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Getting Started with the VMware vCenter Integration for NetBox

This guide will help you set up and start using the VMware vCenter Integration for NetBox.

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • NetBox Cloud or NetBox Enterprise with NetBox Assurance
  • Orb Agent Pro credentials (required to download the integration agent image)
  • vCenter Servers(s) with API access
  • Host System with Docker support
  • Network connectivity between your host(s) and both NetBox instance and the vCenter Servers(s)

Site Organization with vCenter Tags​

The VMware vCenter integration supports automatic site creation in NetBox based on tags applied to ESXi hosts in vCenter. This allows you to organize your virtual infrastructure by physical locations, data centers, or any other logical grouping.

How Site Tagging Works​

The integration scans all ESXi hosts in your vCenter environment and looks for tags with the format:

netbox_site:<site_name>

Examples:

  • netbox_site:NYC-Datacenter
  • netbox_site:London-Office
  • netbox_site:Production-Floor-1

Setting Up Site Tags in vCenter​

  1. Create a Tag Category (if not already exists):

    • In vCenter, go to Tags & Custom Attributes → Categories
    • Create a new category named netbox-sites
    • Set the cardinality to "Many" to allow multiple tags per object
    • Set the associable object types to include "Host System"

  2. Create Site Tags:

    • Go to Tags & Custom Attributes → Tags
    • Create tags with the naming convention: netbox_site:<your-site-name>
    • Assign the tag to the netbox-sites category

  3. Apply Tags to Hosts:

    • Right-click on each ESXi host
    • Select Tags & Custom Attributes → Assign Tag
    • Choose the appropriate netbox_site:<site-name> tag

Site Creation Behavior​

  • With Tags: If hosts have netbox_site: tags, the integration creates NetBox sites for each unique site name
  • Without Tags: If no hosts have site tags, the integration creates a single DefaultSite in NetBox
  • Mixed Environment: Hosts with tags are assigned to their respective sites, hosts without tags are assigned to DefaultSite

Best Practices​

  • Use descriptive, consistent naming for your site tags
  • Apply site tags to all ESXi hosts for better organization
  • Consider your physical infrastructure layout when naming sites
  • Test with a few hosts first before applying tags organization-wide

Host Requirements​

System​

  • Operating System: Linux, macOS, or Windows with Docker support
  • Memory: Minimum 2GB RAM (4GB recommended)
  • Storage: 1GB free disk space
  • Network: Stable internet connection for pulling Docker images
  • Docker: Version 20.10 or later

Network​

  • Outbound gRPC/gRPCS access to Diode on your NetBox instance (typically port 443 for gRPCS)
  • Outbound HTTP/HTTPS access to your vCenter server (typically port 443 for HTTPS)
  • DNS resolution for both NetBox and vCenter server hostnames
  • Firewall rules configured to allow the above connections from your agent host

NetBox Setup​

Generate Diode Client Credentials​

  1. Log into your NetBox instance
  2. Navigate to Diode → Client Credentials
  3. Click + Add a Credential
  4. Enter a descriptive name (e.g., "vCenter Integration")
  5. Click Create Add client credentials
  6. Important: Copy and securely store the Client ID and Client Secret as you will reference this in the agent configuration file in later steps copy client credentials
  7. Navigate to Diode → Settings
  8. Copy the value of the Diode target as you will reference this in the agent configuration file in later steps copy Diode target

Agent Setup and Configuration​

info

You can deploy multiple agents configured to sync data from more than one vCenter Server

Step 1: Authenticate to the NetBox Labs Image Registry​

From your host machine, authenticate to the NetBox Labs registry, using the CUSTOMER-IDENTIFIER and Token that you have been provided by the NetBox Labs team:

docker login -u<CUSTOMER-IDENTIFIER> netboxlabs.jfrog.io

Example session​

% docker login -u<customer-abc123> netboxlabs.jfrog.io # note there are no spaces after -u
# Use the Token provided as the password when prompted
Password:
Login Succeeded

Step 2: Configure the Agent​

  1. Create the configuration file (you can name the file anything you like):
touch agent.yaml
  1. Edit the configuration file with your preferred editor and add the following configuration. Important: Replace grpcs://your-instance.netboxcloud.com/diode with the value from Diode > Settings > Diode target in the NetBox UI:
orb:
  config_manager:
    active: local
  backends:
    worker:
    common:
      diode:
        target: grpcs://your-instance.netboxcloud.com/diode # Get this value from Diode > Settings > Diode target
        client_id: ${DIODE_CLIENT_ID}
        client_secret: ${DIODE_CLIENT_SECRET}
        agent_name: vmware_vcenter_01  # Use a meaningful name to identify this agent
  policies:
    worker:
      vmware_vcenter_center_worker:
        config:
          package: nbl_vmware_vcenter
          schedule: "0 */1 * * *"  # Every 1 hour. Set your desired schedule (see examples below)
          timeout: 5
          VCENTER_HOST: ${VCENTER_HOST}
          VCENTER_USER: ${VCENTER_USER}
          VCENTER_PWD: ${VCENTER_PWD}
          SKIP_SSL: True # Optional setting to skip SSL verification
          BOOTSTRAP: True  # Set to True for initial setup, False for regular operation
        scope:
          datacenters: ["NYC1"]  # Optional: Limit sync to specific datacenters (see scope configuration below)
Schedule Examples

