About the PAN-OS API
The PAN-OS® and Panorama™ API allows you to manage firewalls and
Panorama through a third-party service, application, or script.
The firewalls and Panorama support two types of API—XML API and
REST API.
The XML API uses a tree of XML nodes to map firewall or Panorama
functionality. To make an API request, you must specify the
XPath (XML Path Language) to the XML node that
corresponds to a specific setting or action. XPath allows you to
navigate through the hierarchical XML tree structure for firewalls
and Panorama. To get started, see:
You can use the REST API to Create, Update, Read, Delete (CRUD)
Objects and Policies on the firewalls; you can access the REST API
directly on the firewall or use Panorama to perform these operation
on policies and objects from a central location and push them to
the managed firewalls. To get started, see
Access the PAN-OS REST API.
Because PAN-OS API functionality mirrors that of both the web
interface and the CLI, you should familiarize yourself with both.
Reading relevant portions of the
PAN-OS Administrator’s Guide will
help you get a better understanding of firewall functionalities
that you can access using the API. You should also be knowledgeable
about web service APIs, HTTP, XML, and XPath.
