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OAS 2024 (7.6): Unable To Establish A Connection With REST API Connector

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Dhaval Parikh Stantec
Dhaval Parikh Stantec Rank 6 - Analytics Lead

We're upgrading from OAS 7.0 to OAS 7.6 in a month and are currently testing new functionalities in the 7.6 DV version. During this process, I've been trying to connect to various free APIs using the REST API connection, but I've been unsuccessful in establishing a connection. Is anyone else experiencing similar issues with the REST API connector in OAS 7.6?

Best Answer

  • Taking a step back, you said that everything you tried gave you the same error. You also talked about SSO, meaning it’s a corporate environment probably.

    Is it possible that your OAS is in a corporate network with some kind of firewall or other network security in place preventing any connection to the REST APIs you tried? (Because unknown, unsafe, or just any REST connection not whitelisted is blocked.)

    Because the error is quite generic, but the tool must connect to the APIs to see if it works. Maybe your OAS is blocked and simply can’t connect. That could be enough to not allow you to save the connection, because it’s technically a broken connection if the connection can’t happen (and DV connections should be valid to be saved, same with database connections: if it can’t connect, it doesn’t allow to save).

    Maybe worth exploring, because the OAS I tried works, Steve tried in a OAC and it did work. Therefore the product seem to be fine, but your network could be very much different than our networks.

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Answers

  • I just created a test connection in a OAS 7.6 (aka 2024) and it does work.

    I googled for a random free REST API for testing, found https://restful-api.dev/ , used https://api.restful-api.dev/objects as endpoint and it does just work.

    image.png

    You could maybe share what you did, how, what you get back as message etc.

  • Dhaval Parikh Stantec
    Dhaval Parikh Stantec Rank 6 - Analytics Lead

    @Gianni Ceresa Thanks for the prompt response! Could you please tell me what base URL you used for the above API connection? Also, what did you use as name for the REST endpoint?

  • So, for the REST API with URL = https://api.restful-api.dev/objects

    I did set a base URL of https://api.restful-api.dev , then I added a endpoint named "objects" with a relative URL of /objects .

  • Dhaval Parikh Stantec
    Dhaval Parikh Stantec Rank 6 - Analytics Lead

    @Gianni Ceresa Thanks for providing the details. I did the exact same thing you did but the 'save' button just won't enable for me. Below is the screenshot:

    image.png

    Any idea what might be going on? Thanks!

  • Gianni Ceresa
    edited Sep 5, 2024 8:12PM

    Ah, that :D

    Well, that screen is … buggy. I had the same, and at one point my endpoint was showing twice. I tried to delete the second endpoint a few times, didn't work, so I started clicking everywhere in the page to see if my browser was frozen, and I even clicked on the "back" arrow (top-right in the popup).

    At one point I got a message that my connection was saved and everything was just working.

    The connection page has some issue, that's a thing.

    I just tried again: try to press the "Enter" key on your keyboard after entering the endpoint relative URL. Press it once or twice (or more), you should see a loader bar on top and after some time (there is call in the background doing something) it will save the connection.

    It definitely looks like a GUI issue (weakness), maybe linked to the fact it's still a "preview" feature.

  • Just a random guess: maybe try with a JSON file defining the endpoints: https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/analytics-cloud/acsds/specify-rest-endpoint-connection-details-json-file.html (If you need more examples you can find some at https://www.oracle.com/business-analytics/data-visualization/connectors/ )

    Maybe that connection page expect mostly a JSON file with the endpoint configurations than entering them manually.

  • Dhaval Parikh Stantec
    Dhaval Parikh Stantec Rank 6 - Analytics Lead

    @Gianni Ceresa It is doing the exact same thing to me. If I will add another random endpoint, the save button gets enabled. I will try to click around and see if I can save the connection too. One of the use cases I am trying to leverage the REST API endpoints for is to make the connection to ServiceNow data. I tried using the REST API Connector template provided by Oracle but I am unable to establish the connection.

  • Long story short: import a file with your REST connection details and it works fine (the info from the file will be filled in the various fields and the "Save" button is clickable).

    image.png
  • SteveF-Oracle
    edited Sep 5, 2024 9:01PM

    Out of curiosity, do you have the July 2024 bundle patch installed?

    There are no explicit fixes in the readme related to that UI, but sometimes some implicit fixes slip in.

    If still an issue, then you may need to file a Service Request (for the UI issue) with a HAR file while reproducing the issue.

  • @Dhaval Parikh Stantec , I don't have any ServiceNow source available to test it.

    Did you customize the template you downloaded? I would make sure it really does contains the right info, the right URL, no random comments or example URLs.

    Also, authentication could be a challenge (I don't know when that template was created), maybe basic auth isn't a valid authentication method anymore (or maybe disabled by your company) for the ServiceNow API?

    Can't really say much more not having that source available myself to test things. If you do use a client to call that API, does it work with basic auth and the URLs you entered in OAS? That would be the first thing to test IMHO.