VMware vCloud Director Cookbook

Chapter 5. Working with the vCloud API

In this chapter, we will cover topics that will introduce us to accessing the vCloud API using the most common languages. We will look at the following recipes:

• Using PowerShell with vCloud Director
• Accessing REST with Firefox
• Accessing vCD via PHP
• Using vCenter Orchestrator to automate vCloud
• A scripted cell shutdown
• Adding ISO files to vCD automatically

Introduction

The API interface of vCloud is an HTTPS-based REST interface. This is a major improvement over the vSphere API, which is SOAP-based. Most of the newer developments of VMware now come with a REST-based interface, adopting and standardizing on modern standards. The main difference between SOAP and REST is that REST can be accessed very easily and without ...