Infoblox - API Installation and Usage Instructions
8.6.3-51135-1241097029df
Infoblox provides a Perl API (application programming interface) to help facilitate the integration of the Infoblox device into network environments. The Infoblox DMAPI (Data and Management API) is a set of packages delivered with the Infoblox device to install the package. Use the usual Perl module installation tools on your management system to install the package. For Windows systems using the ActiveState build of Perl, the package is called PPM ("Perl Package Manager" or "Programmer's Package Manager"). For UNIX systems, the package is called CPAN, a global archive of Perl resources.
To install the Infoblox DMAPI packages on a Windows management system, download and install PPM (from http://www.activestate.com/). Then do the following:
1a. Install Crypt::SSLeay and libwww-perl. for IPv4 connections
1b. Install the supporting libraries. for IPv6 connections
2. PPM 3.x: Add the Infoblox device as a repository.
3. PPM 3.x: Search the Infoblox device for Infoblox packages.
4. PPM 3.x: Install Infoblox packages on your management system.
5. PPM 4.0: Fetch and install Infoblox packages.
- Perl 5.8.8 or later
- For Windows management systems: the ActiveState version of Perl 5.8.8 or later with PPM 3.x or later
- Crypt::SSLeay version 0.51 or later (and its dependencies: ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll)
- LWP::UserAgent version 5.813 or later
- XML::Parser
- Perl 5.14.2 or later
- For Windows management systems: the ActiveState version of Perl 5.14.2 or later with PPM 3.x or later
- LWP::UserAgent version 6.02 or later and relevant dependencies, including LWP::Protocol::https
- Net::INET6Glue
- XML::Parser
1.0 Check your Perl version.
The Crypt::SSLeay package is Perl version sensitive. Perl version 5.8.x requires different packages than 5.10.x. To check the Perl version installed, enter the command: perl -v.
If Perl 5.8.x is installed, the command will return the following:
C:\>perl -v This is perl, v5.8.8 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread...
If Perl 5.10.x is installed, the command will return the following:
C:\>perl -v This is perl, v5.10.0 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread...
1.1 Install Crypt-SSLeay.
The Crypt::SSLeay package allows you to make an HTTPS connection to the Infoblox device. Crypt::SSLeay is not part of the core Perl distribution. To check if it is installed, enter the command: ppm query Crypt-SSLeay. If the Crypt-SSLeay package is already installed, the query returns the following result:
C:\>ppm query Crypt-SSLeay Querying target 1 (ActivePerl 5.8.8.817) 1. Crypt-SSLeay [0.51] OpenSSL glue that provides LWP https
If the Crypt::SSLeay package is not installed, the query returns the following:
C:\>ppm query Crypt-SSLeay Querying target 1 (ActivePerl 5.8.8.817) No matches for 'Crypt-SSLeay; see 'help query'.
To install Crypt::SSLeay (and its dependencies ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll) one needs to either build it from the source distribution, or locate a precompiled Crypt-SSLeay.ppd archive.
Note that Crypt::SSLeay does not support TLSv1.1 and higher until version 0.58. To use TLS v1.1 and higher, you must install Crypt::SSLeay version 0.58 and higher.
1.2 Install libwww-perl.
If you need to update LWP::UserAgent, then you will have to install the latest libwww-perl package.
If the PPM version is 3.x, you will first need to add a PPM repository:
C:\> ppm repo add bribes http://www.bribes.org/perl/ppm
To install libwww-perl:
C:\> ppm install libwww-perl -force
Infoblox recommends using the ActiveState ppm tool to install the needed modules and dependencies, which may already be installed as part of the perl distribution. For some platforms, some Perl modules may not be available at the time of this writing. an example: Net::INET6Glue, which depends on IO::Socket::INET6; Net::INET6Glue can be compiled following the instructions at
http://www.activestate.com/blog/2010/10/how-install-cpan-modules-activeperl
using the Microsoft(r) SDK section of the instructions. Please refer to ActiveState's website and documentation for further questions.
