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= Interacting with the JSS API =
It is sometimes necessary to use the JSS's RESTful API in order to automate changes to computer records. This page will help you to understand how this works, using an example.

== Background ==
The JSS at https://jss.orchard.ox.ac.uk features a full-featured RESTful API to allow programmatic interaction with the database. A good primer on how you can make use of it with Bash or Python can be found at:
 * [[https://bryson3gps.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/the-jss-rest-api-for-everyone|The JSS API for Everyone]]
You may also view the official resource documentation for the Orchard JSS at:
 * [[https://jss.orchard.ox.ac.uk/api|JSS REST API Resource Documentation]]

What follows is an example in Bash of how one might use the API to GET and PUT computer records.

== Example ==
The Department of Computer Science have two labs of 20 computers each which all run VMWare Fusion with a single key, which is changed every year as they upgrade to a new major version. The installer for VMware Fusion in the Orchard Software Centre has a postinstall_script which reads the key from the computer's record on the JSS and serialises it accordingly.