REST: Toolkit PowerPack Release Notes, version 101

Version 101 of the "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack includes performance improvements; updates to substitutions, steps, and custom step development; and changes to the PowerPack's credential.

  • Minimum Required Platform Version: 11.3.0

Before You Install or Upgrade

Ensure that you are running version 11.3.0 or later of SL1 before installing or upgrading to the "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack version 101.

If you installed the "CLI: Toolkit" v100 PowerPack or you have one or more PowerPacks that were built using the "CLI: Toolkit" PowerPack, then before you install the "REST: Toolkit" v101 PowerPack, you must first install the "CLI: Toolkit" v101 PowerPack and align the Dynamic Applications that were built using "CLI: Toolkit" v100 with the execution environments that were included in "CLI: Toolkit" v101.

Installing or Upgrading the PowerPack

To install the "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack, perform the following steps:

By default, installing a new version of a PowerPack will overwrite all content in that PowerPack that has already been installed on the target system. You can use the Enable Selective PowerPack Field Protection setting in the Behavior Settings page (System > Settings > Behavior) to prevent the new version of the PowerPack from overwriting local changes for some commonly customized fields.

  1. See the Before You Install or Upgrade section. If you have not done so already, upgrade your system to 11.3.0 or later release.
  2. Download the "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack from the Support Site to a local computer.
  3. Go to the PowerPack Manager page (System > Manage > PowerPacks). Click the Actions menu and select Import PowerPack. When prompted, import version 101 of the "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack.
  4. After importing the PowerPack, you will be prompted to install the PowerPack. Click the Install button to install the PowerPack.

Features

The "REST: Toolkit" PowerPack includes the following features:

  • Libraries that provide REST-specific steps, as well as an execution environment with REST and other standard steps necessary for REST Dynamic Application development.
  • Example snippet Dynamic Applications that enable SL1 to collect configuration and performance data from REST APIs.
  • Dynamic Applications that enable SL1 to discover, model, and monitor an SL1 system on which you can create and experiment with the snippet Dynamic Applications that you build.
  • Support for basic authentication APIs.

Enhancements and Issues Addressed

The following enhancements and addressed issues are included in this release of the PowerPack:

  • Increased performance by removing similar calls for all steps.
  • Made the following updates to substitution:
    • The toolkit now uses standard Python substitution. For more information, see the REST: Toolkit documentation on the SL1 Developer Documentation site.
    • Custom substitution can now be functions that request any out-of-the-box substitution variables.
    • Deprecated the use of <> for substitution. You should now use ${} instead.
  • Made the following updates to steps:
    • Added the step jc for general parsing.
    • Updated the step paginator_offset to allow limit and offset to be altered to meet the needs of the API.
    • Renamed the step paginator_offset_limit to paginator_offset.
    • Deprecated the step jsonpath. Use jmespath instead, as it is more performant.
    • Deprecated the step simple_key. Use jmespath instead, as it utilizes the same syntax.
    • Deprecated the step stringint.
    • Deprecated the step stringfloat.
    • Updated the step http to specify how a token should be refreshed during the collection cycle.
    • Fixed an issue with the step http where a URL could be created incorrectly.
  • Made the following updates to support custom step development:
    • Added the following standard parameters:
      • step_args
      • collection
      • credential
      • debug
      • metadata
      • request_id
      • set_metadata
    • Updated Requestor and Cacher custom step development to use the standard parameters.
    • Created a new registration for RequestMoreData.
    • Added the flag to specify if a step is mutable, which affects the de-duplication process.
    • Deprecated the following standard parameters: 
      • result_container
      • action_number
      • action_arg
    • Deprecated Processors to specify type for the RequestMoreData step. Use register_rmd instead.
    • Deprecated TypeChecking.
    • Deprecated silo.low_code.RequestMaker.
    • Deprecated the ability for a Requestor to request the parameter request.
    • Deprecated the ability for a Cacher to not consume standard parameters.
  • Made the following updates to the "Rest snippet framework 101" credential type:
    • Added a new Authenticator Override field, which allows for custom authenticators.
    • Added a new Token Refresh Implementation field for token authentication types that enables you to specify the token refresh strategy as either key-based (Dynamic) or time-based (Static). The default value is Dynamic.
    • Fixed an issue where additional header fields were not always present.

Full documentation for the Snippet Framework is provided at the following location: https://docs.sciencelogic.com/dev-docs/