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Chapter 1. Introduction to Satellite API

Red Hat Satellite provides a Representational State Transfer (REST) API. The API provides software developers and system administrators with control over their Red Hat Satellite environment outside of the standard web interface. The REST API is useful for developers and administrators who aim to integrate the functionality of Red Hat Satellite with custom scripts or external applications that access the API over HTTP.

1.1. Overview of the Satellite API
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The Satellite API offers several benefits and supports various use cases for integrating the API into your workflows.

The benefits of using the REST API are:

  • Broad client support – any programming language, framework, or system with support for HTTP protocol can use the API.
  • Self-descriptive – client applications require minimal knowledge of the Red Hat Satellite infrastructure because a user discovers many details at runtime.
  • Resource-based model – the resource-based REST model provides a natural way to manage a virtualization platform.

You can use the REST API to perform the following tasks:

  • Integrate with enterprise IT systems.
  • Integrate with third-party applications.
  • Perform automated maintenance or error checking tasks.
  • Automate repetitive tasks with scripts.

1.2. Satellite API compared to Hammer CLI
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For many tasks, you can use both Hammer and Satellite API. In these situations, you can choose whether Hammer or Satellite API is the more suitable tool for your use case.

You can use Hammer as a human-friendly interface to Satellite API. For example, to test responses to API calls before applying them in a script, use the --debug option to inspect API calls that Hammer issues: hammer --debug organization list.

In the background, each Hammer command first establishes a binding to the API, then sends a request. This can have performance implications when executing a large number of Hammer commands in sequence. In contrast, a script communicating directly with the API establishes the binding only once.

Additional resources

1.3. Getting help with Satellite API
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You can use the API reference on your Satellite Server to view information about API endpoints supported for Satellite API integrations.

View the full API reference on your Satellite Server at the following URL: 

https://satellite.example.com/apidoc/
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Replace satellite.example.com with the FQDN of your Satellite Server.

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