Image template API reference
The SoftLayer® Application Programming Interface is the development interface that gives developers and system administrators direct interaction with IBM Cloud® backend system. The SoftLayer API powers many of the features in the IBM Cloud® infrastructure customer portal, meaning that if an interaction is possible in the IBM Cloud infrastructure customer portal, it can also typically be run in the API. Because you can programmatically interact with all portions of the IBM Cloud® environment within the API, SoftLayer API is used to automate tasks. For example, you can use the SoftLayer_Virtual_Guest/createObject API to deploy a virtual server instance from an image template.
The SoftLayer API is a Remote Procedure Call system. Each call involves sending data toward an API endpoint and receiving structured data in return. The format used to send and receive data with the SoftLayer API depends on which implementation of the API you choose. The SoftLayer API currently uses SOAP, XML-RPC or REST for data transmission.
For more information about the SoftLayer API and virtual server APIs, see the following resources in the SoftLayer® Development Network:
- SoftLayer API Overview
- Getting Started with the SoftLayer API
- API Reference: SoftLayer_Virtual_Guest::createObject
- API Reference: SoftLayer_Account::getBlockDeviceTemplateGroups
- API Reference: SoftLayer_Virtual_Guest_Block_Device_Template_Group::getPublicImages
For API usage examples, see the following resources: