What is curl? curl is really just a tool for transferring data using URLs. Since a REST API call is URL based, you can use curl to make API calls to your network devices. How to Install curl I deployed a CentOS VM from an ISO and curl was preinstalled on that image. However, if you don’t have curl pre-installed, or need to update it to a more recent version, you can use the...
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Getting Started with the Postman API Client
Tools for interacting with an API There are many tools out there for interacting with a REST API. Depending on your preference there are both GUI and CLI options available. I will go over installing, and some basics of using, the Postman API client – my current preference of GUI clients. Where can I get Postman? Postman comes in a couple of different forms. There is a Chrome app version, and a native version...
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Getting Started with APIs for Network Engineers
The goal of this post is to help network engineers who are just getting started with APIs understand why APIs are becoming more prevalent, the components of an API call, and how to format an API call. What exactly is an API, and why do I need it? The acronym API stands for Application Programming Interface which, in its simplest form, means an API is a way to interact with an application. You may...
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