Disclaimer

Your use of this download is governed by Stonebranch’s Terms of Use, which are available at Stonebranch Integration Hub - Terms of Use.

Overview

A Web service is a method of communication between two electronic devices over a network. This Universal Extension provides the capability to call endpoints of foreign APIs. It is beneficial for Stonebranch SaaS customers that are accessing the Universal Controller in the Stonebranch AWS Cloud and having their Universal Agents deployed in their data center. As the integration is triggered from the Universal Agent, no additional firewall port for the Universal Agent needs to be opened.

Version Information

Requirements

This integration requires a Universal Agent and a Python runtime to execute the Universal Task.

Software Requirements for Universal Template and Universal Task

Requires Python 3.7.0 or higher. Tested with the Universal Agent bundled Python distribution.

Software Requirements for Universal Agent

Both Windows and Linux agents are supported.

• Universal Agent for Windows x64 Version 7.2.0.0 and later.

• Universal Agent for Linux Version 7.2.0.0 and later.

Software Requirements for Universal Controller

• Universal Controller Version 7.2.0.0 and later.

Network and Connectivity Requirements

The Universal Agent needs to have connectivity to the Web Service endpoint, Access Token endpoint in case Authentication Type is “OAuth 2.0” and Proxy if the connection is through a Proxy.

Key Features

This Universal Extension provides the following key features.

• Actions

  • Execute Web Service task using HTTP(S)/REST protocol.

  • Support for HTTP Methods GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH.

• Authentication/Authorization

  • Support for Basic Authentication, API Keys, Token

  • Ability to obtain OAuth2 Access token using Resource Owner Password Credentials (aka "Password Credentials") or Client Credentials Grant Types.

• Other

  • Ability to use a proxy between Universal Agent and target endpoint.

  • Ability to configure custom exit codes based on the web service response payload (Supported for JSON payloads).

Import the Universal Template

To use this downloadable Universal Template, you first must perform the following steps.

1. This Universal Task requires the Resolvable Credentials feature. Check that the Resolvable Credentials Permitted system property has been set to true.
2. To import the Universal Template into your Controller, follow the instructions here.
3. When the files have been imported successfully, refresh the Universal Templates list; the Universal Template will appear on the list.

Configure Universal Task

For a new Universal Task, create a new task, and enter the required input fields.

Input Fields

The input fields for this Universal Extension are described in the following table.

SSL Certificate Authority File Discovery

This Universal Extension is bundled with certifi library, utilized as the default certificate discovery mechanism. However, more complex SSL verification scenarios are supported, according to the configured fields as described below.

Server SSL verification by default CA

Certifi provides a wide range of certificates signed by well-known Certificate Authorities, used for SSL Server verification.
Related Universal Task fields:

• SSL Options: enabled
• SSL Certificate Verification: enabled

Server SSL verification by custom CA

For SSL Server verification against hosts that have certificates signed by a custom Certificate Authority, certificates bundled with_certifi_ library shall not be enough. In such cases, the custom certificate should be provided as input.
Related Universal Task fields:

• SSL Options: enabled
• SSL Certificate Verification: enabled
• CA Bundle Path: populated

Server and Client SSL verification

Additional security layer can be achieved with two-way SSL verification, where both the Server is verified by the Client, and the Client is verified by the Server. This scenario is common for hosts with self-signed certificate, however it can be used to any SSL Client verification.
Related Universal Task fields:

• SSL Options: enabled
• SSL Certificate Verification: enabled
• CA Bundle Path: populated
• Client Certificate Path: populated
• Client Private Key Path: populated

Exit Code Mapping

As part of task configuration, it is possible for the user to define custom exit codes that depend on the contents of web service response body.

This might be useful in the following cases:

• When the task is used in a workflow and based on the contents of the web service response body the workflow needs to follow a different path. Exit codes can be used in workflows to follow different branches.

• When retry needs to be configured, based on the content of the web service response body. Task retry can be configured based on exit code.

