Code42 API syntax and usage

Overview

The Code42 API is a powerful tool for gaining specific insights or taking programmatic actions on all parts of your Code42 environment. This article describes the syntax of the Code42 API and how to write commands.

The examples in this article use the command line tool curl to interact with the Code42 API. For a list of tools that can be used to interact with the API, see Tools for interacting with the Code42 API.

In addition, the examples in this article use resource https://console.us.code42.com, but the resource you use depends on your Code42 cloud host address:

Considerations

Code42 API documentation is publicly available on the Code42 Developer Portal. You can see it in a browser without signing in. But the API resources themselves only work for you under these conditions:

You have a product plan that includes access to the Code42 API.
Your credentials rely on local authentication. SSO or authentication through any third-party provider will not work.
Your role provides permission to access the data necessary to a given API resource. For example, if you do not have permission to change device settings in the Code42 console, then you don't have permission to change device settings with the API.

If your API calls fail because you do not have permission to use them, you will see reply messages like these:

HTTP 401 Unauthorized
HTTP 401 Could not authenticate user
Your Code42 product plan does not permit use of the Code42 API.

Code42 API syntax

Use the Code42 API by sending HTTP requests to the Code42 cloud. In your requests, specify the path, resource, and parameters that define your request.

Example commands

curl -X GET 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/User?q=eg@ex.com&active=true' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'
curl -X POST 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v3/ping/error' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'
curl -X GET 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v4/role/view' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'

Authenticating with curl
In the example curl commands listed here, replace <auth_token> with an authentication token.

Example commands explained

HTTP method	Protocol:// host :port	Base path	API resource	Query parameters
GET	https://console.us.code42.com	/api/v1	User	?q=eg@ex.com &active=true
POST	https://console.us.code42.com	/api/v3/	ping/error
GET	https://console.us.code42.com	/api/v4/	role/view

HTTP methods

GET: Retrieve a resource.
POST: Create a new resource.
PUT: Update an existing resource.
DELETE: Destroy an existing resource.

Protocol, host, port

API resources are available on the Code42 Developer Portal.

API resources

The resources provide information about various components of the Code42 platform. For example:

The Computer resource provides access to your users' devices.
The Org resource provides access to your organizations.
The User resource provides access to your users.

For a list of Code42 API resources, see Code42 API Documentation on the Developer Portal.

Parameters

Parameters further specify the action of a method and resource. The API documentation describes the parameters for a given method and resource.

Query parameters go at the end of URLs with a leading question mark and separated by ampersands:

curl -X GET 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/User?q=joe@acme.com&active=true' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'

curl -X GET 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/User/123?idType=uid' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'

Request body parameters, common for POST and PUT requests, travel as JSON data in the body of an HTTP request. Specify the content-type application/json (In curl commands, -d indicates body data).

curl -X POST -d '{ "company": "Test1", "email": "test@test.com", "customerId" : "123", "firstname": "test", "lastname": "test" }' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/user' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>'

Return values

Some API requests simply return an HTTP response code: 200, for example, indicates success. Other requests also return JSON data.

Return values can be one resource or an array of resources.
To make the output more readable, pipe it to the Python JSON decoder. To do so, add the following to a curl command:
```
| python3 -mjson.tool
```

Single return values

GET requests that have an ID specified on the main URL return one resource. For example:

curl -X GET -i 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/User/123' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

The user with ID "123" is returned:

{
   "metadata":{
      "timestamp":"2013-08-27T14:05:44.733-05:00",<
      "params":{
      }
   },
   "data":{
      "userId":123,
      "userUid":"c6ec2d26ce3805c1",
      "status":"Active",
      "username":"joe@acme.com",
      "email":"joe@acme.com",
      "firstName":"Joe",
      "lastName":"Jones",
      "orgId":42,
      "orgName":"Finance",
      "active":true,
      "blocked":false,
      "orgType":"CONSUMER",
      "creationDate":"2007-01-07T18:00:13.273-06:00",
      "modificationDate":"2013-05-13T13:40:52.279-05:00"
   }
}

Note that POST requests usually return the resource that was created with the generated ID for convenience.

Multiple return values

GET requests with query parameters return an array of resources. For example:

curl -X GET 'https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/User?active=true&pgNum=1&pgSize=2' -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

An array of active users is returned:

{
   "metadata":{
      "timestamp":"2013-08-27T14:05:44.733-05:00",
      "params":{
      }
   },
   "data": {
      totalCount:5432,
      users: [
         {
            "userId":123,
            "userUid":"c6ec2d26ce3805c1",
            "status":"Active",
            "username":"joe@acme.com",
            "email":"joe@acme.com",
            ... [snipped]
         },
         {
            "userId":456,
            "userUid":"f1ad1da8b74328bz",
            "status":"Active",
            "username":"jim@slim.com",
            "email":"jim@slim.com",
            ... [snipped]
         },
      ]
   }
}

Example requests for device information

The example in this section uses curl to interact with the Computer API resource.

Input

The following command lists the devices in your Code42 environment:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

Command Element	Description
`curl`	Invokes the curl command.
`-X GET`	Sets the method to GET.
`-k`	Ignores security errors related to self-signed certificates. Refer to curl's man page for details.
`http://console.us.code42.com`	The website protocol and host of the Code42 cloud
`/api/v#`	The network location of API resources on the Code42 cloud, required for all API requests.
`/Computer`	The specific API resource you wish to use. A full list of API resources is available in the Code42 Developer Portal.
`<auth_token>`	The authentication token for your request. All Code42 API requests must be authenticated.
`\| python3 -mjson.tool`	Makes the output more readable by sending it to the Python json decoder.