The following steps add the Infoblox device as a repository in your PPM 3.x configuration, included with Active Perl from version 5.8.0.802 to 5.8.8.817.
(For PPM 4.0, included with ActivePerl 5.8.8.818 and later, see "5. PPM 4.0: Fetch and install Infoblox packages.")
2.1 Add a PPM repository to the configuration by issuing the ppm repository command;
* For <repo_name>, type a meaningful name for the repository, such as 'Infoblox-device'. * For <ip_addr>, type the IP address that you use for managing the Infoblox device or a resolvable domain name (for a grid, use the address or domain name of the grid master).
C:\> ppm repo add <repo_name> https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/ppm Repositories: [1] <repo_name> [2] ActiveState Package Repository
(Note that the packages are connected via HTTPS, not HTTP. You only need to add the repository once.)
2.2 To ensure that you have the correct URL, open a Web browser and visit the URL you specified for the repository. If the URL is correct, you can see a directory listing.
Start PPM from a command shell:
C:\> ppm PPM - Programmer's Package Manager version 3.4. Copyright (c) 2001 ActiveState Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Entering interactive shell. Using Term::ReadLine::Perl as readline library.
Type 'help' to get started.
ppm>
Use PPM to find the Infoblox package:
ppm> search Infoblox Searching in Active Repositories 1. Infoblox [4.9999990014709] Infoblox Data and Management API 4.x
Install the Infoblox package with PPM:
ppm> install Infoblox ==================== Install 'Infoblox' version 4.9999990014709 in ActivePerl 5.8.8.817. ==================== Downloaded 167481 bytes. ... Successfully installed Infoblox version 4.9999990014709 in ActivePerl 5.8.8.817.
There is a bug in PPM version 4.0 which is included in ActivePerl 5.8.8.818 and 5.8.8.819 which prevents PPM 4.0 from accessing a module archive with https. This bug, and ActiveState's workaround is described at:
http://bugs.activestate.com/show_bug.cgi?id=52508
If you have ActivePerl 5.8.8.818 or 5.8.8.819 (use perl -v at a command line to see), either upgrade to ActivePerl 5.8.8.820 or use the workaround described in the bug: http://bugs.activestate.com/show_bug.cgi?id=52508
You can also work around the bug by following the steps in section 5.3.
If you have ActivePerl 5.8.8.820 installed, skip the patch step in 5.1 and immediately install the package by following the steps in section 5.2.
5.1 PPM 4.0: Patch lib/ActivePerl/PPM/limited_inc.pm
If you have ActivePerl 5.8.8.818 or 5.8.8.819, please patch your PPM installation so PPM will be able to find modules stored in repositories accessed by https.
As shown in
http://bugs.activestate.com/show_bug.cgi?id=52508
apply this patch one time to your ActiveState PPM installation for each win32 client:
Index: lib/ActivePerl/PPM/limited_inc.pm --- lib/ActivePerl/PPM/limited_inc.pm.~1~ Tue Nov 28 16:01:09 2006 +++ lib/ActivePerl/PPM/limited_inc.pm Tue Nov 28 16:01:09 2006 @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ (my $dir = __FILE__) =~ s,/ActivePerl/PPM/.*,,; Make a new directory, naming it something like "ibpack", and then change the command prompt to that directory. if (grep $_ eq $dir, @INC) { - shift(@INC) while $INC[0] ne $dir; + push(@INC, shift(@INC)) while $INC[0] ne $dir; }
1;
To find the full path to this file on your system, use perl -V at the command line. The contents of @INC are at the end of the output. The limited_inc.pm file is in the lib directory, not in the site/lib directory.