For example, a user can configure the Universal Controller task to retry execution when Exit code is X. Exit code X can be configured by the user when web service response payload field JSON "document.status" is equal to value "Under Processing".

The fields related to this functionality are the following.

• Process Exit Code Mapping
  Should be checked to enable this functionality.

• Path Expression
  The JSONPath expression (JSONPath Syntax).

• Response Exit Code Mapping
  A list of pairs (Pattern/Exit Code). If the pattern provided as python regular expression is matched, then the configured Exit Code will be applied.

The web service output JSON body is parsed with the Path Expression. The matched response body content, is evaluated against the list of patterns provided on Response Exit code Mapping array. When a pattern is matched, the extension will return the respective Exit Code.

The following features and restrictions are applied.

• It is possible to provide multiple pairs of Pattern/Exit Code. The extension will return the corresponding Exit Code, on the first match in the array.

• Provide .* as a pattern, to match any value returned by the JSONPath.

• Provided exit codes should be between 100 and 255.

• An error will be raised in case:

  • No match found.

  • A Wrong Path Expression is provided.

  • The result body is not of type JSON.

• The custom exit codes that intent to be considered successful, they have to be configured during appropriately in the Result Processing Details section.

  • Exit Code Processing
    Option "Success Exit Code Range" to be selected in this field.

  • Exit Codes
    To be filled with the list of exit codes that the user expects to result success task (Ranges can be provided. For example: 0,100-255).

Passing Credentials as Query Parameters or as Headers

There are cases where the End Point might require credentials to be passed either as part of Query Parameters or as Headers. This is typical for cases where API key is used, or in cases where the End Point might require this. For example, Mulesoft APIs can include Client ID Enforcement Policy for which a Client ID and a Client Secret are mandatory to be passed on top of other authorization/authentication inputs.

Additional Query Parameters can be passed through URL Query Parameters field and additional HTTP Headers can be passed through HTTP Headers field. Both of them are Array fields. Array "Name" represents the Query Parameter Name or the Header Name and "Value" represents the value to be used. “Value” could be a specific string, or be in the format of [credential_name].attribute where

• credential_name: The name of a Credential which is selected by a Credential field used in the task. Only Credential names that are selected in the task's credential fields can be used.

• attribute: The attribute of the specific Credential with possible values being the following.

  • user

  • password

  • passphrase

  • token

If the provided credential_name is a valid Credential name and attribute is in the above domain, then a match is found and the specific Credential attribute is used. Else the provided input is used as a literal string.

Example: Let's suppose that a credential with name = "valid_credential_name" and password = "example_pass" is passed to a task. The expression [valid_credential_name].password will be resolved to example_pass.

Task Examples

No Authorization Task Configuration

Example of Universal Task for "None" Authorization Type.

Basic Authorization Task Configuration

Example of Universal Task for "Basic" Authorization Type.

Token Authorization Task Configuration

Example of Universal Task for "Token" Authorization Type.

API Key Authorization Task Configuration

Example of Universal Task for "API Key" Authorization Type.

To see how to pass the API Key as HTTP Header refer to "Passing Credentials as Query Parameters or as Headers".

OAuth2.0 Authorization Task Configuration

Example of Universal Task for "OAuth2.0" Authorization Type with client credentials grant type.

To see how to pass credential fields as HTTP Headers refer to "Passing Credentials as Query Parameters or as Headers".

Example of Universal Task for "OAuth2.0" Authorization Type with password credentials grant type.

Task Configuration for SSL Protocol

Example of Universal Task for SSL Options checked.

Task Configuration for a POST request with JSON payload and use of proxy server

Example of Universal Task for SSL Options checked.

Printing Result Body to STDOUT

Example showing the result body of the web service printed to STDOUT.

Response Code Output Field

Example showing the value of the output field "Response Code" filled with the actual response code from web service result.

Task Configuration for Exit Code Mapping Scenario

The following example scenario describes the configuration of a task where the user expects an exit code equal to "150" if the employee is "Tiger Nixon".

• Task inputs for Web Service Integration Details.

