Cisco Compute and Collaboration Platforms and APIs

What it is

Compute platforms manage servers, and collaboration platforms manage messaging, meetings and voice, and each has APIs you can automate.

On the compute side the outline names UCS Manager and Intersight. On the collaboration side it names Webex, Webex devices, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager with its AXL and UDS interfaces.

Each platform uses a different API style, so the main skill is to match the interface to the job.

How it works

The platforms differ in where they run and in the protocol behind the API.

UCS Manager

UCS Manager runs inside the fabric interconnects of a Cisco UCS domain. It manages the blade and rack servers, networking and storage connectivity of that domain.

Its main idea is the service profile, which captures the identity and settings of a server, such as addresses, firmware policy and boot order. You apply a profile to hardware, so replacing a server does not mean reconfiguring it by hand.

The UCS Manager XML API uses XML over HTTP or HTTPS at the /nuova address. All configuration sits in a tree of managed objects, and each object has a distinguished name. The Python SDK ucsmsdk hides the XML.

from ucsmsdk.ucshandle import UcsHandle

handle = UcsHandle(HOST, "admin", PASSWORD)
handle.login()
blades = handle.query_classid("ComputeBlade")
for blade in blades:
    print(blade.dn, blade.model)
handle.logout()

Cisco Intersight

Intersight is a cloud based operations platform. It manages UCS servers, HyperFlex and other connected infrastructure from one place, and it is delivered as a service.

Its REST API follows the OpenAPI standard. Access uses an API key with a key ID and a secret, and each request is signed. Python and other SDKs, plus Ansible and Terraform integrations, build on the same API.

Webex

Webex is the Cisco collaboration suite for messaging, meetings and calling. Its REST API uses JSON, and requests carry a bearer token.

The main resources are people, spaces, memberships and messages. The API calls a space a room.

Access comes from a personal access token for testing, from a bot token, or from an OAuth integration that acts for a user. Webhooks tell your code about new messages and other events.

Webex devices

Webex room and desk devices run RoomOS and expose the xAPI. It lets you read device status, change configuration and run commands.

The xAPI has three kinds of path: status, configuration and command. You reach it over SSH, over a web socket, or over HTTP. Macros are small JavaScript programs that run on the device and use the same xAPI.

xStatus SystemUnit Software Version
xConfiguration Audio DefaultVolume
xCommand Audio Volume Set Level: 50

Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Unified Communications Manager, often called Unified CM or CUCM, is the call control platform for on premises voice and video. It exposes two main interfaces.

AXL is a SOAP API, so requests and replies are XML messages. It is reached on port 8443 at the /axl/ path with basic authentication.

A WSDL file describes the operations. Python SOAP libraries such as zeep use the WSDL to give you ordinary function calls.

UDS is a lightweight REST API at a path that starts with /cucm-uds/. It serves user level data and suits self service tools, while AXL suits administrators.

Picking the interface

• Administer many Unified CM objects in bulk: use AXL.
• Show a user their own phones in an app: use UDS.
• Post a message to a Webex space: use the Webex REST API with a bot token.
• Change a setting on a room device: use the xAPI.
• Manage servers from the cloud: use Intersight.