If you are unfamiliar with diffs, the + and - notation just means to replace the line:
shift(@INC) while $INC[0] ne $dir;
line with the
push(@INC, shift(@INC)) while $INC[0] ne $dir;
When complete, the lines of the patched limited_inc.pm should look like:
if (grep $_ eq $dir, @INC) { # patch from http://bugs.activestate.com/show_bug.cgi?id=52508 # shift(@INC) while $INC[0] ne $dir; push(@INC, shift(@INC)) while $INC[0] ne $dir; }
Continue on to step 5.2
5.2 PPM 4.0: Install the Infoblox modules
Enter the following command, substituting the IP address or resolvable hostname of the Infoblox device for <ip_addr>:
C:\tmp>ppm install https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/ppm/Infoblox.ppd
or you can use the GUI version of PPM by running the GUI, searching for the Infoblox module and installing it in the usual way.
5.3 PPM 4.0 Alternate Work Around to Install
Make a new directory and name the directory, for example, "ibpack". Then change the command prompt to that directory.
Make a new directory, naming it something like "ibpack", and then change the command prompt to that directory.
C:\> md ibpack
C:\> cd ibpack
C:\ibpack>
Next, transfer the files that contain the module distribution from the Infoblox device to your management system using 'lwp-request'. You must transfer two files: a description file, and the main distribution. The description file is always named "Infoblox.ppd".
Enter the following command, substituting the IP address or resolvable hostname of the Infoblox device for <ip_addr>:
C:\ibpack> lwp-request https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/ppm/Infoblox.ppd > Infoblox.ppd
View the Infoblox.ppd file:
C:\ibpack> type Infoblox.ppd <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <SOFTPKG NAME="Infoblox" VERSION="4,999999001478,0,0"> <TITLE>Infoblox</TITLE> <ABSTRACT>Infoblox Data and Management API 4.x</ABSTRACT> <AUTHOR>Infoblox, Inc.</AUTHOR> <IMPLEMENTATION> <CODEBASE HREF="Infoblox-4.999999001478.tar.gz" /> </IMPLEMENTATION> </SOFTPKG>
The file name of the main distribution package is contained in the HREF attributes of the CODEBASE element. In the output shown above, it is "Infoblox-4.999999001478.tar.gz". Use lwp-request to fetch that file.
C:\ibpack> lwp-request https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/ppm/Infoblox-4.999999001478.tar.gz > Infoblox-4.999999001478.tar.gz
Use PPM to install the Infoblox DMAPI from the local file system:
C:\ibpack> ppm install Infoblox.ppd Unpacking Infoblox-4.999999001478...done Generating HTML for Infoblox-4.999999001478...done Installing to site area...done 64 files installed
The installation is complete.
Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Infoblox Package
After you configure PPM to search the Infoblox repository, use the appropriate command to uninstall and reinstall the Infoblox package:
ppm> uninstall Infoblox ==================== Remove 'Infoblox' version 4.9999990014709 in ActivePerl 5.8.8.817. ==================== ... Successfully removed Infoblox version 4.9999990014709 from ActivePerl 5.8.8.817.
ppm> install Infoblox ==================== Install 'Infoblox' version 4.9999990014709 in ActivePerl 5.8.8.817. ==================== ... Successfully installed Infoblox version 4.9999990014709 in ActivePerl 5.8.8.817.
For IPv4 connections the following are required
- Perl 5.8.8 or later
- Crypt::SSLeay version 0.51 or later
- LWP::UserAgent version 5.813 or later
- XML::Parser
For IPv6 connections the following are required
- Perl 5.14.2 or later
- LWP::UserAgent version 6.02 or later and relevant dependencies, including LWP::Protocol::https
- Net::INET6Glue
- XML::Parser
to easily install the required libraries it is recommented to use CPAN, after installing perl run
perl -e shell -MCPAN
and once configured simply run
install LWP::UserAgent install XML::Parser
and the other packages you need depending on IPv4 or IPv6 accessibility.
To install the Infoblox DMAPI packages on a UNIX management system, first download and install the API package from:
https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN/authors/id/INFOBLOX/
where ip_addr is the IP address of the appliance. Then locate and download the file Infoblox-xxxxxxx.tar.gz where xxxxxxx is an integer depending on your API package version.
After you download the package, extract it to a temporary directory with:
tar xvfz Infoblox-xxxxxxx.tar.gz
Then execute the following commands:
cd Infoblox-xxxxxxx/ perl Makefile.PL make make install
Optionally, before you install, test the package by running:
make test
The installation is complete.
The usage instructions are provided to assist you in using the Infoblox API.
The Infoblox library can optionally be invoked by supplying the following options
:accessrights - If this is specified, 'Infoblox::Grid::Admin::Group' sends a request for 'Infoblox::Grid::Admin::Permission' to set the member 'permission_list'. :noaccessrights - If this is specified, 'Infoblox::Grid::Admin::Group' does not send a request for 'Infoblox::Grid::Admin::Permission' and the member 'permission_list' is not set. This is specified by default. :ipv6connection - This will allow the API to connect to IPv6 members. :hostaddress - if this is specified the new 'Infoblox::DHCP::HostAddr' and 'Infoblox::DHCP::IPv6HostAddr' types will be supported, see 'Infoblox::DNS::Host' for more information
for example, to enable :ipv6connection the use line would be
use Infoblox qw ( :ipv6connection );
If there are utf-8 characters in your script, remember to use the pragma 'use utf8'. If you need more information, please see http://search.cpan.org/~nwclark/perl-5.8.8/lib/utf8.pm on the utf8 pragma.
search() ConsiderationsWhen using the search() method, you can retrieve more information than expected. Include additional checks for exact matches.
my @result_array = $session->search( "object" => "Infoblox::DNS::Record::A", "name" => "infoblox.com" );
my $obj;
foreach my $match (@result_array) { if( ($match->name() eq "infoblox.com") && ($match->ipv4addr() eq "2.2.2.2") ) { print "Matches\n"; $obj = $match; } }
Values set in PAPI object members might differ from the effective value used for that particular member during product operation, which could be a value inherited from the Grid or the Grid Member depending on the particular object in question and the state of the object override flags.
The following is provided for reference purposes only, as CPAN::Site has not supported this installation method for some time.
To install the Infoblox DMAPI packages on a UNIX management system, first download and install ActivePerl (from www.activestate.com), and then do the following steps:
1. Install Crypt::SSLeay and CPAN::Site on your management system.
2. Run CPAN::Site, instead of CPAN.
3. Add the Infoblox device URL to the top of the CPAN URL list.
4. (Optional) Reduce the number of CPAN fetch methods.
5. Reload the CPAN::Site index.
6. Install the Infoblox package on your management system.
Typically, the installation is done at the root level. See perlfaq8 under the question "How do I keep my own module/library directory?" for instructions on how to install a module as a user other than root.
If you have never used CPAN on the client UNIX machine, you will need to follow the instructions, when you run it for the first time, you will be prompted for many configuration variables. Follow the procedure at 0. First Time CPAN Installation
CPAN::Site Overview
The Infoblox modules are installed using a variant of CPAN named CPAN::Site. See
http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=CPAN%3A%3ASite
for more information on CPAN::Site.
In the usual CPAN model, there is a single CPAN repository, and every copy is a full and complete copy of every available package. In the CPAN::Site model, there are multiple repositories which may have a given module. As the Infoblox modules are deployed with CPAN::Site, you must use CPAN::Site instead of CPAN to install them. This is covered in more detail in step 2. If you use CPAN instead of CPAN::Site, typically the installation process will not find the Infoblox module in step 5.
One consequence of using CPAN::Site is the installation searches multiple sites for the same set of files, finding some of them in some locations but not in others. This is a normal result. Additionally, CPAN has the ability to search for and fetch files using several different mechanisms: curl, FTP, lynx, ncftpget, wget, and LWP. Both CPAN and CPAN::Site use each of these methods in turn when it tries to find files. If the CPAN configuration lists many sites in its URL list and many access methods, the installation may take a long time while CPAN::Site tries each of the access methods on each of the listed sites. For this reason, Infoblox recommends that you reduce the number of sites in the URL list and the number of access methods as described in step 4.
