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Setting Up and Launching API Dashboard

Fiorano API Management is quick to install and easy to use. The steps below illustrate how to install Fiorano API Management product as well as to launch the Fiorano API Dashboard:

Installing Fiorano API Management

Download Fiorano Platform using the .bin or .exe installer from http://www.fiorano.com/downloads/downloads.php which has an intuitive wizard to install the Fiorano setup as per scenario requirements.

Refer to the Installing Fiorano Platform documentation which lists the steps for installing Fiorano Platform.

In this document, "$FIORANO_HOME" refers to the Fiorano Setup installation directory.

Prerequisites

Installing Java

For the servers to run, JAVA1.8 (or higher versions) needs to be installed.

Installing and Running Cassandra Database Server

Cassandra DB Server needs to be installed as Fiorano API  Management uses Cassandra as the data store for all information that is looked up while a request is being processed such as the subscriptions, clients, and distributed quotas. Cassandra Database is an open source database that provides linear scalability and high availability with proven fault-tolerance in storing details that need to be looked up on-the-fly.

Installing Cassandra

  1. Download Cassandra Version 3.x from the link  http://cassandra.apache.org/download/
  2. Install Cassandra by referring to the directions provided at http://cassandra.apache.org/doc/latest/getting_started/index.html
  3. Make the changes mentioned in the subsections below as applicable or/and move to the Running the Cassandra server section.
Cassandra in a Windows environment

Before starting Cassandra 3.8 or 3.9 in Windows environment as a service, perform the following actions to enable the database:

  1. Go to <CASSANDRA_HOME>/conf.
  2. Open the cassandra.yaml file.
  3. Find the cdc_raw_directory parameter.
  4. Un-comment the property and rename the value as below:

    CODE
    <CASSANDRA_HOME>/data/cdc_raw

    Example

     cdc_raw_directory: "C:/Program Files/DataStax-DDC/data/cdc_raw"

Enabling Connection to a Remote Cassandra Server

If Cassandra Server is running on a different system, the two steps below need to be performed:

Step 1: Enabling Remote Access to Cassandra Server

Since Cassandra server will be hosted in the local system alone by default, cassandra cannot be accessed from any other systems. To enable remote access, perform the following actions:

  1. Go to the location <CASSANDRA_HOME>/conf.
  2. Open the cassandra.yaml file.
  3. Replace the value of the following parameters with the IP address of the system where Cassandra DB would be running:
    1. rpc_address
    2. listen_address
Step 2: Configuring AGS and AMS Profiles

Fiorano API Management server profiles are preconfigured to run Cassandra in the local system with default values of Cassandra Data Store URL and Keyspaces as below:

  • DatastoreURL: localhost/9042
  • KeyspaceName: API

If the Cassandra Server has to be run in a different system and thereby enable access to this remote Cassandra, replace "localhost" with the IP address of that system.

IP Address has to be changed in eStudio Profile Management. Refer to the Changing Cassandra Data Store URL and Keyspace values section to configure these.

Cassandra as a Cluster

To avoid a single point of failure of Cassandra servers, configure Cassandra as a cluster.

Running the Cassandra server

  1. Linux: Open Command prompt from CASSANDRA_HOME and run the following command:

    CODE
    bin/cassandra -R -f
  2. Windows: Start Cassandra from Windows Services:

    In the Windows Component Services panel, Cassandra server will be displayed as "DataStax DDC Server <VersionNumber>".

Setting up

Adding product licenses

Please contact Fiorano Support at presales@fiorano.com for licenses. Once the licenses are received, copy them to the FIORANO_HOME/licenses directory.

Starting API servers

Fiorano API Management product provides the server setups listed below:

  • API Management Server (AMS)
  • API Gateway Server (AGS)

API Management Server (AMS)

AMS acts as the central repository to create and access API projects. It hosts the API dashboard and incorporates Analytics engine apart from Managing access control and performing aggregation functions for APIs. The API Dashboard is also hosted on this server.

Starting the API Management Server

To start the AMS server, please execute the following command at $FIORANO_HOME/esb/server/bin:

  • Linux

    Linux

    CODE
    ./server.sh -mode ams -profile server1 -nobackground
  • Windows

    CODE
    server.bat -mode ams -profile server1

To know how to shut down the server, refer to the Shutting down the AMS server section.

API Gateway Server (AGS)

AGS acts as a proxy server for backend REST/SOAP-based web services. It receives client requests and performs activities such as authentication, traffic control and other features like caching, load balancing, and quota management.

There can be multiple Gateway servers running on a single network controlled by an API Management Server.

Starting the API Gateway Server

To start the AGS server, execute the following command at $FIORANO_HOME/esb/server/bin:

  • Linux

    CODE
    ./server.sh -mode ags -profile server1 -nobackground
  • Windows

    CODE
    server.bat -mode ags -profile server1

Fiorano provides a pre-configured secondary Gateway Server Profile which can be started by executing the following command at $FIORANO_HOME/esb/server/bin:

  • Linux

    CODE
    ./server.sh -mode ags -profile server2 -nobackground
  • Windows

    CODE
    server.bat -mode ags -profile server2

To know how to shut down the server, refer to the Shutting down the AGS server section.

When both the servers start, the Command prompt displays the content below as a confirmation of having successfully connected to the Cassandra database:

================ API traffic dataStore Initialized ================

In case the above statement does not get displayed on the Server Console, but displays errors as below, please check whether the Cassandra DB is running:

================ API traffic dataStore Initialization Failed ================

  1. Default Cassandra setup listens to port 9042 for connections.
  2. For higher security, it is suggested to run the Gateway server with SSL enabled on the Jetty.

Launching the API Dashboard

Fiorano API Management provides API Management Dashboard as a client GUI to assist in configuring and maintaining API servers and projects.

After starting the servers, use the URL below to login to the Dashboard:

CODE
http://localhost:1981/apimgmt/login

To access from a different system, replace "localhost" with the IP address of the system.

Default Login credentials are as follows:

  • Username: admin
  • Password: passwd

Figure 1: Fiorano API Management Login page

After logging in with the credentials, the API Management Dashboard Home page gets displayed as in the following figure.


Figure 2: Fiorano API Management Dashboard

The Home page displays an overall graphical picture about the entire data in the Fiorano API Management such as the number of Deployed/Undeployed Projects, projects which are Active/Deprecated/Retired, projects deployed on different environments, and an overview about users, products, projects, and operations.

The sections present in the API Management Menu bar are the ones that drive Fiorano API Management:

Click the above links to understand each section clearly or click Quick Start to try hands-on with the product right away. 

API Analytics

 Analyzing the API management data

Fiorano provides an analytics tool to analyze API traffic and other metrics. For storing these analytical data, Fiorano uses PostgreSQL as its datastore. Refer the Configuring Analytics Database section for configuring the same.

Configuring Analytics notifications

By configuring Mail Server in the Admin module of Fiorano API Management Dashboard, Analytics notifications can be received via email. Refer the Mail Server section to see the properties that need to be updated.

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