#595 XPaaS - Using PCS to on-board new API Platform users

Self-registration is on the roadmap for API Platform CS, in the meantime, you can easily use PCS to do the onboarding for you.

Here is a simple scenario -

Internal folks should be able to register for one of the following roles -

• API Developers
• API Managers
• Gateway Managers

A manager will then approve/reject such requests.

So what do we need to implement this?

1. A data entry form

2. A REST service to create a user in the Identity Mgt system of APIP CS.

3. A REST service to assign one of the APIP CS roles to the newly created user.

All of this can be done very easily in PCS.

Here is the form that kicks off the process- 

Here is the PCS Connector to my APIP CS Identity Mgt system - I use the REST API to
interface with this.

As you can see, there are 2 resources - createUser and addUser2Group - self explanatory!

Here is the basic PCS process - Somebody requests access to APIP CS. Another person, our
API Manager, will approve or reject this request. The user is created and assigned the selected
APIP CS role.

So how about we augment this somewhat - let's display some APIs to the successful candidate. 

I now add a REST connector to APIP CS.

I will leverage this to display some public APIs.

Here is the APIP CS api I need to call - a call example using Postman -

I use the above url as the basis for my REST Connector definition in PCS -

I have augmented the process as follows -

I check out the public apis in my APIP CS Developer Portal -

As you can see, I only have one -

I now deploy and test the process -

The approver approves -

I then see the public apis -

I also get an email with a link to the APIP CS management or developer portal - depending on the role

Now this is a simple example of what one can do by combining Oracle PaaS Services.

You could augment this further by displaying the APIs from the developer portal and letting the user select one or more for API Registration.
API Registration involves creating an application within APIP CS and then registering the api with
the newly created application.

How would you go about doing that?

Begin by checking out the APIP CS REST API docs on docs.oracle.com

I begin by testing this in Postman -

I validate in API Platform Developer Portal -

I create a new connector in PCS for the APIP CS Mgt Service -

Remember - the REST APIs are your oyster - go explore!