barbican/doc/source/api.rst

Application Programming Interface

THESE DOCS ARE DEPRECATED AS OF APR 2015

This wiki page details the API for the latest Barbican release. In particular:

• Endpoints & Versioning - Brief discussion about Barbican's approach to service URIs.
• Secrets Resource - Details storing, retrieving and deleting secrets.
• Orders Resource - Details the ordering facilities for Barbican, used to generate secrets asynchronously.
• Containers Resource - Details storing, retrieving and deleting containers.
• Consumers Resource - Details adding, removing and listing consumers associated with container instances.
• Examples - Provides specific examples utilizing the secrets and orders API.

Endpoints & Versioning

The barbican service is assumed to be hosted on an SSL enabled, geographically labelled endpoint. An example for a valid URI might look like the following:

https://dfw.secrets.api.rackspacecloud.com

Versioning will be achieved through a URI constant element, as shown in the example below:

https://dfw.secrets.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1/

Regarding Role Based Access Control (RBAC) of Resources

Resource access in Barbican is subject to RBAC constraints, as detailed in this link. RBAC failures will result in a 403 Forbidden response.

Secrets Resource

Secrets Resource Moved to Secrets Reference <api/reference/secrets>

Orders Resource

The ordering resource allows for the generation of secret material by Barbican. The ordering object encapsulates the workflow and history for the creation of a secret. This interface is implemented as an asynchronous process since the time to generate a secret can vary depending on the type of secret.

POST

An example of an orders POST request is below.

POST v1/orders

Header: content-type=application/json
        X-Project-Id: {project_id}
{
  "type": "key",
  "meta": {
    "name": "secretname",
    "algorithm": "AES",
    "bit_length": 256,
    "mode": "cbc",
    "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream"
  }
}

Where the elements of the meta element match those of the secret POST request above, but without the payload attributes. _Note however that unlike with the secrets resource, the algorithm, bit_length and mode attributes are validated, to ensure that a secret can be generated per these specifications._ The type parameter selects the secret to generate: key generates a symmetric key; asymmetric generates a public/private PKI key pair (in a Container object); certificate` generates an SSL certificate (not currently operational).

If the Content-Type in the HTTP header is not set to "application/json" then the POST call will fail with an HTTP 415 error.

PUT

Currently nothing can be edited in an order.

GET - Individual Order

GET requests for an order will return a response such as in the example below.

GET v1/orders/{order_id}
Headers: X-Project-Id: {project_id}

{
  "type": "key",
  "meta": {
    "name": "secretname",
    "algorithm": "aes",
    "bit_length": 256,
    "mode": "cbc",
    "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  "order_ref": "http://localhost:8080/v1/orders/f9b633d8-fda5-4be8-b42c-5b2c9280289e",
  "secret_ref": "http://localhost:8080/v1/secrets/888b29a4-c7cf-49d0-bfdf-bd9e6f26d718",
  "status": "ERROR",
  "error_status_code": "400 Bad Request",
  "error_reason": "Secret creation issue seen - content-encoding of 'bogus' not supported."
}

Where:

• meta - Secret parameters provided in the original order request. _Note that this is not the same as retrieving a Secret resource per the secrets resource, so elements such as a secret's content_types will not be displayed. To see such details, perform a GET on the secret_ref._
• type - Secret type in the original order request.
• order_ref - URI to this order.
• status - Status of the order, one of PENDING, ACTIVE or ERROR. Clients should poll the order for a status change to ACTIVE (in which case secret_ref has the secret details) or ERROR (in which case error_reason has the error reason, and 'error_status_code' has an HTTP-style status code).
• secret_ref - URI to the secret once it is generated. This field is not available unless the status is ACTIVE.
• error_status_code - (optional) HTTP-style status code of the root cause error condition, only if status is ERROR.
• error_reason - (optional) Details of the root cause error condition, only if status is ERROR.

