Management API overview

The process of using the Management API works as follows:

1. A client starts a transaction.
2. The client receives a transaction ID.
3. The client issues one or more commands, using the transaction ID.
4. The client completes the transaction in one of 2 ways:
   • Commits the transaction

     This causes all commands issued within the transaction to be completed.

     Note:

     While the commit returns an immediate response, the commands and data that are part of the transaction continue to be processed in the background.

     You can start a new transaction immediately after issuing the commit command, even though data from the previous transaction is still being processed.

   • Rolls back the transaction

     This causes all commands issued within the transaction to be discarded.

To prevent data collisions, the Management API allows only one transaction at a time. Once a transaction is started, no other transactions can start until the first transaction has been committed or rolled back. This is true no matter how many instances of the Policy API Server component have been deployed.

If a connection is interrupted before a transaction is committed or rolled back, the transaction times out in 10 minutes, by default. The transaction timeout period can be configured in the ApiParameters.ini file (see ApiParameters.ini).