Server Browser Functionalities for API Publishing

The Server Browser in Astera API Management can be used to see all the Deployments/APIs/API services that the user has deployed onto the Astera Integration Server.

REST API Deployment View

Once we have deployed our API flows, we can see the deployment in the Server Browser,

We can select a different view if we click on the Select Deployment View - Filter option (the filter icon on the left) in the Server Browser toolbar.

Let us select REST API Deployments from the drop-down menu.

This will open a new view for the user. Here, you can directly see the deployments that have been made by the user(s). If we expand a deployment, we can see all the available endpoints under it.

When we deploy the API flow, a description is automatically added, for each endpoint/API flow. This is with respect to the action performed by the API flow.

Note: We can see two entries for each endpoint because each endpoint can be processed Synchronously and Asynchronously.

Synchronously processed endpoints can be seen with the HTTP method on its own and Asynchronously processed endpoints can be seen with the HTTP method encircled with blue curves.

Active Endpoint View

We can see a consolidated view containing only the active endpoints from each deployment using the following option.

This will show the user a different view,

We can see the endpoints in a tree-like or hierarchical structure. Each endpoint is characterized based on its resource.

Upon hovering over each endpoint, their Request URL can be seen,

Context Options

Deployment Context Options

If we move back to the REST API Deployment View, we can see some options in the context menu of each of the deployments.

View Deployment: Selecting this option will let the user view the deployment in the deployment manager.

Export as OpenAPI file: Selecting this option will allow the user to generate an Open API specification JSON file which we can export/save to the desired location, be it local or on a network.

This file can be used to import the API collection to any third-party tool i.e., Postman, Insomnia, etc., for consumption.

Copy Swagger URL: This option lets the user copy the Swagger URL for the deployment. We can use this URL to generate the swagger definition file for the API collection.

Remove Deployment: Selecting this option will remove the selected deployment from the Server Browser.

Endpoint Context Options

Each deployment can either have a single endpoint or multiple ones. Similar to deployment, a context menu is available for each endpoint as well.

Copy URL to Clipboard: This option allows the user to copy the endpoint’s request URL to the clipboard.

Show Runtime Trace: Selecting this option will show the runtime trace for that endpoint.

Deactivate: Selecting this option will deactivate a particular endpoint.

Note: Select the Activate option to re-activate the service.

No Authentication Required: Selecting this option will disable the authentication required by this endpoint. To enable the authentication, open the context menu again and select the Authentication Required option.

Security

In terms of security, Astera Centerprise gives the user the ability to define roles and provide resources to each role.

The security view in the Server Browser can be selected from the Server Browser drop-down menu,

This will open a new view,

Expanding the User and Roles nodes shows us the centerprise client’s users and the available roles respectively.

Note:

• New users can be added by right-clicking on the User option and selecting Register User from the context menu.

• New roles can be added by right-clicking on the Roles option and selecting Add New Role from the context menu.

Resources of each role can be allocated by right-clicking on the role and selecting Edit Role Resources from the context menu.

Here, the resources available below are,

• URL

• Cmd

• REST – Publishing and Publishing Async

Note: A user needs to have the REST API resources enabled for the deployed API to avail the API services. Otherwise, they might never be able to use the deployed APIs.

Note: Users will only be able to access the resources that have been allocated to their role.

To assign a role to a user, right-click on the user and select Edit User Roles from the context menu.

Note: Selecting the specific role and then clicking the right-facing arrow will assign the role to the user. Clicking the left-facing arrow after checking a role will remove the role from the user.

Additional Server Browser Options

Apart from the deployment view options, these are the following options also present on the main menu bar of the Server Browser.

Add Deployment: Adds a new deployment

Remove All Deployments: Removes all deployments present on the Server Browser

Expand All: Expands each of the nodes of all the deployments.

Search Bar: Here, you can write a name to search for any specific deployment or an endpoint.

This concludes the Server Browser functionalities for API Publishing in Astera Centerprise.