Technical Information

Cisco Meraki to NetBox Object Mapping

This document provides a comprehensive mapping of Cisco Meraki object types to their corresponding NetBox object types, based on the integration implementation.

Object Type Mapping Table

Cisco Meraki Object	NetBox Object Type	Key Fields Mapped	Mapping Details
Organization	Tenant	name → name
id → description
name → slug	Maps Meraki organization to NetBox tenant with descriptive naming and ID preservation.
Network	Site	name → name
name → slug
id → custom_fields.meraki_network_id
tags → tags	Maps Meraki networks to NetBox sites with network ID preservation and tag inheritance.
Device (Inventory)	Device	name or serial → name
serial → serial
model → device_type.model
firmware → platform.name
tags → tags	Maps Meraki devices to NetBox devices with hardware details, firmware information, and tag inheritance.
Device Type	DeviceType	model → model
Static → manufacturer	Creates device types based on Meraki device model with Cisco as manufacturer.
Device Role	DeviceRole	model prefix → name	Maps Meraki device model prefixes (MR, MS, MX) to NetBox device roles.
Platform	Platform	model + firmware → name
Static → manufacturer	Creates platforms based on device model and firmware version.
Manufacturer	Manufacturer	Static → name	Always set to "Cisco" for all Meraki devices.
Wireless LAN	WirelessLAN	name → ssid
enabled → status
authMode → auth_type
encryptionMode → auth_cipher
scope_site → scope_site	Maps Meraki SSIDs to NetBox wireless LANs with authentication and encryption details.
VLAN	VLAN	id → vid
name → name
Static → status	Maps Meraki appliance VLANs to NetBox VLANs with active status.
VLAN Group	VLANGroup	network.name → name
scope_site → scope_site	Creates VLAN groups scoped to sites for each Meraki network.
Interface	Interface	name → name
enabled → enabled
type → type
description → description	Maps Meraki device interfaces to NetBox interfaces with configuration details.
IP Address	IPAddress	ip + subnet → address
assigned_object → assigned_object	Maps Meraki IP configurations to NetBox IP addresses in CIDR notation.
MAC Address	MACAddress	mac → mac_address
assigned_object → assigned_object	Maps Meraki device MAC addresses to NetBox MAC address objects.

Field Mapping Details

Device Status Mapping

Meraki Device Status	NetBox Status
In inventory	active
Any other status	active

Wireless LAN Status Mapping

Meraki SSID Status	NetBox Status
true (enabled)	active
false (disabled)	disabled

Device Role Mapping

Meraki Model Prefix	NetBox Device Role
MR	Wireless AP
MS	Switch
MX	Firewall

Authentication Type Mapping

Meraki Auth Mode	NetBox Auth Type
open	open
psk	wpa-personal
8021x-meraki	wpa-enterprise
8021x-radius	wpa-enterprise
ipsk-with-radius	wpa-enterprise
Any other value	open

Authentication Cipher Mapping

Meraki Encryption Mode	NetBox Auth Cipher
wep	wep
wpa	tkip
wpa-eap	tkip
wpa2	aes
wpa2-eap	aes
open	auto
Any other value	auto

Interface Type Mapping

Meraki Device Type	Interface Types Created
MR (Wireless AP)	Radio interfaces (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz)
MS (Switch)	Physical switch ports
MX (Firewall)	Appliance ports and VLAN interfaces

VLAN Status Mapping

Meraki VLAN Status	NetBox Status
All VLANs from API	active

Data Flow

1. Authentication: Establishes connection to Meraki Dashboard API using organization API key
2. Organization Discovery: Creates tenant based on organization data
3. Network Discovery: Fetches all networks from Meraki organization and creates NetBox sites
4. VLAN Group Creation: Creates VLAN groups scoped to each site/network
5. VLAN Discovery: Fetches appliance VLAN configurations and creates NetBox VLANs
6. Wireless LAN Discovery: Processes SSID configurations from wireless networks
7. Device Discovery: Retrieves organization devices and creates device entities with roles and types
8. Interface Creation: Creates interfaces based on device type (radios, ports, VLAN interfaces)
9. IP Address Processing: Creates management IPs and VLAN gateway IPs
10. MAC Address Association: Links MAC addresses to interfaces
11. Primary IP Assignment: Sets primary IPv4/IPv6 on devices
12. Data Ingestion: Sends entities to NetBox via Diode for processing

Custom Fields

The integration requires and utilizes several custom fields:

Custom Field	Object Type	Purpose
meraki_network_id	Site	Stores Meraki network ID for reference

Tags and Metadata

All objects created by the integration are tagged with:

• cisco
• meraki
• discovered

Additional tags from Meraki networks and devices are preserved and added to the tag list.

Notes

• Device Naming: Devices are named using the Meraki name field, falling back to serial if name is empty
• Serial Number Handling: Uses Meraki serial field as NetBox device serial number
• Platform Creation: Platforms are created based on device model and firmware version
• Interface Management: Creates different interface types based on device role (radios for APs, ports for switches, etc.)
• VLAN Processing: Only processes networks with appliance capabilities for VLAN creation
• Wireless LAN Processing: Only processes networks with wireless capabilities for SSID creation
• IP Address Handling: Creates management IPs and VLAN gateway IPs with proper CIDR notation
• Rate Limiting: Integration uses Meraki SDK with built-in rate limiting and retry logic
• Device Filtering: Only processes supported device types (MR, MS, MX) and ignores others
• Primary IP Assignment: Automatically assigns first IPv4/IPv6 addresses as primary IPs on devices