If you are installing a new version of the Infoblox modules and your urllist configuration still includes the Infoblox appliance, skip directly to steps 5 and 6.
If you have never used CPAN on this client machine before, enter the following command:
[root@lx2 ~]# perl -MCPAN -e shell
and follow the prompts through the CPAN configuration. You can accept all of the defaults, except for the list of CPAN sites close to your physical location. Navigate the menus and choose 1 or 2 CPAN sites that are close to your site. When your configuration choices are complete, exit CPAN by typing exit at the prompt.
The Crypt::SSLeay package allows you to make an HTTPS connection to the Infoblox device. If Crypt::SSLeay is not already installed, open a terminal window, login as the root user, and use CPAN to install the Crypt::SSLeay package and all its dependencies:
lx> perl -MCPAN -e 'install Crypt::SSLeay'
Install the CPAN::Site module:
lx> perl -MCPAN -e 'install CPAN::Site'
When the system prompts: "Running client or server?", enter 'client'. The installation process is asking if you want to install CPAN::Site as a server or as a client. Since CPAN::Site retrieves the Infoblox modules from a server, CPAN::Site acts as a client.
Use CPAN::Site instead of CPAN:
lx> perl -MCPAN::Site -e shell CPAN: File::HomeDir loaded ok
cpan shell -- CPAN exploration and modules installation (v1.87) ReadLine support enabled
You must use CPAN::Site every time to access the Infoblox modules.
3.0 You can manipulate the contents of the urllist with the usual perl functions push, pop, shift and unshift. push and pop operate on the end of the list, while shift and unshift operate on the beginning of the list. To empty the urllist, issue repeated shift or pop operands like this:
cpan> o conf urllist urllist [ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN] [http://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN] Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items
cpan> o conf urllist shift
cpan> o conf urllist shift
cpan> o conf urllist urllist Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items
You can put an item on the list at the beginning with unshift and at the end of the list with push:
cpan> o conf urllist unshift ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN
cpan> o conf urllist push ftp://bogus.site.at.end.of.list/CPAN
cpan> o conf urllist urllist [ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN] [ftp://bogus.site.at.end.of.list/CPAN] Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items
When you finish configuring the urllist, you must have the Infoblox appliance as the first item in the list. This is a requirement of CPAN::Site. The best configuration of urllist is a two-item list with the Infoblox appliance first and one other close, fast CPAN site second. For example, at the Infoblox headquarters a good set of choices for urllist is:
cpan> o conf urllist urllist [https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN] [ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN] Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items
The complete list of CPAN sites can be found at:
http://www.cpan.org/SITES.html
3.1 Configure the Infoblox device first in the CPAN URL list, so that CPAN::Site finds it first when searching for packages. Type the IP address or domain name of your Infoblox device for <ip_addr> (for a grid, use the address of the grid master):
cpan> o conf urllist unshift https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN
(Note: You only need to add the repository to the URL list once.)
3.2 You must have at least one other normal CPAN site in the list in case your client needs other public packages. The following is a sample URL list for a set of CPAN sites in North America:
cpan> o conf urllist urllist [https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN] [ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN] [ftp://cpan.pair.com/pub/CPAN/] Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items
If you do not have any other CPAN sites in your URL list, add at least one before continuing. Use the command
o conf urllist push <url_string>
3.3 To ensure that you have the correct URL for the Infoblox modules, open a Web browser and visit the URL you specified for the repository, in this example https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN. If the URL is correct, you can see a directory listing of the module files.
3.4 Save your CPAN configuration:
cpan> o conf commit commit: wrote '/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8/CPAN/Config.pm'
By reducing the number of CPAN fetch methods, you can shorten the installation process. For an explanation why Infoblox recommends this step, see the note in the introduction (before step 1).
