Azure API Management

Quickstart Guide

Introduction to Azure API Management

This quickstart guide will walk you through the essential steps to get started with Azure API Management. You'll learn how to create an API Management instance, import an API, and expose it to developers.

Azure API Management provides a comprehensive solution for managing your APIs, enabling you to secure, transform, monitor, and publish your APIs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • An Azure account with an active subscription. If you don't have one, you can create a free account.
  • Permissions to create resources within your Azure subscription.

Create an API Management Service Instance

The first step is to create an API Management service instance. This instance will act as the gateway for all your APIs.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. In the Azure portal search bar, type API Management and select it.
  3. Click + Create.
  4. On the Create page, fill in the required fields:
    • Subscription: Select your Azure subscription.
    • Resource group: Create a new one or select an existing one.
    • API Management service name: Enter a unique name (e.g., my-api-gateway).
    • Location: Choose a region for your service.
    • Pricing tier: Select a tier. For this quickstart, Developer is a good choice for testing.
  5. Click Review + create, and then click Create.

Deployment may take a few minutes. Once deployed, you can navigate to your API Management resource.

Import an API

Now, let's import an existing API into your API Management instance. We'll use a sample public API for demonstration.

  1. Navigate to your newly created API Management service in the Azure portal.
  2. In the left-hand menu, under APIs, select APIs.
  3. Click + Add API.
  4. In the dialog that appears, select OpenAPI Specification.
  5. For Specification URL, enter the following URL for a sample API (e.g., a public weather API or a dummy API): https://petstore.swagger.io/v2/swagger.json
  6. Fill in the remaining fields, such as Display name (e.g., Petstore API) and API URL suffix (e.g., petstore).
  7. Click Create.
Note: You can also import APIs using WSDL, WADL, or Postman collections, or create APIs from scratch.

Publish the API

To make your API available to developers, you need to publish it. This involves creating a product and associating your API with it.

  1. In your API Management service, navigate to Products under the APIs section.
  2. Click + Add.
  3. Fill in the product details:
    • Display name: e.g., Unlimited Petstore Access
    • Description: e.g., Full access to the Petstore API.
    • Terms of service URL: (Optional)
    • Subscription required: Select Yes.
    • Allow anonymous access: Select No.
  4. Click Create.
  5. Once the product is created, click on its name to open its configuration.
  6. Under APIs, click + Add API and select the API you imported (e.g., Petstore API).
  7. Click Select.

Your API is now associated with a product and ready for developers to subscribe to.

Test the API

Azure API Management provides a built-in testing console to verify your API works as expected.

  1. Navigate back to your imported API (e.g., Petstore API) under APIs.
  2. Click on the Test tab.
  3. Select an operation you want to test (e.g., listPets).
  4. The console will automatically populate request details. You may need to add query parameters or headers if required by the API.
  5. Click Send.
  6. Review the Response to ensure it's as expected.
Tip: For public APIs like the Petstore example, you might not need an API key for initial testing in the portal. However, for production APIs and programmatic access, subscription keys are essential.

Next Steps

Congratulations! You've successfully set up and tested an API using Azure API Management. Here are some common next steps:

  • Explore Policies: Learn how to apply policies to transform requests and responses, enforce security, and control traffic.
  • Configure Security: Implement authentication and authorization mechanisms like OAuth 2.0 and JWT validation.
  • Monitor and Analyze: Use the built-in analytics to track API usage, performance, and identify potential issues.
  • Developer Portal: Customize and publish the developer portal to allow users to discover, subscribe to, and consume your APIs.
  • Create More APIs: Import or create additional APIs and group them into products.

For more detailed information, refer to the full Azure API Management documentation.