OneRoster API getting HTTP 404 errors when trying to retrieve roster data

[hanmari]

A couple of school districts have provided me with client credentials for the OAuth2 grant type so I may use the OneRoster API to fetch roster information from their PowerSchool servers. I am able to use the following path to retrieve a valid access token from their servers:

REQUEST OAUTH2 TOKEN

URL: https://{powerschool_server}/oauth/access_token
HTTP METHOD: post
REQUEST BODY:
    grant_type: "client_credentials"
    client_id: {client_id}
    client_secret: {client_secret}

I then receive an access_token of type Bearer that I can add to the Authentication headers of my API requests. So far so good.

SERVER RESPONSE

RESPONSE BODY:
{
    "access_token":"XXXX-XXX-XXX-XXXX",
    "token_type":"Bearer",
    "expires_in":"2586697"
}

Unfortunately, I am only able to receive HTTP 404 response codes when I query the PowerSchool servers for roster data.

REQUEST ROSTER DATA

URL: https://{powerschool_server}/ims/oneroster/v1p1/users?limit=500&offset=0&filter=status='active'
HTTP METHOD: get
REQUEST HEADERS:
    Authorization: Bearer {access_token}

SERVER RESPONSE

HTTP RESPONSE CODE: 404
RESPONSE BODY:
<font size="5">Not Found<br><hr><font size="2">The requested file could not be found on this server.<hr><font color="" size="1">Error 404</font>

Since I consistently get HTTP 404 response codes, I am inclined to think that I am hitting the wrong path to request OneRoster data. I have looked for documentation that would point me to use a different path, but am unable to find anything. Does anyone know what path I should use to retrieve the OneRoster data?

[hanmari]

My customer inquired with PowerSchool support on my behalf and received this response:

The Authorized Vendor utilizing this Universal Rostering Plugin should know this already.
This is not something we Support as it is a Customization.  We only provide the Plugin to allow Authorized Vendors to use it.  Authorized Vendors would need to work with our Partner Team

I guess this means I need to sign up with PowerSchool and petition to become an Authorized Vendor before they will answer my question. I found the form to apply to become a partner here:

https://www.powerschool.com/become-an-official-partner/

Hopefully this process won't take too long so I can finish setting up my customer integrations.

[KritiS]

Hi @hanmari 

Thank you for posting!

PowerSchool users must work with approved vendors due to security reasons. We recommend you review the list of approved vendors can be found in the link here. You are on the right track to request to be an approved vendor. While we do not have an eta on the process, you should receive communication shortly after submitting the request.

[hanmari]

Dear KritiS,

I reviewed the list of approved vendors you linked to and am not certain if my use case merits that level of partnership. My company is a content provider and our publications are intended to be consumed within the Schoology platform. Since schools purchase our educational materials through a subscription model we secure online access through a roster sharing process. In this case, we simply wish to read the roster from our PowerSchool SIS customers so we know which users to admit via SSO. We are not looking to build a competing platform or resell a PowerSchool product. Does this level of access require a full partnership agreement? Is there a simper way to gain read-only access to the OneRoster API feature of the PowerSchool SIS product?

[KritiS]

Hi @hanmari 

Thank you for the follow-up!

You would have to be a partner with PowerSchool to be able to read or write to the OneRoster API feature of the PowerSchool SIS product. To find more information on setting up the export method with the vendor, you can review this document.

In case, if the vendor is a non-profit or is a homegrown solution by your organization you would have to contact the  PowerSchool Partner Team to guide you with the process of becoming a certified PowerSchool Partner or a licensed distributor of the Universal Rostering Connector.

Please let us know in case of further queries.