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Prerequisites

Beta Notice: These Helm charts are currently in beta. While stable for testing and development environments, please thoroughly test in your specific environment before production deployment. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the main documentation.

This guide covers all prerequisites for NetBox Enterprise Helm deployment, including system requirements, access setup, and preparation steps.

Prerequisites Checklist​

Before proceeding with installation, verify you have:

System Requirements​

  • Kubernetes cluster version 1.21+ (recommended: 1.25+)
  • Helm 3.x installed locally
  • kubectl configured with cluster admin access
  • Recommended resources: 8+ vCPU, 24+ GB RAM, 100+ GB SSD storage
  • Swap disabled on cluster nodes

Having resource issues? See Troubleshooting - Resource Problems for memory and CPU troubleshooting.

Access & Authentication​

  • Enterprise Portal access with license key
  • Registry credentials configured (registry.enterprise.netboxlabs.com access)
  • Kubernetes namespace created (e.g., netbox-enterprise)
  • LoadBalancer support OR ingress controller configured

Registry authentication problems? See Troubleshooting - Registry Authentication Issues.

Dependencies​

  • PostgreSQL (external) OR sufficient resources for bundled database
  • Redis (internal only - sufficient resources for bundled cache)
  • Storage class configured for persistent volumes
  • TLS certificates prepared (manual or cert-manager)
  • DNS records configured for ingress hostnames

Database connection issues? See Troubleshooting - Database Connection Issues.

Network & Security​

  • Firewall rules allow HTTP/HTTPS traffic
  • Network policies (if applicable) configured
  • Security context reviewed for your environment
  • Service mesh (if applicable) configured

Network connectivity problems? See Troubleshooting - Network Issues.

Verification Commands​

# Check Kubernetes version
kubectl version

# Verify cluster resources
kubectl top nodes

# Check storage classes
kubectl get storageclass

# Verify namespace
kubectl get ns netbox-enterprise

# Test registry access
helm registry login registry.enterprise.netboxlabs.com

Table of Contents​

  1. System Requirements - Infrastructure needs
  2. Network Requirements - Connectivity and ingress
  3. Storage Requirements - Persistent volumes
  4. Database Requirements - PostgreSQL and Redis
  5. License Requirements - NetBox Enterprise access
  6. Enterprise Portal Requirements - Portal access
  7. Private Registry Requirements - Restrictive environment deployments
  8. Next Steps - Continue to installation

Before deploying NetBox Enterprise, ensure your environment meets the following requirements.

System Requirements​

The following are the recommended system requirements for a production deployment of NetBox Enterprise running two replicas. For larger environments with more replicas, additional resources should be allocated.

  • 8+ Virtual CPU (vCPU)
  • 24+ GB Memory (RAM)
  • 100+ GB SSD free disk space in /var/lib
  • disable swap if enabled

Note: These are recommended minimums for production deployments. Actual resource usage will vary based on your specific workload, number of devices, and usage patterns.

Kubernetes Requirements​

  • Kubernetes Version: ≥1.29

Helm Requirements​

  • Helm Version: 3.17.3 or higher
  • OCI Support: Required for chart registry access

Network Requirements​

  • Ingress Controller:
    • Option 1: Use an existing NGINX Ingress Controller in your cluster
    • Option 2: The chart includes its own NGINX Ingress Controller (enabled by default with Diode)
  • Port Requirements:
    • HTTP: 80
    • HTTPS: 443
    • Diode gRPC: 8081 (if using Diode)
  • DNS: Configure DNS records for your ingress hostname

Storage Requirements​

The chart requires persistent storage for:

  • NetBox media files
  • Database storage (if using internal PostgreSQL)
  • Redis data (if persistence is enabled)

Storage Class Configuration​

Check if your cluster has a default storage class:

kubectl get storageclass

Ready to install? Proceed to Installation Guide for step-by-step deployment instructions.

Database Requirements​

NetBox Enterprise can use either internal databases (default) or external PostgreSQL. Redis is always deployed internally and external Redis is strongly discouraged.

Option 1: Internal Databases (Default)​

The chart includes:

  • PostgreSQL: Deployed using Crunchy Data PostgreSQL Operator
  • Redis: Deployed using Bitnami Redis chart with no persistence

Option 2: External PostgreSQL​

⚠️ Important: External Redis is not supported and strongly discouraged. NetBox Enterprise uses Redis only for ephemeral caching - using external Redis introduces unnecessary latency and performance issues with no benefit. Always use the internal Redis deployment.

PostgreSQL Requirements​

  • Version: PostgreSQL 14 or higher
  • Resources:
    • Minimum: 1 CPU, 2Gi memory
    • Recommended: 2+ CPUs, 4Gi+ memory for production
  • Connection: Accessible from Kubernetes cluster
  • Authentication: Username/password authentication
  • TLS: Optional TLS support available

Database performance issues? See Troubleshooting - Database Performance for optimization guidance.

License Requirements​

  • Valid NetBox Enterprise license file provided by NetBox Labs
  • License file will be configured during installation

Enterprise Portal Requirements​

NetBox Enterprise requires authentication to access both the container registry and Helm charts using your LICENSE_ID.

Required Access​

  • Access to proxy.enterprise.netboxlabs.com for Docker images
  • Access to registry.enterprise.netboxlabs.com for Helm charts
  • Valid NetBox Enterprise LICENSE_ID provided by NetBox Labs

Variable Setup​

Set up your environment variables for authentication and configuration:

# Required credentials
export LICENSE_ID="your-license-id-here"
export USERNAME="your-email@company.com"

# Optional: Set specific chart version
export CHART_VERSION="1.11.4"  # or leave empty for latest

# Authenticate with registries
docker login proxy.enterprise.netboxlabs.com -u $USERNAME -p $LICENSE_ID
helm registry login registry.enterprise.netboxlabs.com -u $USERNAME -p $LICENSE_ID

Private Registry Requirements (Environments with Restricted Connectivity)​

For restrictive environments, you'll need to:

  1. Mirror all required images to your private registry
  2. Configure image pull secrets in your Kubernetes cluster
  3. Update values file with private registry configuration

Required images include:

  • NetBox Enterprise core images
  • PostgreSQL and Redis images
  • NGINX Ingress Controller images
  • Diode service images

See the Installation Guide - Private Registry Installation for detailed procedures.

Next Steps​

After verifying all prerequisites, continue with:

  1. Installation - Step-by-step deployment guide
  2. Values Guide - Configuration reference
  3. Operations - Backup and maintenance
  4. Troubleshooting - Problem resolution

Complete Installation Guide​

  1. Overview - Architecture and approach
  2. → Prerequisites - System requirements
  3. Installation - Installation procedures
  4. Values Guide - Configuration reference
  5. Operations - Backup and maintenance
  6. Troubleshooting - Problem resolution
Related Topics
NetBoxGetting Started