What are the steps for performing a simple Connect Web Services for SOAP request to verify the API is up and running?

Environment

CWS for SOAP API
Oracle B2C Service, All Supported versions

Resolution

First you would need to make sure the CWS for SOAP API is enabled on your site and on the profile associated to your staff account:

Answer ID 8270: Enabling Connect for Web Services API
Answer ID 4832: Connect Web Services for SOAP access

If everything is set-up correctly, you should be able to access the CWS for SOAP API.

The next step would be to download and install SoapUI, which is an advanced API testing tool that is also used by CX Service Support to troubleshoot potential API issues reported by customers.

Before proceeding with the request, you should make sure SoapUI is using a supported TLS version. Oracle B2C Service sites, including all the included public APIs cannot be accessed using TLS 1.0. By default, SoapUI is using TLS 1.0 so you would have to configure it to use TLS 1.2. Please review the following answer for step by step instructions on doing so:

Answer ID 8387: Enforce TLS v1.2 in SoapUI

Now we can finally proceed with the SOAP request.

Open SoapUI and Import the WSDL (Web Service Description Language) into SoapUI by going to File -> New Soap Project. The following URL should be entered in the "Initial WSDL" field, based on your Oracle B2C Service product version:

May 2017 and below: https://<your_site>/cgi-bin/<your_interface>.cfg/services/soap?wsdl
August 2017 and above: https://<your_site>/services/soap/connect/soap?wsdl

Examples:
https://yoursite.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/yourinterface.cfg/services/soap?wsdl
https://yoursite.custhelp.com/services/soap/connect/soap?wsdl

You have now created a SOAP project. Expand the "Get" operation on the Navigator (left side) and open "Request 1". Now replace the existing XML of the request with the sample XML available in the documentation:

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
    <soapenv:Header>
        <ns7:ClientInfoHeader xmlns:ns7="urn:messages.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3" soapenv:mustUnderstand="0">
            <ns7:AppID>Basic Get</ns7:AppID>
        </ns7:ClientInfoHeader>
        <wsse:Security xmlns:wsse="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-secext-1.0.xsd" mustUnderstand="1">
            <wsse:UsernameToken>
                <wsse:Username>comland**</wsse:Username>
                <wsse:Password Type="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-username-token-profile-1.0#PasswordText"> connecttest**</wsse:Password>
            </wsse:UsernameToken>
        </wsse:Security>
    </soapenv:Header>
    <soapenv:Body>
        <ns7:Get xmlns:ns7="urn:messages.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3">
            <ns7:RNObjects xmlns:ns4="urn:objects.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="ns4:Contact">
                <ID xmlns="urn:base.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3" id="1" />
                <ns4:Notes />
            </ns7:RNObjects>
            <ns7:RNObjects xmlns:ns4="urn:objects.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="ns4:Incident">
                <ID xmlns="urn:base.ws.rightnow.com/v1_3" id="1" />
                <ns4:Severity />
            </ns7:RNObjects>
            <ns7:ProcessingOptions>
                <ns7:FetchAllNames>false</ns7:FetchAllNames>
            </ns7:ProcessingOptions>
        </ns7:Get>
    </soapenv:Body>
    </soapenv:Envelope>

** Make sure to replace the username (comland) and password (connecttest) with the credentials of your Oracle B2C Service staff account.

Finally, click the green arrow next to the URL to run the request (shortcut key Alt+Enter). You should see the response on the right.

For more information, please see the Connect Web Services for SOAP API documentation:
Answer ID 5169: Technical Documentation and Sample Code