Cloud Backup provides a visual operation console. It also provides calling methods including API online debugging, Alibaba Cloud SDKs, and Resource Orchestration Service (ROS). To improve the development efficiency of Cloud Backup, we recommend that you select an appropriate operation and integration method based on your business requirements.
API overview
Alibaba Cloud provides OpenAPI Explorer for you to efficiently understand and use the API operations of various Alibaba Cloud services. OpenAPI Explorer integrates the following features for API operations: intelligent search, documentation, online debugging, SDK obtaining, sample code, error diagnostics, and call statistics. In OpenAPI Explorer, you can call API operations of Alibaba Cloud services and view API requests and responses. In addition, OpenAPI Explorer automatically generates the corresponding SDK sample code to facilitate the use of Alibaba Cloud services. For more information, see What is an API?
Version description
Alibaba Cloud OpenAPI Explorer manages the versions of Alibaba Cloud service APIs by version number. For example, Cloud Backup supports the API of the 2017-09-08 version. 2017-09-08 is an API version number but not a date. Users are provided with the latest public information about the API. 2017-09-08 is the up-to-date version of the Cloud Backup API.
API version | Description |
Recommended |
Online debugging
Cloud Backup provides features such as API debugging in OpenAPI Explorer. Before you call API operations, you must understand the following information provided by Cloud Backup: versions, endpoints, and integration methods.
Debugging page
The URL of the API debugging page is https://next.api.alibabacloud.com/api/hbr/2017-09-08/CreateVault?sdkStyle=old.
Endpoints
Select an endpoint based on the region where your resource resides to reduce latency. For example, the public endpoint of Cloud Backup in the China (Zhangjiakou) region is hbr.cn-zhangjiakou.aliyuncs.com and the virtual private cloud (VPC) endpoint is hbr-vpc.cn-zhangjiakou.aliyuncs.com.
Public endpoints can be accessed globally.
However, VPC endpoints are only accessible from within a VPC in the corresponding Alibaba Cloud region. VPC endpoints provide the following advantages:
High security: VPC endpoints can be accessed only from within a VPC. This provides higher security and privacy.
Fast response: The internal network environment delivers faster responses than those of public endpoints. In addition, problems such as network latency and bandwidth limitations can be prevented.
Low cost: VPC endpoints are accessed over an internal network.
For more information, see Endpoints.
User identities
After you log on to OpenAPI Explorer by using your Alibaba Cloud account, OpenAPI Explorer uses your Alibaba Cloud account to perform online debugging by default. An Alibaba Cloud account has permissions on all API operations. Security risks may arise if you use an Alibaba Cloud account to call API operations. We strongly recommend that you call API operations or perform routine O&M as a Resource Access Management (RAM) user. Before you call API operations as a RAM user, grant the required permissions to the RAM user based on your business requirements. The RAM user must have the permissions to manage Cloud Backup resources. For more information, see Create a RAM user and authorize the RAM user to access Cloud Backup.
Identity | Supported or not |
Yes | |
RAM user (recommended) | Yes |
RAM role (recommended) | Yes |
References
Integration methods
SDKs can be easily integrated with your applications and cover the widest range of operations. We recommend that you use SDKs to call API operations.
Overview of integration methods
Calling method | Supported or not |
Alibaba Cloud SDKs (recommended) | Yes |
No | |
No | |
Yes |
Alibaba Cloud SDKs
Alibaba Cloud provides SDKs in multiple programming languages, including Java, C#, Go, Python, Node.js, TypeScript, PHP, and C++. You can integrate SDKs into your applications to directly call API operations. SDKs encapsulate various information, including the data signing logic, timeout mechanism, and retry mechanism. SDKs return structured response objects based on specifications to facilitate development. For more information, see Alibaba Cloud SDKs.
You can use Alibaba Cloud SDKs to call the API operations of Cloud Backup. For more information about supported languages and dependencies, go to OpenAPI Portal.
Alibaba Cloud CLI
You can run
aliyuncommands to interact with Alibaba Cloud services and manage cloud service resources. For more information, see What is Alibaba Cloud CLI?You cannot use Alibaba Cloud command-line interface (CLI) to call the API operations of Cloud Backup.
ROS
ROS is an Alibaba Cloud service that simplifies the management of cloud computing resources. You can create a template to describe the required cloud computing resources such as Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and ApsaraDB RDS instances, as well as the dependencies between the resources. ROS automatically creates and configures all resources based on the template to implement automated deployment and O&M. For more information, see What is ROS?
You can use ROS to call the API operations of Cloud Backup. Resources that can be orchestrated by using ROS include regular resources (such as backup clients, restore jobs, and backup plans) and data resources (such as backup vaults).
Regular resources:
ALIYUN::HBR::BackupClients: installs backup clients on ECS instances.
ALIYUN::HBR::RestoreJob: creates a restore job.
ALIYUN::HBR::DbAgent: installs a backup client for a database.
ALIYUN::HBR::DbPlan: creates a backup plan.
ALIYUN::HBR::DbVault: creates a mirror vault.
ALIYUN::HBR::Vault: creates a backup vault.
Data resources:
DATASOURCE::HBR::Vaults: queries the information about backup vaults.
For more information about how to use ROS to orchestrate Cloud Backup resources with efficiency, see Example of integration with ROS.
Custom API encapsulation
To make native HTTP calls, you must construct custom requests and sign the requests. For information about the signature method, see List of operations by function and Request syntax and signature method V3.
Precautions
If an error is returned after you call an API operation of Cloud Backup, you must check whether the request parameters and values are valid based on the returned error code. For more information, see Public error codes.
You can also perform self-service diagnostics based on the returned request ID or SDK error information on the OpenAPI problem diagnosis page.
FAQ
For more information about Cloud Backup, see What is Cloud Backup?
You can use Cloud Backup to back up ECS instances, ECS-hosted MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle databases, ECS files, File Storage NAS (NAS) file systems, and Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets. You can also use Cloud Backup to back up files, databases, virtual machines (VMs), and large-scale file systems from self-managed data centers. Cloud Backup allows you to implement disaster recovery. For more information about the features supported by Cloud Backup, see Features.
In addition to SDKs in Java, Cloud Backup provides SDKs in multiple programming languages, including C#, Go, Python, Node.js, TypeScript, PHP, and C++. For more information, see SDK references.