Migrating APIs to Different Environments

WSO2 API Controller, apictl allows you to maintain multiple environments running on the same WSO2 API-M version. This allows you to import and export APIs between your environments. For example, if you have an API running in the development environment, you can export it and import it to the production environment. Thereby, APIs do not have to be created from scratch in different environments.

Info

Before you begin...

  • Make sure WSO2 API CTL Tool is initialized and running, if not follow the steps in Download and Initialize the CTL Tool.

  • Make sure to add an environment before you start working with the following CTL commands, because all APIs need to be imported or exported to/from a specific environment.
    For more information, visit Add an Environment.

Tip

A user with admin role is allowed to import/export APIs. To create a custom user who can import/export APIs, refer Steps to Create a Custom User who can Perform API Controller Operations.

Export an API

  1. Log in to the API Manager in exporting the environment by following steps in Login to an Environment.

    Tip

    If you are already logged-in and your logged-in credentials and keys are already available in the <USER_HOME>/.wso2apictl/keys.json file, you can skip this step.

    Info

    If you skip step 1 and if no keys exist for the environment in the <USER_HOME>/.wso2apictl/keys.json file, you will be prompt to log in to the environment when running the next command.

  2. Run any of the following CTL commands to export an API as a .zip archive.

    • Command

      apictl export-api -n <API-name> -v <version> -r <provider> -e <environment> -k 
      apictl export-api --name <API-name> --version <version> --provider <provider> --environment <environment> -k 

      apictl export-api -n <API-name> -v <version> -r <provider> -e <environment> --preserveStatus=<preserve-status> --format <export-format> -k

      Info

      Flags:

      • Required :
        --name or -n : Name of the API to be exported
        --version or -v : Version of the API to be exported
        --provider or -r : Provider of the API
        --environment or -e : Environment to which the API should be exported
      • Optional :
        --preserveStatus : Preserve API status when exporting. Otherwise, the API will be exported in the CREATED status. The default value is true.
        --format : File format of exported archive (JSON or YAML). The default value is YAML.

      Example

      apictl export-api -n PhoneVerification -v 1.0.0 -r admin -e dev -k
      apictl export-api -n PizzaShackAPI -v 1.0.0 -r Alice -e dev --preserveStatus=true --format JSON -k

    • Response

      Successfully exported API!
Find the exported API at <USER_HOME>/.wso2apictl/exported/apis/<envrionment-name>/<API-name>_<version>.zip
      Successfully exported API!
Find the exported API at /Users/kim/.wso2apictl/exported/apis/dev/PhoneVerification_1.0.0.zip

The exported ZIP file has the following structure:

<APIName>-version
├── Meta-information
│    ├── api.yaml
│    |── swagger.yaml
|    |── endpoint_certificates.yaml
|    └── schema.graphql 
├── Docs
|    |── FileContents
│    |── InlineContents
|    └── docs.yaml
├── Image
|    └── icon.extension
├── WSDL   
|    └── <APIName>-<version>.wsdl  
└── Sequences
    ├── fault-sequence
    |    |── Custom 
    |    |    └── <custom-sequence-name.xml>      
    |    └── <sequence-name.xml> 
    ├── in-sequence
    |    |── Custom
    |    |    └── <custom-sequence-name.xml>   
    |    └── <sequence-name.xml> 
    └── out-sequence
         |── Custom
         |    └── <custom-sequence-name.xml>
         └── <sequence-name.xml>

The structure of an exported API ZIP file is explained below:

Sub Directory/File Description
Meta-information api.yaml: It contains all the basic information required for an API to be imported to another environment.
swagger.yaml: It contains the API Swagger definition.
endpoint_certificates.yaml: If the API is secured using backend certificates, this file contains all endpoint certificates information.
schema.graphql: If API is a GraphQL API, this contains the GraphQL schema definition.
Docs docs.yaml: It contains the summary of all the documents available for the API
FileContents: It contains the uploaded file type documents available for the API
InlineContents: It contains inline and Markdown type documents available for the API.
Image Thumbnail image of the API
WSDL WSDL file of the API
Sequences fault-sequence: It contains the specific API fault sequence.
in-sequence: It contains the specific API in sequence.
out-sequence: It contains the specific API out sequence.

Import an API

You can use the API archive exported from the previous section and import it to the API Manager instance in the target environment. When importing the API, you can either deploy the API as a new API or seamlessly update an existing API in the environment with it.

Warning

For Secure Endpoint Enabled APIs:

If you have enabled secure endpoints when creating the API and your username or/and password differs in the two environments, please follow the steps below before importing the API.

  1. Unzip the .zip archive created in the previous section.
  2. Go to the <API-name-version>/Meta-information directory and open the api.<json/yaml> file.
    For example, go to PhoneVerification_1.0.0/Meta-information directory and open the api.yaml file.
  3. Modify the endpointUTPassword with your endpoint password and save the api.yaml file.
  4. Compress the <API-name-version> directory.
    For example, compress the PhoneVerification_1.0.0 directory.

  1. Log in to the API Manager in the importing environment by following steps in Login to an Environment.

    Tip

    If you are already logged-in and your logged-in credentials and keys are already available in the <USER_HOME>/.wso2apictl/keys.json file, you can skip this step.

