Alcatel-Lucent AOS-W 6.5.3.x - External User Management; Overview; How the AOS-W XML API Works; Creating an XML Request

AOS-W 6.5.3.x | User Guide External User Management | 1069
Chapter 42
External User Management
This chapter introduces the AOS-W XML API interface and briefly discusses how you can use simple API calls to
perform external user management tasks. Sample scripts are listed at the end of the chapter to help you get
started with using the XML API.
Topics in this chapter include:
n Overview on page 1069
n How the AOS-W XML API Works on page 1069
n Creating an XML Request on page 1069
n XML Response on page 1072
n Sample Scripts on page 1080
Overview
AOS-W allows you to set up customized external captive portal user management using its native XML API
interface. The XML API interface allows you to create and execute user management operations on behalf of
the clients or users. You can use the XML API interface to add, delete, authenticate, blacklist, query, or log out a
user.
Before you Begin
n Enable the External Services Interface software module. This is available in the PEFNG license.
n Ensure that you have connectivity between your XML API server and the switches via HTTPS.
How the AOS-W XML API Works
The typical interaction between your XML API server and the switch happens using an HTTPS POST command.
A typical communication process using the XML API interface happens as follows:
1. An API command is issued from your server in XML format to the switch. The XML request can be
composed using a language of your choice using the format described in the Creating an XML Request on
page 1069. Sample scripts are available in Python or Bourne Shell, using cURL to generate the HTTPS POST
command. See the Sample Scripts on page 1080.
2. The XML request is sent using an HTTPS POST command. The common format of the HTTPS POST is
https://<switch-ip>/auth/command.xml. See Creating an XML Request on page 1069 for more
information.
3. The switch processes the XML API request and sends the response to the XML API server. You can use the
response and take appropriate action that suits your requirement. The response from the switch is
returned using predefined formats. See the XML Response on page 1072 for more information.
Creating an XML Request
You can create XML request to add, delete, authenticate, blacklist, query, or logout a user. This section provides
XML request formats that you can use for each task.