Azure API Management Tutorial: End-to-End Setup

To set up Azure API Management, you'll first need to create a new API Management service instance in the Azure portal. This will provide you with a unique namespace for your APIs.

The next step is to create a new resource group in Azure, which will serve as a container for your API Management service instance. You can do this by clicking on the "Resource groups" button in the Azure portal.

To configure your API Management service instance, you'll need to specify the pricing tier that suits your needs. There are four pricing tiers to choose from: Developer, Basic, Standard, and Premium. Each tier offers different features and scalability.

Azure API Management supports multiple protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, and WebSockets over TLS. This allows you to expose your APIs using different protocols, depending on your requirements.

Before we dive into the world of Azure API Management, it's essential to have a solid foundation. To get started, learn the Azure API Management terminology, which will help you understand the concepts and tools you'll be working with.

Understanding the concept of policies in Azure API Management is also crucial, as it's a fundamental building block of the platform. Policies are used to manage and secure APIs, and they can be complex, so take the time to grasp this concept.

To get hands-on experience, complete the quickstart: Create an Azure API Management instance. This will give you a real-world example of how to set up an API Management instance from scratch.

To further solidify your knowledge, complete the tutorial: Import and publish your first API. This tutorial will walk you through the process of importing and publishing an API, giving you a deeper understanding of the API Management process.

Here are the prerequisites you need to complete before moving forward:

To create an Azure API Management instance, you must have an API Management service instance running in the Azure cloud. If you don't have one yet, follow the instructions in Create an API Management service instance.

To ensure your APIs are only accessible through the API Gateway, select the "Internal" option for your API Management instance. This setting makes your API Management instance only accessible within the Azure Virtual Network, effectively preventing direct internet access to your APIs.

You can choose from three settings for your API Management instance: None, External, or Internal. To restrict access to your APIs, you should select the "Internal" option.

To create an instance of Azure API Management, you must have a service instance running in the Azure cloud.

You can create an API Management service instance by following the instructions in the article section "Create an API Management service instance".

If you don't have an API Management service instance yet, you'll need to create one before proceeding.

To ensure your APIs are only accessible through the API Gateway and not directly over the internet, select the "Internal" option for your API Management instance.

This setting ensures your API Management instance is only accessible within the Azure Virtual Network, preventing direct internet access to your APIs.

Here are the possible settings for your API Management instance:

To add an API to an existing product, you'll need to follow these steps. First, select the product you want to add the API to, then select APIs. Next, click on the + Add API button, and choose one or more APIs to add.

You can also use the Azure CLI to add an API to a product. To do this, you'll need to list the managed APIs using the az apim api list command, and then add the API to the product using the az apim product api add command.

Here are the exact commands you'll need to run:

To configure the integration with Azure API Management, you need to follow these steps. Open your API in the SwaggerHub editor and select the version you want to push to Azure API Management. If this version is published, unpublish it as only unpublished APIs can be integrated with Azure API Management.

You'll then need to click the API name, switch to the Integrations tab, and click Add New Integrations. From the list of integrations, select Azure API Management and enter the integration parameters. Click Create and Execute to complete the process.

This integration will sync and update the API definition every time you save this version of the API. You can see the created or updated API in your Azure API Management portal.

To configure the integration, you need to start by opening your API in the SwaggerHub editor. This is the first step in setting up the integration with Azure API Management. From there, you can select the version of your API that you want to push to Azure API Management, and make sure it's unpublished as only unpublished APIs can be integrated with Azure API Management.

The next step is to click on the API name, switch to the Integrations tab, and click Add New Integrations. Here, you'll select Azure API Management from the list of integrations and enter the integration parameters. This is a crucial step, as the parameters will determine how your API is integrated with Azure API Management.

Once you've entered the integration parameters, click Create and Execute. This will configure the integration and sync the API definition with Azure API Management. You can verify that the integration is successful by checking your Azure API Management portal, where you'll see the created or updated API.

It's worth noting that if you're using SwaggerHub On-Premise, you'll need to complete additional configuration steps in Azure and the Admin Center before users can use the integration. This is a specific requirement for SwaggerHub On-Premise 1.20.0 and later versions.

Configuring integration is all about setting up secure and efficient connections between systems.

Connecting your APIM instance to a virtual network is a crucial step in ensuring internal APIs are not exposed to the internet. This helps prevent unauthorized access and keeps your data safe.

By using a virtual network, you can control who has access to your internal APIs and how they interact with your system.

This is done by allowing internal APIs to be accessed only through the APIM gateway, which acts as a secure entry point for authorized users.

Here are the benefits of using virtual networks for APIM instances: