Manage NGINX configurations with API requests

In this guide, we’ll show you how to use API requests to update NGINX Configurations for Instances, Config Sync Groups, or Staged Configs in the F5 NGINX One Console.

Before you begin

Before you begin, make sure you can properly authenticate your API requests with either an API Token or API Certificate, following the instructions in the Authentication guide. To ensure you have registered or created your NGINX Instance, Config Sync Group, or Staged Config in the F5 NGINX One Console, follow the instructions in the Manage your NGINX instances guide.

The workflows for managing NGINX Configs for Instances, Config Sync Groups, and Staged Configs in the F5 NGINX One Console are quite similar. This guide focuses on the steps for updating NGINX Configs for Instances. If you’re working with Config Sync Groups, you’ll follow a similar process but will need to update the API endpoints appropriately.

Get the current NGINX configuration

You can retrieve the current NGINX configuration for an Instance, Config Sync Group, or Staged Config using a GET request. This is useful for making updates based on the existing configuration.

Use the following curl command to retrieve the current NGINX configuration for a specific Instance. Replace <tenant>, <namespace>, <instance-object-id>, and <token-value> with your actual values.

curl -X GET "https://<tenant>.console.ves.volterra.io/api/nginx/one/namespaces/<namespace>/instances/<instance-object-id>/config" \
-H "Authorization: APIToken <token-value>" -o current_config.json

• <tenant>: Your tenant name for organization plans.
• <namespace>: The namespace your Instance belongs to.
• <instance-object-id>: The object_id of the NGINX Instance you want to retrieve the NGINX configuration for.
• <token-value>: Your API Token.

To update the NGINX configuration for a Config Sync Group or Staged Config, replace instances with config-sync-groups or staged-configs and use the object_id of the Config Sync Group or Staged Config in the URL.

The response will include the current NGINX configuration in JSON format. This response is saved to a file (with a name like current_config.json) for editing.

You can modify the NGINX configuration using either PUT or PATCH requests. The PUT method replaces the entire NGINX configuration, while the PATCH method allows you to update specific fields without affecting the rest of the configuration.

How to base64 encode a file for JSON request

When updating the NGINX Config, file contents must be base64 encoded. You can use the following command to base64 encode a file:

base64 -w 0 -i <path-to-your-file>

This command reads the file at <path-to-your-file> and outputs its base64 encoded content in a single line (due to the -w 0 option). You can then copy this encoded string and include it in your JSON request body. On some systems the -w option may not be available, in which case you can use:

base64 -i <path-to-your-file> | tr -d '\n'

Update the NGINX configuration for an Instance using PUT

When using the PUT method, ensure that your request body includes all necessary contents, as it will overwrite the existing configuration. The following example demonstrates how to update the NGINX configuration for a specific Instance using PUT. Replace <tenant>, <namespace>, <instance-object-id>, and <token-value> with your actual values. The request body should contain the complete NGINX configuration in JSON format.

curl -X PUT "https://<tenant>.console.ves.volterra.io/api/nginx/one/namespaces/<namespace>/instances/<instance-object-id>/config" \
-H "Authorization : APIToken <token-value>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d @updated_config.json

• <tenant>: Your tenant name for organization plans.
• <namespace>: The namespace your Instance belongs to.
• <instance-object-id>: The object_id of the NGINX Instance you want to update the NGINX configuration for.
• <token-value>: Your API Token.

Update the NGINX configuration for an Instance using PATCH

When using the PATCH method, you only need to include the files you want to update in your request body. The following example demonstrates how to update the NGINX configuration for a specific Instance using PATCH. Replace <tenant>, <namespace>, <instance-object-id>, and <token-value> with your actual values. The request body should contain only the fields you want to update in JSON format.

 curl -X PATCH "https://<tenant>.console.ves.volterra.io/api/nginx/one/namespaces/<namespace>/instances/<instance-object-id>/config" \
 -H "Authorization : APIToken <token-value>" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d @partial_update_config.json

• <tenant>: Your tenant name for organization plans.
• <namespace>: The namespace your Instance belongs to.
• <instance-object-id>: The object_id of the NGINX Instance you want to update the NGINX configuration for.
• <token-value>: Your API Token.

With PATCH, you can update specific parts of the NGINX Instance configuration without needing to resend the entire configuration. The following file contents disposition is observed:

• Leave out file contents to remove the file from the NGINX Config.
• Include file contents to add or update the file in the NGINX Config. File contents must be base64 encoded. File contents can be an empty string to create an empty file.
• config_version should be included to ensure you’re updating the correct version of the configuration. You can get the current config_version from the response of the GET request.

For example, to update only the /etc/nginx/nginx.conf file in the NGINX Config, your partial_update_config.json might look like this:

 {
     "conf_path": "/etc/nginx/nginx.conf",
     "config_version": "<config_version from GET response>",
     "configs": [
         {
             "name": "/etc/nginx",
             "files": [
                 {
                     "name": "nginx.conf",
                     "contents": "<base64-encoded-content-here>"
                 }
             ]
         }
     ]
 }

To remove a file, omit the contents field for that file in your PATCH request body, your partial_update_config.json might look like this to remove /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf from the NGINX Instance configuration:

 {
     "conf_path": "/etc/nginx/nginx.conf",
     "config_version": "<config_version from GET response>",
     "configs": [
         {
             "name": "/etc/nginx/conf.d",
             "files": [
                 {
                     "name": "default.conf"
                 }
             ]
         }
     ]
 }

Set up multiple updates with PATCH

You can make multiple updates can be made in a single PATCH request. For example, to update /etc/nginx/nginx.conf and remove /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf, your partial_update_config.json might look like this:

 {
     "conf_path": "/etc/nginx/nginx.conf",
     "config_version": "<config_version from GET response>",
     "configs": [
         {
             "name": "/etc/nginx/conf.d",
             "files": [
                 {
                     "name": "default.conf"
                 }
             ]
         },
         {
             "name": "/etc/nginx",
             "files": [
                 {
                     "name": "nginx.conf",
                     "contents": "<base64-encoded-content-here>"
                 }
             ]
         }
     ]
 }