    Info

    If you skip step 1 and if no keys exist for the environment in the <USER_HOME>/.wso2apictl/keys.json file, you will be prompt to log in to the environment when running the next command.

  2. Run any of the following CTL commands to import an API.

    • Command 

      apictl import-api -f <path-to-API-archive> -e <environment> -k
      apictl import-api --file <path-to-API-archive> --environment <environment> -k
      apictl import-api --file <path-to-API-archive> --environment <environment> --preserve-provider=<preserve_provider> --update=<update_api> --skipCleanup=<skip-cleanup> --params <environment-params-file>  -k

      Info

      Flags:

      • Required :
        --file or -f : The file path of the API to import.
        --environment or -e : Environment to which the API should be exported.
      • Optional :
        --preserve-provider : Preserve existing provider of API after importing. Default value is true.
        --update : Update an existing API or create a new API in the importing environment. --params : Define the API Manager environment params file (default "api_params.yaml"). --skipCleanup : Leave all temporary files created in the CTL during import process. Default value is false.

      Example

      apictl import-api -f dev/PhoneVerification_1.0.0.zip -e production -k
      apictl import-api --file /home/user/apis/PhoneVerification_1.0.0.zip --environment production -k
      apictl import-api -f dev/PhoneVerification_1.0.0.zip -e production --preserve-provider=false --update=true --params dev/api_params.yaml -k

      Tip

      If your file path is /Users/kim/.wso2apictl/exported/apis/dev/PhoneVerification\_1.0.0.zip., then you need to enter dev/PhoneVerification_1.0.0.zip as the value for --file or -f flag.

      Tip

      When using --update flag with import-api command, the CTL tool will check if the given API exists in the targeted environment. If the API exists, it will update the existing API. If not, it will create a new API in the imported environment.

    • Response

      Successfully imported API!

    Note

    Preserving Provider while Importing API

    The --preserve-provider flag is used to decide whether to keep the actual provider as the provider of the API or change the provider to the user who is importing the API to a different environment.

    As an example, If --preserve-provider is set to true, when importing an API created by user-1 in environment-1 will be preserved with user-1 as the provider when and after importing that API to environment-2 by user-2. If --preserve-provider is set to false, when importing that API created by user-1 to the environment-2, the provider will be changed (not preserved) to user-2 who is importing the API.

    Tip

    You must add the flag --preserve-provider to the CTL command and set its value to false if the API is imported to a different domain than its exported one. So it sets the provider of the imported API to the user who is issuing the CTL command.

Note

Configuring Environment Specific Parameters

When the importing and exporting environments are different, before importing the API, you may need to update the exported API with details relevant to the importing environment. For example, the production and sandbox URLs, the timeout configurations, the backend certificates of your endpoints might differ between the dev and production environments. To allow easily configuring environment-specific details, by default CTL tool supports an additional parameter file named api_params.yaml. For more information on using an environment parameter file, see Configuring Environment Specific Parameters.

Add Dynamic Data to Environment Configs

The above parameter file supports detecting environment variables during the API import process. You can use the usual notation. For example, url: $DEV_PROD_URL. If an environment variable is not set, the tool will fail and request a set of required environment variables on the system.

In runtime, the CTL look will inject the environment variable values and merge the related environment configs in the parameter file with the API artifact.

Info

Tiers and sequences are provider-specific. If an exported tier is not already available in the importing environment, that tier is not added to the new environment. However, if an exported API sequence is not available in the importing environment, it is added.

Tip

Troubleshooting

After importing, if the APIs are not visible in the API Publisher UI, do the following to re-index the artifacts in the registry.

  1. Shut down the API Manager 3.0.0, backup and delete the <API-M_3.0.0_HOME>/solr directory.

  2. Rename the <lastAccessTimeLocation> element in the <API-M_3.0.0_HOME>/repository/conf/registry.xml file. If you use a distributed API Manager setup, change the file in the API Publisher node. For example, change the /_system/local/repository/components/org.wso2.carbon.registry/indexing/lastaccesstime registry path to /_system/local/repository/components/org.wso2.carbon.registry/indexing/lastaccesstime_1

  3. Restart API Manager 3.0.0 server.

Warning

If you have enabled Secure Endpoint (Refer Configuring Environment Specific Parameters for more information), the endpoint password will be removed when exporting an API causing an error when you try to import the same API to an environment. There are 2 solutions for this.

  1. If Secure Endpoint is enabled and if the endpoint password should be exposed; ExposeEndpointPassword should be set to true in the /_system/config/apimgt/applicationdata/tenant-conf.json in the registry so that the exported API will contain the endpoint password.

  2. Or else, if Secure Endpoint is enabled and if the endpoint password should not be exposed; ExposeEndpointPassword should be set to false in the /_system/config/apimgt/applicationdata/tenant-conf.json in the registry (by default this is set to false). Here, the secure endpoint password is removed while exporting the API, since it may cause security issues. Hence, the password needs to be added manually when importing the API.

Import/Export APIs in Tenanted Environments

The environments that you create will be common to the admin and the tenants. Therefore, you do not need to create environments again when exporting and importing APIs between tenanted environments.

Warning

When exporting and importing an API across tenanted environments, the --preserve-provider flag value should be set to false as the original provider username in the exporting environment does not exist in the importing environment.

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