Senzing API Quickstart Guide
This article outlines connecting to the Senzing software repository for your Linux distribution, installing the Senzing API package and performing your first ingestion of data with supplied demo data.
The intended and supported platforms are RedHat / CentOS and Debian based systems on x86_64 architectures. For full and up to date information see System Requirements.
Installing Senzing - Debian Based Distributions
Add repository
Add and enable the Senzing repository to the currently configured list managed by apt. This only need to be completed once.
sudo apt install apt-transport-https
$ sudo apt install apt-transport-https
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
apt-transport-https
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 65 not upgraded.
Need to get 1704 B of archives.
After this operation, 162 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 apt-transport-https all 2.0.9 [1704 B]
Fetched 1704 B in 0s (4932 B/s)
Selecting previously unselected package apt-transport-https.
(Reading database ... 42248 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../apt-transport-https_2.0.9_all.deb ...
Unpacking apt-transport-https (2.0.9) ...
Setting up apt-transport-https (2.0.9) ...
wget https://senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com/senzingrepo_1.0.1-1_amd64.deb
$ wget https://senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com/senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
--2022-12-12 16:39:56-- https://senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com/senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
Resolving senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com (senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com)... 52.217.89.12, 52.216.220.209, 52.217.87.124, ...
Connecting to senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com (senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com)|52.217.89.12|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 1336 (1.3K) [binary/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb’
senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb 100%[=================================================>] 1.30K --.-KB/s in 0s
2022-12-12 16:39:56 (138 MB/s) - ‘senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb’ saved [1336/1336]
sudo apt install ./senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
$ sudo apt install ./senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'senzingrepo' instead of './senzingrepo_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb'
senzingrepo is already the newest version (1.0.0-1).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 65 not upgraded.
sudo apt update
Install package
The latest version of Senzing can now be installed. As part of the installation you will be asked to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA).
sudo apt install senzingapi
$ sudo apt install senzingapi
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
senzingdata-v3
The following NEW packages will be installed:
senzingapi senzingdata-v3
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 65 not upgraded.
Need to get 995 MB of archives.
After this operation, 2323 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 https://senzing-production-apt.s3.amazonaws.com stable/main amd64 senzingdata-v3 amd64 3.3.2-22299 [724 MB]
Fetched 995 MB in 6min 19s (2623 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package senzingdata-v3.
(Reading database ... 41551 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../senzingdata-v3_3.0.0-22119_amd64.deb ...
The Senzing data end user license agreement can be found at https://senzing.com/end-user-license-agreement/
Do you accept the license terms and conditions? [y/n]
y
License accepted. Installing Senzing data...
Unpacking senzingdata-v3 (3.0.0-22119) ...
Selecting previously unselected package senzingapi.
Preparing to unpack .../senzingapi_3.3.2-22299_amd64.deb ...
The Senzing end user license agreement can be found at https://senzing.com/end-user-license-agreement/
Do you accept the license terms and conditions? [y/n]
y
License accepted. Installing Senzing...
Unpacking senzingapi (3.3.2-22299) ...
Setting up senzingdata-v3 (3.0.0-22119) ...
update-alternatives: using /opt/senzing/data/3.0.0/ to provide /opt/senzing/data/current (senzingdata) in auto mode
Setting up senzingapi (3.3.2-22299) ...
Installing Senzing - Red Hat Based Distributions
Add repository
Add and enable the Senzing repository to the currently configured list managed by yum. This step only needs to be completed once.
sudo yum install https://senzing-production-yum.s3.amazonaws.com/senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64.rpm
$ sudo yum install https://senzing-production-yum.s3.amazonaws.com/senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64.rpm
Last metadata expiration check: 0:01:41 ago on Tue Feb 7 13:51:50 2023.
senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64.rpm 4.6 kB/s | 1.9 kB 00:00
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
========================================================================================================================
Installing:
senzingrepo x86_64 1.0.0-2 @commandline 1.9 k
Transaction Summary
========================================================================================================================
Install 1 Package
Total size: 1.9 k
Installed size: 233
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Installing : senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64 1/1
Verifying : senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64 1/1
Installed products updated.