• Task Inputs for Result Processing Details:

Here the Exit Codes field is filled with two elements, "0" and the range [100-255] where the expected exit code ("150") falls in.

• Task Results:

Mulesoft Example

The following example shows the configuration of a task for a call to a Mulesoft API that has OpenID Connect access token enforcement and Client ID Enforcement policies enabled and when Okta is used as a Client Provider. OAuth2 Client Credentials flow is used in the following example.

Task Configuration

As it's evident from the Client ID enforcement configuration, Client Credentials are also passed as HTTP Headers.

Task Output

Output Only Fields

Exit Codes

The exit codes for this Universal Extension are described in the following table.

Extension Output

In the context of a workflow, subsequent tasks can rely on the information provided by this integration as Extension Output.

result section includes the following attributes.

An example of the Extension Output for a successful REST API call is presented below.

{
  "exit_code": 150,
  "status_description": "SUCCESS: Task executed successfully with mapped exit code.",
  "invocation": {
    "extension": "ue-webservice",
    "version": "1.3.0",
    "fields": {
      "protocol": "HTTP_REST",
      "http_version": "1.1",
      "authorization_type": "None",
      "credentials_user": null,
      "credentials_password": null,
      "api_key": null,
      "access_token_url": null,
      "grant_type": null,
      "scope": null,
      "client_credentials_user": null,
      "client_credentials_password": null,
      "resource_owner_credentials_user": null,
      "resource_owner_credentials_password": null,
      "additional_credentials_user": null,
      "additional_credentials_password": null,
      "client_authentication": null,
      "oauth2_token": "",
      "add_authorization_data_to": null,
      "url": "https://dummy.restapiexample.com/api/v1/employees",
      "http_method": "GET",
      "timeout": null,
      "url_query_parameters": {},
      "payload_type": null,
      "payload_source": null,
      "mime_type": null,
      "other_value_for_mime_type": "",
      "form_data": {},
      "payload": "",
      "payload_script": null,
      "http_headers": {},
      "proxies": "",
      "use_ssl": false,
      "trusted_certificates_file": "",
      "ssl_hostname_check": false,
      "private_key_certificate": "",
      "public_key_certificate": "",
      "result_body_medium": "None",
      "path_expression": "data.[*].employee_name",
      "exit_code_mapping": {
        "Tiger Nixon": "150"
      },
      "process_exit_code_mapping": true
    }
  },
  "result": {
    "code": 200,
    "headers": [
            {
                "header": "Content-Encoding",
                "value": "gzip"
            },
            {
                "header": "Content-Type",
                "value": "application/json"
            },
            {
                "header": "Display",
                "value": "staticcontent_sol, orig_site_sol"
            },
            {
                "header": "Response",
                "value": "200"
            },
            {
                "header": "Vary",
                "value": "Accept-Encoding,User-Agent,Origin"
            },
            {
                "header": "Transfer-Encoding",
                "value": "chunked"
            }
    ],
    "body": "{\"status\":\"success\",\"data\":[{\"id\":1,\"employee_name\":\"Tiger Nixon\",\"employee_salary\":320800,\"employee_age\":61,\"profile_image\":\"\"},{\"id\":2,\"employee_name\":\"Garrett Winters\",\"employee_salary\":170750,\"employee_age\":63,\"profile_image\":\"\"}, {\"id\":3,\"employee_name\":\"Ashton Cox\",\"employee_salary\":86000,\"employee_age\":66,\"profile_image\":\"\"},{\"id\":4,\"employee_name\":\"Cedric Kelly\",\"employee_salary\":433060,\"employee_age\":22,\"profile_image\":\"\"},{\"id\":5,\"employee_name\":\"Airi Satou\",\"employee_salary\":162700,\"employee_age\":33,\"profile_image\":\"\"}"
    "body_json": {
      "status": "success",
      "data": [
          {
              "id": 1,
              "employee_name": "Tiger Nixon",
              "employee_salary": 320800,
              "employee_age": 61,
              "profile_image": ""
          },
          {
              "id": 2,
              "employee_name": "Garrett Winters",
              "employee_salary": 170750,
              "employee_age": 63,
              "profile_image": ""
          },
          {
              "id": 3,
              "employee_name": "Ashton Cox",
              "employee_salary": 86000,
              "employee_age": 66,
              "profile_image": ""
          },
          {
              "id": 4,
              "employee_name": "Cedric Kelly",
              "employee_salary": 433060,
              "employee_age": 22,
              "profile_image": ""
          },
          {
              "id": 5,
              "employee_name": "Airi Satou",
              "employee_salary": 162700,
              "employee_age": 33,
              "profile_image": ""
          }
      ]
  }
}

