I have seen a number of questions on the best way to authenticate a REST API call on DNA-Center.
The documentation on the DNA-C indicates that /api/system/v1/auth/token is the way to get an authentication token in a cookie.
For those writing python code or using postman, there is a simpler way to get an authentication token.
The API call /api/system/v1/auth/login uses basic authentication and returns a token in a JSON payload.
Here is an simple example in the Python REPL. First we setup the required imports (requests) and the URL for authentication along with the header.
We can now make a POST API call, using basic authentication and then print out the token.
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>>> resp = requests.post(url, auth=HTTPBasicAuth(username='admin', password='password'), headers=headers,verify=False)
>>>
>>> token = resp.json()['Token']
>>> print token
eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiI1YTIwMjExY2I2MjZjOTAwOGUzMDc1NjMiLCJhdXRoU291cmNlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwiLCJ0ZW5hbnROYW1lIjoiVE5UMCIsInJvbGVzIjpbIjVhMjAyMGU2NDQzYmE4OWZiNWQ1ZWQ0MiJdLCJ0ZW5hbnRJZCI6IjVhMjAyMTFiYjYyNmM5MDA4ZTMwNzU2MiIsImV4cCI6MTUyNTIwMzgwOCwidXNlcm5hbWUiOiJhZG1pbiJ9 |
This token will be required in a header for future API calls. It needs to be used in a header called x-auth-token. I add the token to the header and I can now make authenticated API calls. This token is valid for sixty minutes, then you will need to repeat the step above.
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>>> headers['x-auth-token'] = token
>>> network_device_count = requests.get('https://adam-dnac/api/v1/network-device/count', headers=headers, verify=False)
>>> print network_device_count.json()
{u'version': u'1.0', u'response': 74}
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Success!! There are 74 network devices on this controller.
For more examples of python code, please see the DevNet DNA-C learning labs https://learninglabs.cisco.com/lab/dnac-basic/step/1
I have posted a range of example in my github repository https://github.com/CiscoDevNet/dnac-samples-aradford
Good luck with the DNA-Center APIs.
Adam