The schedule field uses cron syntax. Here are some common examples:

  • "0 */6 * * *" - Every 6 hours (e.g., 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00)
  • "0 2 * * *" - Daily at 2:00 AM
  • "0 9 * * 1" - Weekly on Monday at 9:00 AM

Scope Configuration​

The scope section allows you to limit the data synchronization to specific datacenters, reducing the amount of data processed and improving performance.

Configuration Options:

  • ["*"] or omitted: Syncs all datacenters (default)
  • ["Datacenter-A", "Datacenter-B"]: Syncs only specified datacenters and their VMs
    • VMs from filtered datacenters are excluded from synchronization
    • VMs without datacenter assignment are always included
    • Invalid datacenter names raise an error with available datacenter list

Example:

scope:
  datacenters: ["NYC1", "LAX1"]  # Only sync these specific datacenters

Site Organization with Tags​

The integration automatically creates NetBox sites based on netbox_site: tags applied to ESXi hosts in vCenter. This provides better organization of your virtual infrastructure.

Tag Format:

  • Use the format: netbox_site:<site_name>
  • Examples: netbox_site:NYC-Datacenter, netbox_site:London-Office

Setup in vCenter:

  1. Create a tag category named netbox-sites for "Host System" objects
  2. Create tags with the netbox_site:<site-name> naming convention
  3. Apply the appropriate tag to each ESXi host

Behavior:

  • Hosts with netbox_site: tags → Assigned to corresponding NetBox sites
  • Hosts without tags → Assigned to DefaultSite
  • Each unique site name creates a separate NetBox site

Bootstrap Mode (First-Time Setup)​

Bootstrap mode is used for the initial setup only of the integration. When enabled, it creates static content in NetBox that the integration requires to function properly.

What Bootstrap Mode Does:

  • Creates required Manufacturers
  • Creates necessary Tags
  • Creates required Custom Fields
  • Sets up initial data structures

Configuration:

config:
  BOOTSTRAP: True  # Set to True for initial setup, False for regular operation

First-Time Run Process:

  1. Run the agent with BOOTSTRAP: True in your configuration
  2. Monitor the output for the text executed successfully
  3. Stop the agent immediately by pressing Ctrl+C in your terminal once you see executed successfully
  4. Apply the deviations in NetBox Assurance (see Apply Deviations section below)
  5. Set BOOTSTRAP: False for all future runs

Important Notes:

  • Bootstrap mode is only for first-time setup - do not run it on a schedule
  • You must stop the agent manually with Ctrl+C after seeing executed successfully
  • After bootstrap, you'll see deviations for Custom Fields, Manufacturers, etc. that must be applied
  • Once deviations are applied, set BOOTSTRAP: False for regular operation

Optional - Dry Run Mode​

The agent can be run in Dry Run mode, which means discovered data is written to a json formatted file instead of to NetBox. This can be useful for troubleshooting - for example you could share the file with the NetBox Labs support team to investigate issues ingesting certain data.

Enable this in the Diode section of your agent configuration file, by adding the dry_run key and setting the value to true (it is false by default) and set the dry_run_output_dir value to the location you want the file to be saved.

      diode:
        dry_run: true
        dry_run_output_dir: /opt/orb/ # this will save the output file into the same directory that you run the agent from

Step 3: Run the Agent​

Run the agent to synchronize data from your vCenter server into NetBox:

Method 1: Set Environment Variables Manually​

  1. Export Diode credentials as environment variables:
export DIODE_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export DIODE_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
  1. Export vCenter credentials as environment variables:
export VCENTER_HOST="your-vcenter-server"
export VCENTER_USER="your-vcenter-username"
export VCENTER_PWD="your-vcenter-password"
  1. Run the agent with the following command:
docker run \
  -v $PWD:/opt/orb/ \
  -e DIODE_CLIENT_SECRET \
  -e DIODE_CLIENT_ID \
  -e VCENTER_HOST \
  -e VCENTER_USER \
  -e vCENTER_PWD \
  netboxlabs.jfrog.io/obs-orb-agent-pro/orb-agent-pro \
  run -c /opt/orb/agent.yaml
  1. Create a .env file in your current directory:
touch .env
  1. Edit the .env file with your preferred editor and add the following content:
## NetBox Diode credentials (from Step 1)
DIODE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
DIODE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

## VMware vCenter credentials
VCENTER_HOST=your-vcenter-server
VCENTER_USER=your-vcenter-username
VCENTER_PWD=your-vcenter-password
Important