STDOUT and STDERR

STDOUT and STDERR provide additional information to User. The populated content can be changed in future versions of this extension without notice. Backward compatibility is not guaranteed.

Document References

This document references the following documents.

Integration Modifications

Modifications applied by users or customers, before or after import, might affect the supportability of this integration. The following modifications are discouraged to retain the support level as applied for this integration.

• Python code modifications should not be done.
• Template Modifications
  • General Section
    • "Name", "Extension", "Variable Prefix", "Icon" should not be changed.
  • Universal Template Details Section
    • "Template Type", "Agent Type", "Send Extension Variables", "Always Cancel on Force Finish" should not be changed.
  • Fields Restriction Section
    The setup of the template does not impose any restrictions, However with respect to "Exit Code Processing Fields" section.
    1. Success/Failure exit codes need to be respected.
    2. In principle, as STDERR and STDOUT outputs can change in follow-up releases of this integration, they should not be considered as a reliable source for determining success or failure of a task.

Users and customers are encouraged to report defects or feature requests at Stonebranch Support Desk.

Changelog 

ue-webservice 1.3.0 (2023-03-23)

Enhancements

• Added: Support for API Keys (#31456)

• Added: Support for retrieving OAuth 2.0 token using "Password Credentials" or "Client Credentials" grant and calling a Web Service within the same task (#31479)

• Added: Support for passing additional credential information as Query Parameters or as Headers (#31478)

ue-webservice 1.2.1 (2022-12-22)

Enhancements

• Changed : The following Input Field Labels are improved to bring more context on the surrounding functionality (#31203):

  • Choice OAuth2Token in Authorization Type renamed to: Token
  • Optional text field OAuthToken renamed to: Token
  • Checkbox field Use SSL renamed to: SSL Options
  • Checkbox field SSL Hostname Check renamed to: SSL Certificate Verification
  • Optional text field Trusted Certificate File renamed to: CA Bundle Path
  • Optional text field Public Key Certificate renamed to: Client Certificate Path
  • Optional text field Private Key Certificate renamed to: Client Private Key Path

• Changed : Payload input field is not mandatory anymore (#30639)
  Up to ue-webservice-1.2.0, input field Payload was mandatory for HTTP Methods POST, PUT, PATCH. Starting from ue-webservice-1.2.1 it is not necessary to provide data payload.

Fixes

• Fixed : Field Pattern in Response Exit Code Mapping table is now evaluated as python regular expression, instead of literal string (#31224)
• Fixed : Parse properly the JSON response when this is a list of objects (#30966)

ue-webservice 1.2.0 (2022-06-23)

Deprecations and Breaking Changes

• Deprecated: "Print Result Body to" STDOUT functionality is intended to be used only for informational purposes. Users authoring workflows which read STDOUT from tasks originating from this Universal Template, are encouraged to read this information from EXTENSION_OUTPUT instead of STDOUT. In future releases the Response Body will be part only of EXTENSION_OUTPUT. (#28541)

Enhancements

• Added: JSON body response formatted and printed in the Extension Output in new JSON attribute 'body_json' (#28541)

Fixes

• Fixed: JSON body was not printed on STDOUT in certain cases of content-type combinations (#28080)

ue-webservice 1.1.0 (2022-03-10)

Enhancements

• Added: Exit Code Mapping (#27233)
• Added: Print Response status on output only field (#26782)
• Added: Print Response Body in STDOUT (#26766)