Developer Documentation Library > Web API > Getting started with the Web API
 
Getting started with the Web API
To try the Web API, you need an API key. To get an API key, complete the following steps:
1 In DPM Explorer, go to Site > Properties > WebApi > Authentication > ApiKeys.
2 Add a new properties collection.
Give the collection a name that is difficult to guess; for example, a GUID. Make sure that you record the name, because you can not copy it from DPM Explorer later.
3 In the properties collection, add a single property called “UserName”, and then set its value to the name of a user.
To make sure that you have enough authorization, you can use the DPM Admin user.
4 In a web browser, go to the following URL:
https://<hostname>/SPSSMR/WebApi/Projects?Api-Key=<API_Key_Value>
For example:
https://localhost/SPSSMR/WebApi/Projects?Api-Key=59A87E89-BE32-45F0-BDA3-29C2FD06C077
The browser displays a JSON representation of all projects, and information about them.
5 Make requests to using a client application: for example, PostMan or SoapUI.
By using a client application designed for testing a Web API, you can send the API key as an HTTP header named “Api-Key”, with the value of the API key that was added in DPM Explorer. For security, send the API key as an HTTP header, not as a URL query parameter.
The client application must keep the API key secret, because anyone who knows the API key could access the Web API as the user that the API key is configured for.
See
User authentication in the Web API
Authorizing users for the Web API
Web API