--- layout: api page_title: Network Areas - Operator - HTTP API sidebar_title: Area description: |- The /operator/area endpoints expose the network tomography information via Consul's HTTP API. --- # Network Areas - Operator HTTP API The `/operator/area` endpoints provide tools to manage network areas via Consul's HTTP API. ~> **Enterprise Only!** This API endpoint and functionality only exists in Consul Enterprise. This is not present in the open source version of Consul. The network area functionality described here is available only in [Consul Enterprise](https://www.hashicorp.com/products/consul/) version 0.8.0 and later. Network areas are operator-defined relationships between servers in two different Consul datacenters. Unlike Consul's WAN feature, network areas use just the server RPC port for communication, and relationships can be made between independent pairs of datacenters, so not all servers need to be fully connected. This allows for complex topologies among Consul datacenters like hub/spoke and more general trees. Please see the [Network Areas Guide](https://learn.hashicorp.com/consul/day-2-operations/advanced-federation) for more details. ## Create Network Area This endpoint creates a new network area and returns its ID if it is created successfully. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | ---------------- | ------------------ | | `POST` | `/operator/area` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ---------------- | | `NO` | `none` | `none` | `operator:write` | ### Parameters - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. - `PeerDatacenter` `(string: )` - Specifies the name of the Consul datacenter that will be joined the Consul servers in the current datacenter to form the area. Only one area is allowed for each possible `PeerDatacenter`, and a datacenter cannot form an area with itself. - `RetryJoin` `(array: nil)`- Specifies a list of Consul servers to attempt to join. Servers can be given as `IP`, `IP:port`, `hostname`, or `hostname:port`. Consul will spawn a background task that tries to periodically join the servers in this list and will run until a join succeeds. If this list is not supplied, joining can be done with a call to the [join endpoint](#join-network-area) once the network area is created. - `UseTLS` `(bool: )` - Specifies whether gossip over this area should be encrypted with TLS if possible. ### Sample Payload ```json { "PeerDatacenter": "dc2", "RetryJoin": ["10.1.2.3", "10.1.2.4", "10.1.2.5"], "UseTLS": false } ``` ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ --request POST \ --data @payload.json \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area ``` ### Sample Response ```json { "ID": "8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05" } ``` ## List Network Areas This endpoint lists all network areas. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | ---------------- | ------------------ | | `GET` | `/operator/area` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | --------------- | | `YES` | `all` | `none` | `operator:read` | ### Parameters - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area ``` ### Sample Response ```json [ { "ID": "8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05", "PeerDatacenter": "dc2", "RetryJoin": ["10.1.2.3", "10.1.2.4", "10.1.2.5"] } ] ``` ## Update Network Area This endpoint updates a network area to the given configuration. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | ---------------------- | ------------------ | | `PUT` | `/operator/area/:uuid` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ---------------- | | `NO` | `none` | `none` | `operator:write` | ### Parameters - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. - `UseTLS` `(bool: )` - Specifies whether gossip over this area should be encrypted with TLS if possible. ### Sample Payload ```json { "UseTLS": true } ``` ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ --request PUT \ --data @payload.json \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area/8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05 ``` ## List Specific Network Area This endpoint lists a specific network area. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | ---------------------- | ------------------ | | `GET` | `/operator/area/:uuid` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | --------------- | | `YES` | `all` | `none` | `operator:read` | ### Parameters - `uuid` `(string: )` - Specifies the UUID of the area to list. This is specified as part of the URL. - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area/8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05 ``` ### Sample Response ```json [ { "ID": "8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05", "PeerDatacenter": "dc2", "RetryJoin": ["10.1.2.3", "10.1.2.4", "10.1.2.5"] } ] ``` ## Delete Network Area This endpoint deletes a specific network area. | Method | Path | Produces | | -------- | ---------------------- | ------------------ | | `DELETE` | `/operator/area/:uuid` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ---------------- | | `NO` | `none` | `none` | `operator:write` | ### Parameters - `uuid` `(string: )` - Specifies the UUID of the area to delete. This is specified as part of the URL. - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ --request DELETE \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area/8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05 ``` ## Join Network Area This endpoint attempts to join the given Consul servers into a specific network area. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | --------------------------- | ------------------ | | `PUT` | `/operator/area/:uuid/join` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ---------------- | | `NO` | `none` | `none` | `operator:write` | ### Parameters - `uuid` `(string: )` - Specifies the UUID of the area to join. This is specified as part of the URL. - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. ### Sample Payload ```json ["10.1.2.3", "10.1.2.4", "10.1.2.5"] ``` This can be provided as `IP`, `IP:port`, `hostname`, or `hostname:port`. ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ --request PUT \ --data @payload.json \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area/8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05/join ``` ### Sample Response ```json [ { "Address": "10.1.2.3", "Joined": true, "Error": "" }, { "Address": "10.1.2.4", "Joined": true, "Error": "" }, { "Address": "10.1.2.5", "Joined": true, "Error": "" } ] ``` - `Address` has the address requested to join. - `Joined` will be `true` if the Consul server at the given address was successfully joined into the network area. Otherwise, this will be `false` and `Error` will have a human-readable message about why the join didn't succeed. ## List Network Area Members This endpoint provides a listing of the Consul servers present in a specific network area. | Method | Path | Produces | | ------ | ------------------------------ | ------------------ | | `GET` | `/operator/area/:uuid/members` | `application/json` | The table below shows this endpoint's support for [blocking queries](/api/features/blocking), [consistency modes](/api/features/consistency), [agent caching](/api/features/caching), and [required ACLs](/api#authentication). | Blocking Queries | Consistency Modes | Agent Caching | ACL Required | | ---------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | --------------- | | `NO` | `none` | `none` | `operator:read` | ### Parameters - `uuid` `(string: )` - Specifies the UUID of the area to list. This is specified as part of the URL. - `dc` `(string: "")` - Specifies the datacenter to query. This will default to the datacenter of the agent being queried. This is specified as a URL query parameter. ### Sample Request ```text $ curl \ http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/operator/area/8f246b77-f3e1-ff88-5b48-8ec93abf3e05/members ``` ### Sample Response ```json [ { "ID": "afc5d95c-1eee-4b46-b85b-0efe4c76dd48", "Name": "node-2.dc1", "Addr": "127.0.0.2", "Port": 8300, "Datacenter": "dc1", "Role": "server", "Build": "0.8.0", "Protocol": 2, "Status": "alive", "RTT": 256478 } ] ``` - `ID` is the node ID of the server. - `Name` is the node name of the server, with its datacenter appended. - `Addr` is the IP address of the node. - `Port` is the server RPC port of the node. - `Datacenter` is the node's Consul datacenter. - `Role` is always "server" since only Consul servers can participate in network areas. - `Build` has the Consul version running on the node. - `Protocol` is the [protocol version](/docs/upgrading#protocol-versions) being spoken by the node. - `Status` is the current health status of the node, as determined by the network area distributed failure detector. This will be "alive", "leaving", "left", or "failed". A "failed" status means that other servers are not able to probe this server over its server RPC interface. - `RTT` is an estimated network round trip time from the server answering the query to the given server, in nanoseconds. This is computed using [network coordinates](/docs/internals/coordinates).