F5 Firewall Solutions > [Archive1] AFM - The Data Center Firewall > Lab 6 - iControl REST API Source | Edit on
About URI format¶
The iControl® REST API enables the management of a BIG-IP® device by using web service requests. A principle of the REST architecture describes the identification of a resource by means of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). You can specify a URI with a web service request to create, read, update, or delete some component or module of a BIG-IP system configuration. In the context of REST architecture, the system configuration is the representation of a resource. A URI identifies the name of a web resource; in this case, the URI also represents the tree structure of modules and components in TMSH.
In iControl REST, the URI structure for all requests includes the string /mgmt/tm/ to identify the namespace for traffic management. Any identifiers that follow the endpoint are resource collections.
Tip: Use the default administrative account, admin, for requests to iControl REST. Once you are familiar with the API, you can create user accounts for iControl REST users with various permissions.
https://management-ip/mgmt/tm/module
The URI in the previous example designates all of the TMSH subordinate modules and components in the specified module. iControl REST refers to this entity as an organizing collection. An organizing collection contains links to other resources. The management-ip component of the URI is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address of a BIG-IP device.
Important: iControl REST only supports secure access through HTTPS, so you must include credentials with each REST call. Use the same credentials you use for the BIG-IP device manager interface.
For example, use the following URI to access all the components and subordinate modules in the LTM module:
https://management-ip/mgmt/tm/ltm
The URI in the following example designates all of the subordinate modules and components in the specified sub-module. iControl REST refers to this entity as a collection; a collection contains resources.
https://management-ip/mgmt/tm/module/sub-module
The URI in the following example designates the details of the specified component. The Traffic Management Shell (TMSH) Reference documents the hierarchy of modules and components, and identifies details of each component. iControl REST refers to this entity as a resource. A resource may contain links to sub-collections.