Dummy REST API

Tool for testing REST APIs Function

1. Requirements

• python >= 3.6
• python-dev >= 3.6
• pip3.6

1.1 Install python3.7 and pip3.7 on Debian system

Run as root

apt update
apt install gcc git python3.7-minimal python3.7-dev python3-pip -y
python3.7 -m pip install --upgrade pip

Note that if you execute the last command without sudo, pip3.7 is installed in directory /home/{username}/.local/bin which might not be in the PATH variable, depending on the distribution you are running. Add the directory to the PATH variable in order to be able to use it.

1.2 Install python3.7 and pip3.7 on CentOS > 7 system

Run as root

yum update -y
yum install -y epel-release && yum update -y
yum install -y gcc git python3 python3-devel python3-pip

2. Installation

2.1 PyPI

pip3.7 install dummyrest

2.2 Github

git clone https://github.com/medianetlab/dummyrest.git
cd dummyrest
sudo pip3.7 install .

Note that if you execute the last command without sudo, dummyrest script is installed in directory /home/{username}/.local/bin which might not be in the PATH variable, depending on the distribution you are running. Add the directory to the PATH variable in order to be able to use it.

3. Usage

A new command has been installed. which starts the dummyrest application:

dummyrest

Add the & at the end to run at the background

The dummyrest application is listening by default on port 8000. To check that the application has started run a curl request curl http://<IP>:8000/dummy. You should get a 200 response with the message "Dummy REST API". By default the application writes a log file at the home directory of the user that started the application.

4. Database

A sample database to store the resources of the example REST API is supported by the application. You can set it to use an external database by setting the DB_URL environmental variable to the external databse URL before you start the application.

If no external database url is given, the application will use a local SQLITE3 database. You can set the path for the local db file by setting the SQLITE_DB_PATH environmental variable before you start the application. If this variable is not set, by default the application will create the databse file on the home directory of the user that started the application, under the name dummyrest.db.

5. Create a systemd service

To create a systemd service that will run the dummyrest application download the Github repository and run the script:

sudo ./systemd/create_service

Run systemctl status dummyrest to check if the service has started successfully. The logs are stored in /var/run/dummyrest/logs/dummyrest.log

6. Use dummyrest with NGINX

6.1 Install NGINX

6.1.1 Debian

Run as root

apt install -y nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl status nginx

6.1.2 CentOS

Run as root

Set up the yum repository for RHEL or CentOS by creating the file nginx.repo: vim /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo

[nginx]
name=nginx repo
baseurl=https://nginx.org/packages/mainline/centos/7/$basearch/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1

Install nginx:

yum update -y
yum install -y nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl status nginx

If the SELINUX is enabled, then it must be allowed to serve http

semanage permissive -a httpd_t
systemctl reload nginx

6.2. Configure NNGINX

Remove any default file in /etc/nginx/conf.d/ or /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ directories and create the /etc/nginx/conf.d/dummyrest.conf file:

server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    server_name _;

    location / {
        include uwsgi_params;
        uwsgi_pass unix:/var/www/html/dummyrest/socket.sock;
    }

    error_page 404 /404.html;
    location /404.html {
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    }

}

Reload the nginx service: sudo systemctl reload nginx

Create the folder where the socket file will be saved:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/dummyrest/
sudo chown -R ${USER}:${USER} /var/www/html/dummyrest

Run the dummyrest-nginx script to start serving the dummyrest application on port 80

6.3 Create systemd service with nginx

To make create a systemd service using the nginx as webserver, configure the nginx as described above and run the script:

./nginx/systemd/create_service.sh

7. Available APIs

7.1 Dummy

API	Method	Data	Description
/dummy	GET	-	Get a list of all the items in the dummy resource
/dummy	POST	JSON	Add a new item to the dummy resource
/dummy/{id}	GET	-	Get the item with id=id from the dummy resource
/dummy/{id}	POST	JSON	Create an item with id=id from the dummy resource
/dummy/{id}	PUT	JSON	Update or create the item with id=id from the dummy resource
/dummy/{id}	DELETE	-	Delete the item with id=id from the dummy resource

7.2 Books

API	Method	Data	Description
/books	GET	-	Get a list of all the books in the database
/books	POST	JSON	Add a new book in the database
/book/{title}	GET	-	Get the book with title=title from the database
/book/{title}	POST	JSON	Add a new book with title=title in the database
/book/{title}	PUT	JSON	Update or create the book with title=title in the database
/book/{title}	DELETE	-	Delete the book with title=title from the database

7.3 Authors

API	Method	Data	Description
/authors	GET	-	Get a list of all the authors in the database
/authors	POST	JSON	Add a new author in the database
/author/{name}	GET	-	Get the author with name=name from the database
/author/{name}	POST	JSON	Add a new author with name=name in the database
/author/{name}	PUT	JSON	Update or create the author with name=name in the database
/author/{name}	DELETE	-	Delete the author with name=name from the database