionality from other libraries and services than do shell scripts. The information in this section is broken down as follows:

The OpenStack Services

The OpenStack functionality is comprised of a set of services, which are described on this page. It is important to understand the roles of these services before using the API or SDKs.

The OpenStack REST API

The OpenStack REST Application Programmer Interface (API) is the lowest level interface to the OpenStack services. REST API calls are verbose and can be tedious to compose, but are appropriate for some applications. Understanding them is also helpful to those who want to use the OpenStack SDKs. This section recommends tools and provides introductory details that will help you call the REST API.

Using the REST API

Several examples of calling the REST API are provided, along with discussions of how to make the calls and process the results they return.

The OpenStack SDKs

A collection of Software Development Kits (SDKs) provide a more convenient form of programmatic access to the OpenStack services. These SDKs make it easier to call the OpenStack API from numerous programming languages. The SDKs are often a good choice for use in applications written in programming languages like Python, Java or JavaScript.

Python SDK Workflows

Examples of some common Jetstream2 workflows are given using the Python OpenStack SDK that was introduced in the previous section.