GET - List of Orders Per Project

Performing a GET on the orders resource with no UUID retrieves a batch of the most recent orders per the requesting project, as per the example response below. The limit and offset parameters function similar to the GET secrets list detailed above.

GET http://localhost:9311/v1/orders?limit=3&offset=2
Headers: X-Project-Id: {project_id}

{
  "orders": [
    {
      "status": "ACTIVE",
      "secret_ref": "http://localhost:9311/v1/secrets/bf2b33d5-5347-4afb-9009-b4597f415b7f",
      "updated": "2013-06-28T18:29:37.058718",
      "created": "2013-06-28T18:29:36.001750",
      "type": "key",
      "meta": {
        "name": "secretname",
        "algorithm": "aes",
        "bit_length": 256,
        "mode": "cbc",
        "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream"
      },
      "order_ref": "http://localhost:9311/v1/orders/3100078a-6ab1-4c3f-ab9f-295938c91733"
    },
    {
      "status": "ACTIVE",
      "secret_ref": "http://localhost:9311/v1/secrets/fa71b143-f10e-4f7a-aa82-cc292dc33eb5",
      "updated": "2013-06-28T18:29:37.058718",
      "created": "2013-06-28T18:29:36.001750",
      "type": "key",
      "meta": {
        "name": "secretname",
        "algorithm": "aes",
        "bit_length": 256,
        "mode": "cbc",
        "payload_content_type": "application/octet-stream"
      },
      "order_ref": "http://localhost:9311/v1/orders/30b3758a-7b8e-4f2c-b9f0-f590c6f8cc6d"
    }
  ]
}

The retrieved list of orders is ordered by oldest to newest created date.

Orders Summary

> https://.../v1/orders/

Method	Description
GET	Returns a list of all orders for a customer.
POST	Starts the process of creating a secret. This call will return immediately with a 202 OK and a link to the detail order object (see below).

> https://.../v1/orders/{order_uuid}

Method	Description
GET	Returns the detailed order data including a link to the secret generated as a result of the order (if available).
PUT	Not yet supported. Allows the editing of an order where allowed.
DELETE	Cancels an order.

Error Responses

Action	Error Code	Notes
POST order with invalid data	400	Can include schema violations such as the secret's mime-type not specified
POST order with 'Content-Type' header not supported	415	Caused when the API doesn't support the specified Content-Type header
POST secret with 'payload_content_type' not supported	400	Caused when no crypto plugin supports the payload_content_type requested
GET order that doesn't exist	404	The supplied UUID doesn't match a order in the data store
DELETE order that doesn't exist	404	The supplied UUID doesn't match a order in the data store

Containers Resource

Containers Resource Moved to Containers Reference <api/reference/containers>

Consumers Resource

The consumers resource allows clients to register as interested in specific container instances (as created per the previous section). Clients can then query containers for the consumers that registered interest in them. Client workflows could use this list (for example) to warn of attempts to remove containers that have registered consumers. Note that Barbican allows containers to be deleted even if there are registered consumers for them.

POST

An example of an consumers POST request is below.

POST v1/containers/888b29a4-c7cf-49d0-bfdf-bd9e6f26d718/consumers

Header: content-type=application/json
        X-Project-Id: {project_id}
{
    "name": "foo-service",
    "URL": "https://www.fooservice.com/widgets/1234"
}

Where the name is typically the name of the remote service registering as a consumer for this container instance, and 'URL' is typically a URL to a resource in the remote service that utilizes the container's secrets somehow, such as a load balancer that has a container's SSL certificate installed onto it.

Note that subsequent POSTs to the same container instance with the same name attribute will replace the previous URL registered for that name.

GET - List of Consumers Per Container Instance

Note: This feature seems to be broken currently, by not displaying the navigation links per the example below.

Performing a GET on a specific container resource returns a list of consumers that registered with it. The limit and offset parameters function similar to the GET secrets list detailed above.

