Information roadmap for Zowe API Mediation Layer

This roadmap outlines information resources that are applicable to the various user roles who are interested in Zowe API Mediation Layer. These resources provide information about various subject areas, such as learning basic skills, installation, developing, and troubleshooting for Zowe API Mediation Layer.

The following definition of skill levels about Zowe assist you with gathering the most relevant resources for you.

• Beginner: You're starting out and want to learn the fundamentals.
• Intermediate: You have some experience but want to learn more in-depth skills.
• Advanced: You have lots of experience and are looking to learn about specialized topics.

Fundamentals

Zowe skill level: Beginner

• Zowe API Mediation Layer overview

  New to API Mediation Layer? This overview topic introduces the key features, main components, benefits, and architecture of the API Mediation Layer.

• Zowe architecture

  Review the Zowe architecture to understand how the API Mediation Layer works in the Zowe framework.

Installing

Zowe skill level: Beginner

• System requirements for z/OS

  Review this topic to ensure that your system meets the requirements for installing the API Mediation Layer. The API Mediation Layer is one of the server-side components.

• Preparing for installation

  This article includes details about planning for installation, the Zowe z/OS launch process, and information about the Zowe runtime directory, instance directory, and keystore directory.

• Zowe z/OS components installation checklist

  Use this checklist to guide you through the installation and configuration of Zowe server-side components for z/OS including Zowe API Mediation Layer.

Configuring and updating

Zowe skill level: Intermediate

• Advanced API Mediation Layer Configuration

  This article is for system programmers who want to configure advanced features of the API Mediation Layer, including enabling single-service deployment of API Mediation Layer.

Using Zowe API Mediation Layer

Zowe skill level: Intermediate

• Using Zowe API Mediation Layer

  Use various features of API Mediation Layer (API ML) including single sign-on, high availability, and dynamic service discovery. Through the API Catalog, users can easily discover available services, view interactive Swagger documentation, and test API responses using the "Try it out" functionality. Additionally, API ML provides a secure framework for developers to onboard their own REST services and streamline the administration of mainframe APIs through a consolidated service instance.

• Blog: Introducing “Try it out” functionality in the Zowe API Mediation Layer

  This blog describes one key functionality of the Zowe API Mediation Layer to validate that services are returning the expected responses.

• Zowe API reference

  Discover and learn about Zowe APIs that you can use.

Onboarding APIs

Zowe skill level: Advanced

• Extend Zowe API Mediation Layer

  Learn how you can extend the Zowe API Mediation Layer. Extenders make it possible to build and onboard additional API services to instances of API ML. REST APIs can register to the API Mediation Layer, which makes them available in the API Catalog, and for routing through the API Gateway.

• Onboarding overview

  This article provides details about the range of options for onboarding a REST API service to the Zowe API Mediation Layer.

• Zowe API ML repository

  To start working with the code immediately, check out the api-layer code repository.

Security

Zowe skill level: Advanced

• API Mediation Layer Security Overview

  This article describes how API ML uses Transport Layer Security (TLS). Use this guide to familiarize yourself with the API ML security concepts.

• Using API ML Single Sign On

  This article provides an overview of the API ML single-sign-on feature, the principle participants in the SSO process, and links to detailed Zowe SSO documentation.

• Blog: The ZAAS Client: a library for the API Mediation Layer

  This blog introduces you to Zowe Authentication and Authorization Service (ZAAS) Client — a library that contains methods for retrieval of JWT tokens, PassTickets, as well as verifying JTW token information.

• Blog: Single-Sign-On to z/OS REST APIs with Zowe

  This blog takes a deeper dive into the SSO feature of API ML.

• Blog: Zowe client certificate authentication

  Learn about how the Zowe API ML utilizes client certificates to provide a more secure, password-less authentication method that maps digital identities to mainframe user IDs and issues JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for unified access to services.

• Blog: CLI and Client Certificates

  Review steps to create a client certificate on z/OS and configure a Zowe CLI profile for secure, password-less authentication in place of a traditional user ID and password.

Contributing to Zowe API Mediation Layer

Zowe skill level: Advanced

• Contribution guidelines

  This document is a summary of conventions and best practices for development within Zowe API Mediation Layer.

• Zowe Conformance Program

  Learn how the Zowe Conformance Program provides Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), System Integrators (SIs), and end users greater confidence that their software behaves as expected. As vendors, you are invited to submit conformance testing results for review and approval by the Open Mainframe Project. If your company provides software based on Zowe CLI, you are encouraged to get certified today.

• Blog: Zowe Conformance Program Explained

  Review how the Conformance Program ensures that Zowe third-party extensions and plug-ins offer a secure, compatible, and unified user experience across the mainframe ecosystem platform.

Troubleshooting and support

• Troubleshooting API ML

  Learn about the tools and techniques that are available to help you troubleshoot and resolve problems. You can also find a list of common issues about Zowe API ML.

• Error Message Codes

  Use the message code references and the corresponding reasons and actions to help troubleshoot issues.

• Sumit an issue

  If you have an issue that is specific to Zowe API Mediation Layer, you can submit an issue against the api-layer repo.

Community resources

• Slack channel

  Join the #zowe-api Slack channel to ask questions about Zowe API ML, propose new ideas, and interact with the Zowe community.

• Zowe API ML squad meetings

  You can join one of the Zowe API ML squad meetings to get involved.

• Zowe Blogs on Medium

  Read a series of blogs about Zowe on Medium to explore use cases, best practices, and more.