Installed:
senzingrepo-1.0.0-2.x86_64
Complete!
$
Install package
The latest version of Senzing can now be installed. As part of the installation you will be asked to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA), this can be viewed at https://senzing.com/end-user-license-agreement/
sudo yum install senzingapi
$ sudo yum install senzingapi
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Dependencies resolved.
===================================================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
===================================================================================================================
Installing:
senzingapi x86_64 3.4.1-23023 senzing-production 256 M
Installing dependencies:
senzingdata-v3 x86_64 3.0.0-22119 senzing-production 682 M
Transaction Summary
===================================================================================================================
Install 2 Packages
Total download size: 938 M
Installed size: 2.2 G
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/2): senzingapi-3.4.1-23023.x86_64.rpm 4.8 MB/s | 256 MB 00:53
(2/2): senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64.rpm 11 MB/s | 682 MB 01:03
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 15 MB/s | 938 MB 01:03
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Running scriptlet: senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64 1/2
The Senzing data end user license agreement can be found at https://senzing.com/end-user-license-agreement/
Do you accept the license terms and conditions? [y/n]
y
License accepted. Installing Senzing data...
Installing : senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64 1/2
Running scriptlet: senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64 1/2
Running scriptlet: senzingapi-3.4.1-23023.x86_64 2/2
The Senzing end user license agreement can be found at https://senzing.com/end-user-license-agreement/
Do you accept the license terms and conditions? [y/n]
y
License accepted. Installing Senzing...
Installing : senzingapi-3.4.1-23023.x86_64 2/2
Verifying : senzingapi-3.4.1-23023.x86_64 1/2
Verifying : senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64 2/2
Installed products updated.
Installed:
senzingapi-3.4.1-23023.x86_64 senzingdata-v3-3.0.0-22119.x86_64
Complete!
$
During the first installation of Senzing to a system you will also be prompted to accept the Senzing public key. Accepting the prompt imports the public key to verify future installations come from Senzing.
Retrieving key from https://senzing-production-yum.s3.amazonaws.com/senzing-production.key
Importing GPG key 0xD99E309D:
Userid : "Senzing, Inc. <buildmgr@senzing.com>"
Fingerprint: e38c a28c f7ab 06d5 120b bda7 4f67 bf4d d99e 309d
From : https://senzing-production-yum.s3.amazonaws.com/senzing-production.key
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Creating a Senzing Project
To begin using Senzing, first create a project. This deploys an instance of Senzing into a specified path. The project folder must not already exist and will be created by the G2CreateProject.py utility.
Creating and using projects provides independent and isolated instances of Senzing. Projects can be upgraded from prior Senzing versions.
This command creates the Senzing project in your current users home path in a new directory named senzing.
python3 /opt/senzing/g2/python/G2CreateProject.py ~/senzing
$ python3 /opt/senzing/g2/python/G2CreateProject.py ~/senzing
Creating Senzing instance at: /home/username/senzing
Senzing version: 3.3.2 - (3.3.2.22299)
Successfully created.
Configuring Environment
Now setup your environment variables for the project. The setupEnv script is project dependent and needs to be run whenever you are working with a Senzing project; for example between logging in and out of shell sessions.
cd <project_path>
source setupEnv
\<project_path\> refers to the path specified on the G2CreateProject.py command when creating a project. In the example above this is ~/senzing, or the senzing subdirectory under
your users home directory.
Updating Database with Senzing Configuration
The Senzing engine is configured with a JSON document, on a fresh install this document needs to be registered in the Senzing database. This only needs to happen once with a new project.
python3 python/G2SetupConfig.py
Loading the Sample Demo Data
You can now load some sample demo data.
python3 python/G2Loader.py -P
G2Loader with only the -P argument will perform a purge of any existing data in the Senzing repository database (an embedded SQLite database on a default deployment) and load the sample data identified within the python/demo/sample/project.csv file.
Using a Different Database
Senzing embeds SQLite to expedite getting started without having to deploy and configure a relational database for the Senzing repository. This article uses this embedded SQLite database, if you would like to use a different supported database please see the Technical Database section.
Now loading of the sample data has completed, how about exploring and reviewing the outcomes with some of the supplied python utilities? Follow these links for suggested next steps: