Invalid file path while trying to create an action through REST API

[NikosVlagoidis]

https://api.stackstorm.com/api/v1/actions/#/actions_controller.post

While I was trying to create a new action which I previous deleted with the REST API so the file is in the filesystem the following error occurred.

Request:

{	
	"name": "test_action",
	"runner_type": "python-script",
	"data_files":[{
		"file_path": "/opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/action",
		"content": "test_action.py"
	}]
}

Response:

{
    "faultstring": "Invalid file path: /opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/action"
}

[LindsayHill]

I've only seen that used for Mistral & Action Chain workflow definition files, but it looks like it might work for other actions.

At a minimum, one problem you have is that your path looks wrong - I would expect it to end with actions. Looking at how Workflow Designer does it, it uses the same value as the entry point anyway - i.e. it's relative to the action itself. That also seems to use file_path as the full path to the filename - e.g. workflows/test_workflow.yaml, and then provides the content as content body, not file name.

[NikosVlagoidis]

Do you mean you have to type the actual yaml file in the "content" field?

[Kami]

Yes, the content attribute needs to contain the actual (text) file content.

And as @LindsayHill has pointed out, the file_path should probably be something like that - /opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/actions/test_action.py.

[NikosVlagoidis]

But the file already exists on the filesystem! Why can not I use the same?

[Kami]

If action data files are still on disk and you only deleted / unregistered action metadata from the system, but the action data files and metadata files are still on disk, you should just be able to run st2ctl reload --register-all and action will be re-registered.

If you want to use API for that, I believe you can just leave data_files attribute empty.

[NikosVlagoidis]

I have the same problem:

Request:

{	"pack": "my_pack",
	"name": "test_action",
	"runner_type": "python-script",
	"data_files":[{
		"file_path": "/opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/actions/test_action.py",
		"content": "import sys"
	}]
}

Response:

{
    "faultstring": "Invalid file path: /opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/actions/test_action.py"
}

The following request leads to interval error (notice the missing / in the start of the path):

Requests:

{	"pack": "my_pack",
	"name": "test_action",
	"runner_type": "python-script",
	"data_files":[{
		"file_path": "opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/my_pack/actions/test_action.py",
		"content": "import sys"
	}]
}

Response:

{
"faultstring": "Internal Server Error"
}

[Kami]

That's likely because the path you specified is outside the base pack directory.

If your pack is named foo and is located in /opt/stackstorm/packs/foo directory, the file_path would need to look like this - /opt/stackstorm/packs/foo/actions/test_action.py or actions/test_action.py.

For security reasons (to prevent directory traversal attacks and allowing user to write in arbitrary directory) you can only write data directly to the pack directory.

I do agree that the error message we throw right now is not very user-friendly so I will update the code to throw a more user-friendly exception which makes it more obvious what is going on.

[NikosVlagoidis]

I use the packs.dev for docker to develop my pack. You say I can only write under /opt/stackstorm/packs ?

[NikosVlagoidis]

Maybe we should allow packs_base_paths to be written and not only the /packs directory?

[Kami]

We actually resolve pack path using get_pack_base_path function so you can write under that directory. That function should take packs_base_paths into account (as long as you don't have pack with the same name in two places - in this case, the first entry wins).

[NikosVlagoidis]

I think I know what the problem is but I am not sure yet. I have my pack named something like Test Pack and the directory of the pack is testpack. So i get an interval error. When I try to use the pack as Test Pack to create the new action I get that the directory does not exists.

Request:

{	"pack": "Test Pack",
	"name": "test",
	"runner_type": "python-script",
	"data_files":[{
		"file_path": "opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/test/actions/test_action.py",
		"content": "import sys"
	}]
}

Response:

{
    "faultstring": "Content pack \"Test  Pack\" is not found or doesn't contain actions directory. Searched in: /opt/stackstorm/packs,/opt/stackstorm/packs.dev"
}

when i use test it just gets interval error .

[Kami]

Please gist the output of:

• ls -la /opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/test
• cat /opt/stackstorm/packs.dev/test/pack.yaml

It also looks like that the request is invalid, I would try something like this:

{	"pack": "test",
	"name": "Test Pack",
        "ref": "test",
	"runner_type": "python-script",
	"data_files":[{
		"file_path": "test_action.py",
		"content": "import sys"
	}]
}

It's probably related to a space in the pack name - you should use that for the "name" attribute. "pack" and "ref" should not contain spaces and should match the directly name.

[Kami]

I confirmed the following works fine:

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:9101/v1/actions" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"data_files": [{"content": "import sys", "file_path": "test_action.py"}], "ref": "test", "name": "Test Pack", "runner_type": "python-script", "pack": "test"}'

In short - in this case, file_path needs to be just a file name relative to the actions/ directory.

[Kami]

And #4046 fixes the unfriendly error message issue. This should hopefully make it a lot more obvious that the path needs to be relative to the pack actions/ directory.

[Kami]

77f2a5c should hopefully clear up the documentation.

[NikosVlagoidis]

@Kami How can I send a yaml file through post request? I try on a stringified version of a yaml file but without success. Do you have any insight?

[Kami]

@NikosVlagoidis What kind of error do you get when you trying posting a yaml file?

[NikosVlagoidis]

I managed to do it. You need to escape the " " and the write every new line with \n (at least on Postman)

[Kami]

Glad that you have figured it out.

Another, easier way (if you don't need to do it via the API) would be to simple place those YAML metadata files on disk and run st2ctl reload --register-all.

That's also the recommended way for deploying and managing content.

[NikosVlagoidis]

This is the easier way sure, but I would like to implement a web GUI for building action chains (something like the enterprise edition) so I will need to do it via API I guess.

[Kami]

Yes, in this case that's correct.

[vaibhavkumar049]

@Kami can you guide me on how to write a multi-line python code and send it as a request? as in documentation it is mentioned raw file, I am not sure how to do that