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Maintenance Mode

Maintenance mode scales down all NetBox application components while keeping the operator running, allowing you to perform database maintenance, backup restoration, or other operations that require exclusive access.

What Maintenance Mode Does​

When enabled:

  • All NetBox application deployments are scaled to zero
  • Worker and Diode deployments are scaled to zero
  • A maintenance pod is created for manual operations
  • PostgreSQL and Redis remain running
  • The operator continues to reconcile but skips readiness checks

When disabled:

  • All components are scaled back to their configured replica counts
  • Normal reconciliation resumes

Enable Maintenance Mode​

Via Helm Values​

netboxEnterprise:
  spec:
    maintenanceMode: true
helm upgrade netbox-enterprise \
  oci://registry.enterprise.netboxlabs.com/library/nbe-operator \
  --namespace netbox \
  --values netbox-values.yaml

Via kubectl Patch​

For quick toggling without a full Helm upgrade:

kubectl -n netbox patch netboxenterprise netbox \
  --type merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"maintenanceMode":true}}'

Verify Maintenance Mode​

kubectl -n netbox get pods

You should see application pods terminating while database pods remain running.

Check the NetBoxEnterprise status:

kubectl -n netbox get netboxenterprises

Use Cases​

  • Database migration: Run schema changes on PostgreSQL before upgrading NetBox
  • Backup restoration: Restore a database backup without application interference
  • Data repair: Fix data issues directly in the database
  • Storage operations: Resize or migrate PVCs

Exit Maintenance Mode​

Set maintenanceMode back to false:

kubectl -n netbox patch netboxenterprise netbox \
  --type merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"maintenanceMode":false}}'

Or update your values file and run helm upgrade.

The operator will re-deploy all components and wait for readiness.

Next Steps​