CPAN (and CPAN::Site) supports up to six different ways to search for and fetch files: curl, FTP, lynx, ncftpget, wget, and LWP. Infoblox recommends that you choose the method that work best for you and only configure those methods. For the typical cases, Infoblox recommends keeping LWP, FTP, and ncftpget enabled and disabling curl, lynx and wget. To disable a fetch method, set it to an empty string and then commit the configuration. In the example below, you first display the configuration parameters for curl, lynx, and wget, and then set them to an empty string:
cpan> o conf curl curl [/usr/bin/curl]
cpan> o conf curl "" curl []
cpan> o conf lynx lynx [/usr/bin/lynx]
cpan> o conf lynx "" lynx []
cpan> o conf wget wget [/usr/bin/wget]
cpan> o conf wget "" wget []
cpan> o conf commit commit: wrote '/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8/CPAN/Config.pm'
Use CPAN to reload the CPAN::Site index:
cpan> reload index CPAN: Storable loaded ok Going to read /root/.cpan/Metadata Database was generated on Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:32:52 GMT CPAN: LWP::UserAgent loaded ok Fetching with LWP: https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN/authors/01mailrc.txt.gz ... Fetching with LWP: https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN/modules/03modlist.data.gz LWP failed with code[404] message[Not Found] Fetching with LWP: ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/CPAN/modules/03modlist.data.gz Going to read /root/.cpan/sources/modules/03modlist.data.gz Going to write /root/.cpan/Metadata
Note: Unlike CPAN, CPAN::Site is designed so that some of the files that describe the available packages are not found in all of the locations in your URL list. It is normal to see some "file not found" errors during the index reload.
The usual CPAN process for installing Perl modules is:
6.1 Search
6.2 Test
6.3 Install
6.4 Uninstall and Reinstall
6.1 Search
Use the m operator to search for the Infoblox module:
cpan> m /Infoblox/ CPAN: Storable loaded ok Going to read /root/.cpan/Metadata Database was generated on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:29:55 GMT CPAN: LWP::UserAgent loaded ok . . . Fetching with LWP: https://<ip_addr>/api/dist/CPAN/site/01mailrc.txt.gz Going to read /root/.cpan/sources/site/01mailrc.txt.gz Module id = Infoblox CPAN_USERID INFOBLOX (Infoblox Technical Support <support@infoblox.com>) CPAN_VERSION 4.9999990014709 CPAN_FILE INFOBLOX/Infoblox-4.9999990014709.tar.gz INST_FILE (not installed)
If the search cannot find the Infoblox modules:
a. Ensure that you are using CPAN::Site, not CPAN as shown in 2. Run CPAN::Site, instead of CPAN. b. Check the Infoblox appliance in the urllist as shown in step 3.3.
6.2 Test
You can optionally test the package before the installation:
cpan> test Infoblox Running test for module Infoblox Running make for Infoblox-4.999990014709.tar.gz ... All tests successful. Files=1, Tests=1, 0 wallclock secs ( 0.74 cusr + 0.08 csys = 0.82 CPU) /usr/bin/make test - OK
6.3 Install
Install the Infoblox package:
cpan> install Infoblox Running install for module Infoblox Running make for INFOBLOX/Infoblox-4.9999990014709.tar.gz ... Writing /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/i386-linux-thread-multi/auto/Infoblox/.packlist Appending installation info to /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8/i386-linux-thread-multi/perllocal.pod /usr/bin/make install -- OK
To exit the CPAN::Site shell:
cpan> quit
The installation is complete.
6.4 Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Infoblox Package
Although not directly supported by CPAN, it is simple to uninstall the Infoblox package using published techniques. One way to do it is provided by the modrm program that is described in the ExtUtils::Packlist documentation. See http://search.cpan.org/~yves/ExtUtils-Install-1.41/lib/ExtUtils/Packlist.pm#EXAMPLE for the modrm program. To reinstall it, repeat steps 5 and 6 above.