Output

The output contains the requested information as formatted by the Python json.tool:

{
    "data": {
        "computers": [
            {
                "active": false,
                "address": "192.168.95.128:4242",
                "alertState": 0,
                "alertStates": [
                    "OK"
                ],
                "blocked": false,
                "buildVersion": null,
                "computerId": 13,
                "creationDate": "2015-03-18T16:39:04.241-05:00",
                "guid": "681099810721783680",
                "javaVersion": "1.7.0_45",
                "lastConnected": "2015-03-18T16:42:55.482-05:00",
                "loginDate": "2015-03-18T16:39:07.570-05:00",
                "modelInfo": null,
                "modificationDate": "2015-03-18T16:42:55.482-05:00",
                "name": "WIN-FQNN6BGK47K",
                "orgId": 2,
                "osArch": "amd64",
                "osName": "win",
                "osVersion": "6.2",
                "parentComputerId": null,
                "productVersion": "3.7.0",
                "remoteAddress": "172.16.239.1",
                "service": "Code42",
                "status": "Deactivated",
                "timeZone": "America/Chicago",
                "type": "COMPUTER",
                "userId": 2,
                "version": 1388728800370
            },
            {
                "active": true,
                "address": "192.168.95.128:4252",
                "alertState": 0,
                "alertStates": [
                    "OK"
                ],
                "blocked": false,
                "buildVersion": 31,
                "computerId": 12,
                "creationDate": "2015-03-12T11:53:40.861-05:00",
                "guid": "680201360538886016",
                "javaVersion": null,
                "lastConnected": "2015-03-12T17:17:23.909-05:00",
                "loginDate": "2015-03-12T16:23:12.272-05:00",
                "modelInfo": null,
                "modificationDate": "2015-03-12T17:17:23.909-05:00",
                "name": "WIN-FQNN6BGK47K",
                "orgId": 2,
                "osArch": null,
                "osName": "win",
                "osVersion": "6.2.9200.0",
                "parentComputerId": null,
                "productVersion": "3.7.0",
                "remoteAddress": "172.16.239.1",
                "service": "Code42",
                "status": "Active",
                "timeZone": null,
                "type": "COMPUTER",
                "userId": 2,
                "version": 1413349200416
            }
        ]
    },
    "metadata": {
        "params": {},
        "timestamp": "2015-03-23T16:57:19.687-05:00"
    }
}

Adding parameters as described below can improve on this initial request.

Add parameters

Each API resource includes additional parameters, which can be used to search for specific data, filter and sort results, or specify other additional options. The parameters are not the same for each resource, so use the API documentation to review the available options for each resource you use.

To improve on the Computer request above, add parameters and specify values to tailor your results. The examples included below are only a few of the parameters available in the Computer resource.

Example Parameter	API Documentation	Description
`srtKey`	key to sort on	Sorts the results of the `Computer` request by one of several values, such as the computer's `name` or `lastCompletedBackup`.
`srtDir`	direction of sort	Sorts results in ascending or descending order.
`pgSize`	the max number of objects to return	Specifies a maximum number of results.
`active`	optional filter to show only active or deactivated objects	Allows the request to respond with only active or deactivated computers.
`export`	option to specify an export	Instructs the `Computer` request to return results in an exported format, such as a comma-separated values (CSV) file.

You can attach parameters to a curl request by adding one or more parameters and their values after a ? as shown below.

Example 1: Sort by recent connections

If you want to see which computers have most recently connected to your Code42 environment, you can sort the results of a Computer API request. This command sorts the Computer results by the last connection of the computer to a Code42 cloud instance:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=lastConnected" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

Example 2: Export to CSV

If you want to see a more readable information format, or store reports to review information on your Code42 environment over time, you can export the data of a Computer request to a CSV file. This command exports its results in a CSV format:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?export=csv" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

Example 3: Sort and export to CSV

Combine multiple parameters in a single curl command by using the & character. This command sorts the Computer results by the last connection and exports the results in a CSV format:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=lastConnected&export=csv" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

Use cases for the computer resource

By combining the available resources, methods, and parameters of the Code42 API, you can create solutions for the specific needs of your Code42 environment. These examples show solutions that use only the Computer resource.

Report all devices

The Code42 API can help you regularly gather information on your Code42 environment for later use in reporting and statistics. This request exports a list of all your devices as a CSV:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=name&srtDir=asc&targetComputerGuid=rollup&incBackupUsage=true&incActivity=true&incCounts=true&active=true&alerted=false&obeyQueryLimit=true&export=csv" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

In fact, this curl command uses the same API request that the Code42 console uses when you select Devices > action menu > Export All. For information about how to convert Code42 console actions into curl commands, see our Code42 API tools article.

Identify inactive devices

You may have devices in your Code42 environment that have not connected to the Code42 cloud in some time, perhaps due to simply being powered down. This request creates a CSV of the computers in your Code42 environment beginning with those that have not connected to your Code42 environment in the longest time:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=lastConnected&active=true&export=csv" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

Identify largest device backups

Identifying the devices that are backing up the most information can help you more effectively manage your storage. This request lists the ten devices that are backing up the most data:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=archiveBytes&srtDir=DESC&pgSize=10&pagNum=1&active=true" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool

To make this command more easily readable on a command line, process the output with the Python JSON decoder and filter the results to show only the device name using a command-line tool like grep:

curl -X GET -k "https://console.us.code42.com/api/v1/Computer?srtKey=archiveBytes&srtDir=DESC&pgSize=10&pagNum=1&active=true" -H 'Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>' | python3 -mjson.tool | grep -w name

What's next

The Computer resource is just one of many resources in the Code42 API. After you understand the examples in this introduction, continue exploring the Code42 API:

Review the API documentation to learn about the other resources available.
Check our GitHub repository for information and scripts that we publish for use in any Code42 environment.