Replace the placeholder values with your actual credentials:

  • your-client-id and your-client-secret from the NetBox Diode setup
  • your-vcenter-server with your vCenter server hostname or IP address
  • your-vcenter-username and your-vcenter-password with your vCenter credentials
  1. Run the agent with the following command:
docker run \
  -v $PWD:/opt/orb/ \
  --env-file .env \
  netboxlabs.jfrog.io/obs-orb-agent-pro/orb-agent-pro \
  run -c /opt/orb/agent.yaml
Security Best Practice

When using Method 2, add .env to your .gitignore file to prevent accidentally committing sensitive credentials to version control:

echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Expected Output​

After you issue the command to run the agent, depending on the schedule you defined in the configuration file, you should see similar to the output below:

...
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.237832544Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Processing vCenter 192.168.0.101"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.237858003Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Connecting to vCenter..."}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.238308128Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:apscheduler.scheduler:Removed job 2ee353d8ba36461c88c82d32585f85f0"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.351597961Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Connected to vCenter."}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.351624253Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Building entities for Diode ingestion..."}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.94254067Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Created Site entity: NYC-Datacenter"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:25:58.94254068Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Created Site entity: London-Office"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:26:00.674980754Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Added host entity: esx-01.nyc.local (site: NYC-Datacenter)"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:26:00.674980755Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:nbl_vmware_vcenter.vcenter_diode:Added host entity: esx-02.london.local (site: London-Office)"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:26:00.704773171Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:worker.policy.runner:Policy vmware_vcenter_worker: Successful ingestion"}
{"time":"2025-08-21T10:26:00.704934462Z","level":"INFO","msg":"worker stderr","log":"INFO:apscheduler.executors.default:Job \"PolicyRunner.run (trigger: date[2025-08-21 10:25:58 UTC], next run at: 2025-08-21 10:25:58 UTC)\" executed successfully"}
Site Creation from Tags

If you have configured netbox_site: tags on your ESXi hosts, you'll see log entries like:

  • Created Site entity: <site-name> - for each unique site discovered from tags
  • Added host entity: <hostname> (site: <site-name>) - showing which site each host is assigned to

If no site tags are found, you'll see:

  • No site tags found, creating default site - and all hosts will be assigned to DefaultSite
Monitoring and Testing

Success Indicators: Look for the text Successful ingestion in the output, which confirms that data was successfully sent to your NetBox instance via Diode.

Testing Mode: For testing purposes, you can run the agent once and then stop it:

  • Press Ctrl+C in your terminal to stop the agent
  • This is useful for verifying configuration before setting up continuous operation

Continuous Operation: The agent will continue running according to your schedule until manually stopped or the container is terminated.

View and Apply Discovered Data in NetBox Assurance​

You can now work with the vCenter data that has been discovered by the agent in the NetBox Assurance UI.

NetBox Assurance gives you control over operational drift by identifying deviations between your operational state and NetBox, and analytics to understand drift and plan for remediation, and ultimately take action.

Understanding Deviations

Deviations are the delta between the data already in NetBox as the Network Source of Truth, versus the actual operational state of the network as discovered by the controller integration.

From an initial run of the integration it could be that ALL discovered data is a deviation as it may not have existed in NetBox previously. Once the initial sync of data has taken place, and NetBox has been updated, then further integration runs would result in new deviations only.

Accessing NetBox Assurance​

  1. Navigate to the UI of NetBox instance
  2. Click on Assurance in the main navigation menu

Explore Deviation Types​

  1. Click on Deviation Types to view the types of deviations that have been discovered View deviation types
  2. Click on the Name of a deviation type, to view deviations for a particular type Discovered new vm
  3. Click on the Name of a an individual deviation, to view the details Discovered ubuntu

View Active Deviations​

  1. Click on Active Deviations to view all the deviations that have not yet been Applied or Ignored Active deviations
  2. Click on the Name of a deviation, to view the details

Apply Deviations​

  1. Select all the deviations that you'd like to apply. If you are working with a large number of deviations, first set the Per Page view to 500: select 500
  2. Then select the first deviation, hold down SHIFT and select the last one, and then click Apply Selected: apply deviations
  3. Click Apply X Deviations to apply the deviations to the NetBox database: confirm apply deviations
Apply Deviations to a Branch

Instead of writing the deviations to the Main NetBox database branch, you can select another branch from the drop down menu and apply the deviations to that branch.

Assurance Docs

For more detailed information on working with NetBox Assurance, please refer to the documentation

View the VMware vCenter Data in NetBox​

Now that you have run the integration at least once and applied the discovered data, you can view the data in the NetBox UI

  1. Start by clicking on Virtualization → Virtual Machines in the main navigation menu vms
  2. Select an individual Virtual Machine to view the details vm ubuntu

Additional Resources​

Support​

Email support@netboxlabs.com for support.

Related Topics
AssuranceAutomationDiscoveryGetting StartedIntegrationNetBox
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