GET http://localhost:9311/v1/containers/888b29a4-c7cf-49d0-bfdf-bd9e6f26d718/consumers?limit=3&offset=2
Headers: X-Project-Id: {project_id}

{
  "consumers": [
    {
        "name": "foo-service",
        "URL": "https://www.fooservice.com/widgets/1234"
    },
    {
        "name": "barService",
        "URL": "https://www.barservice.com/mythings/5678"
    }
  ],
   "next":"http://localhost:9311/v1/containers/888b29a4-c7cf-49d0-bfdf-bd9e6f26d718/consumers?limit=10&offset=10"
}

The retrieved list of consumers is ordered by oldest to newest created date.

Consumers Summary

> https://.../v1/containers/<container-UUID>/consumers

Method	Description
GET	Returns a list of all consumers registered for a container.
POST	Registers/adds consumer information to a container.
DELETE	Removes a registered consumer by specifying its name and URL in the JSON payload.

Examples

The following are example combinations, inspired by this page.

The tables in this section are focused on the content-types and content-encodings of the various REST verb flows, even though each flow might have a different way to specify these values (either via http header settings or JSON request field). The reason for this approach is that while each flow has a different means to specify the mime-type and encoding, the values set for them must still be consistent with valid mime-type or encoding selections.

One-Step UTF-8/ASCII Secret Create/Retrieve

Action	content-type	content-encoding	Result
POST secrets	payload_content_type = text/plain	payload_content_encoding Not required/ignored	Supplied payload is encrypted
GET secrets (meta)	Accept: application/json	Not required/ignored	JSON metadata, with Content-Types set to 'default':'text/plain'
GET secrets	Accept: text/plain	Not required/ignored	Previous payload is decrypted and returned

One-Step Binary Secret Create/Retrieve

Action	content-type	content-encoding	Result
POST secrets	payload_content_type = application/octet-stream	payload_content_encoding = base64	Supplied payload is converted from base64 to binary, then encrypted.
GET secrets (meta)	Accept: application/json	Not required/ignored	JSON metadata, with Content-Types set to 'default':'application/octet-stream'
GET secrets (decrypted)	Accept: application/octet-stream	Not specified	Previous payload is decrypted and returned as raw binary, even if the POST provided the data in `base64`.

Two-Step Binary Secret Create/Retrieve

Action	content-type	content-encoding	Result
POST secrets	payload_content_type Not required/ignored	payload_content_encoding Not required/ignored	Only metadata is created. If the payload_content_type or payload_content_encoding fields were provided, they are not used or saved with the metadata. The PUT request (next) will determine the secret's content type
PUT secrets (option #1 - as base64)	Content-Type: application/octet-stream	Content-Encoding: base64	Supplied request body is converted from base64 to binary, then encrypted
PUT secrets (option #2 - as binary)	Content-Type: application/octet-stream	Not specified	Supplied request body is encrypted as is
GET secrets (meta)	Accept: application/json	Not required/ignored	JSON metadata, with Content-Types set to 'default':'application/octet-stream'
GET secrets (decrypted)	Accept: application/octet-stream	Not specified	Previous request is decrypted and returned as raw binary, even if the PUT provided the data in `base64`.

Two-Step Plain-Text Secret Create/Retrieve

Action	content-type	content-encoding	Result
POST secrets	payload_content_type Not required/ignored	payload_content_encoding Not required/ignored	Only metadata is created. If the payload_content_type or payload_content_encoding fields were provided, they are not used or saved with the metadata. The PUT request (next) will determine the secret's content format
PUT secrets	Content-Type: text/plain	Not required/ignored	Supplied request body is encrypted as is
GET secrets (meta)	Accept: application/json	Not required/ignored	JSON metadata, with Content-Types set to 'default':'text/plain'
GET secrets (decrypted)	Accept: text/plain	Not specified	Previous request is decrypted and returned as utf-8 text