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How to Use This Guide

You don't have to read the entire XML reference guide from cover to cover, but you should read at least the Preface chapter (you are reading it now), the Reference Format chapter, and the Agent Messages chapter. The information provided in these chapters is essential to understanding the rest of the reference material. To get a better understanding of Parallels Agent and to learn how to write your own client programs using its APIs, you should also read the Parallels Agent Programmer's Guide, which is a companion book to this one.

Each XML API interface provides calls to perform operations of a particular type. For example, the vzaenvm interface allows to manage Virtuozzo Containers, the perf_mon interface allows to monitor the performance of a Virtuozzo Container or the Hardware Node, etc. In this respect, the interfaces in the Agent XML API are similar to classes in traditional OOP languages, and the calls are similar to methods. The names of the interfaces are abbreviations based on the name of the functionality that they provide. For example, vzaenvm stands for Virtuozzo Environment Management, perf_mon stands for Performance Monitoring, etc. To find the specifications for a particular operation, browse the Interfaces sections of the Base Types and Interfaces chapter or the Virtuozzo Containers Types and Interfaces chapter. Find the interface that interests you and read the introductory section which gives a brief description about the functionality that the interface provides. After that, proceed to the Calls subsection which lists the available calls that the interface provides. Select the call that interests you and proceed to the subsection describing it. In the subsection, you will find the request specifications, the response specifications, the description of the call, and an XML code sample. This should provide you with enough information to use the call in your client application to perform the desired operation. You may also search the guide using keywords.

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