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132 docs tagged with "Installation"

Installation guides and setup procedures

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Add a New User to Free Plan

Step-by-step guide to inviting and adding new users to a NetBox Cloud Free Plan instance through the console administration interface.

Advanced Tools and Troubleshooting

NetBox Enterprise is designed to harness the power of Kubernetes while minimizing the amount of work the average person needs to manage it.

Branching Plugin

The NetBox branching plugin allows you to create and work with branches in NetBox, similar to version control systems. This enables you to make changes in isolation and merge them back to the main branch when ready.

Circuits

NetBox is ideal for managing your network's transit and peering providers and circuits. It provides all the flexibility needed to model physical circuits in both data center and enterprise environments, and allows for "connecting" circuits directly to device interfaces via cables.

Circuits

A circuit represents a physical point-to-point data connection, typically used to interconnect sites across considerable distances (e.g. to deliver Internet connectivity).

Console Ports

A console port provides connectivity to the physical console of a device. These are typically used for temporary access by someone who is physically near the device, or for remote out-of-band access provided via a networked console server.

Console Server Ports

A console server is a device which provides remote access to the local consoles of connected devices. They are typically used to provide remote out-of-band access to network devices, and generally connect to console ports.

Custom Fields

Each model in NetBox is represented in the database as a discrete table, and each attribute of a model exists as a column within its table. For example, sites are stored in the dcimsite table, which has columns named name, facility, physicaladdress, and so on. As new attributes are added to objects throughout the development of NetBox, tables are expanded to include new rows.

Custom Scripts

Custom scripting was introduced to provide a way for users to execute custom logic from within the NetBox UI. Custom scripts enable the user to directly and conveniently manipulate NetBox data in a prescribed fashion. They can be used to accomplish myriad tasks, such as:

Customization

While NetBox strives to meet the needs of every network, the needs of users to cater to their own unique environments cannot be ignored. NetBox was built with this in mind, and can be customized in many ways to better suit your particular needs.

Data Backends

Data sources can be defined to reference data which exists on systems of record outside NetBox, such as a git repository or Amazon S3 bucket. Plugins can register their own backend classes to introduce support for additional resource types. This is done by subclassing NetBox's DataBackend class.

Device Bays

Device bays represent a space or slot within a parent device in which a child device may be installed. For example, a 2U parent chassis might house four individual blade servers. The chassis would appear in the rack elevation as a 2U device with four device bays, and each server within it would be defined as a 0U device installed in one of the device bays. Child devices do not appear within rack elevations or count as consuming rack units.

Device Discovery

The device discovery backend leverages NAPALM to connect to network devices and collect network information.

Device Types

A device type represents a particular make and model of hardware that exists in the real world. Device types define the physical attributes of a device (rack height and depth) and its individual components (console, power, network interfaces, and so on).

Devices

Every piece of hardware which is installed within a site or rack exists in NetBox as a device. Devices are measured in rack units (U) and can be half depth or full depth. A device may have a height of 0U: These devices do not consume vertical rack space and cannot be assigned to a particular rack unit. A common example of a 0U device is a vertically-mounted PDU.

Devices & Cabling

At its heart, NetBox is a tool for modeling your network infrastructure, and the device object is pivotal to that function. A device can be any piece of physical hardware installed within your network, such as server, router, or switch, and may optionally be mounted within a rack. Within each device, resources such as network interfaces and console ports are modeled as discrete components, which may optionally be grouped into modules.

Diode Agent

The Diode Agent is a lightweight network device discovery tool that uses NAPALM to streamline data entry into NetBox through the Diode ingestion service. The following is a basic set of instructions to get started using Diode Agent on a local machine.

Diode Client

The Diode SDK is a Python library for sending data to the Diode server over gRPC/protbuf for ingestion in to NetBox.

Do I Need Cloud Connectivity Options?

Comprehensive guide to help determine if you need specialized cloud connectivity options for NetBox Cloud or if standard internet delivery meets your requirements.

Facilities

From global regions down to individual equipment racks, NetBox allows you to model your network's entire presence. This is accomplished through the use of several purpose-built models. The graph below illustrates these models and their relationships.

Front Ports

Front ports are pass-through ports which represent physical cable connections that comprise part of a longer path. For example, the ports on the front face of a UTP patch panel would be modeled in NetBox as front ports. Each port is assigned a physical type, and must be mapped to a specific rear port on the same device. A single rear port may be mapped to multiple front ports, using numeric positions to annotate the specific alignment of each.

Get Started with NetBox Discovery

Complete setup and configuration guide for NetBox Discovery across Cloud, Enterprise, and Community deployments with step-by-step instructions

Getting Started

This guide will help you get started with development on pynetbox. It covers setting up your development environment and running tests.

git Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet serves as a convenient reference for NetBox contributors who already somewhat familiar with using git. For a general introduction to the tooling and workflows involved, please see GitHub's guide Getting started with git.

Gunicorn

This page provides instructions for setting up the gunicorn WSGI server. If you plan to use uWSGI instead, go here.

HTTP Server Setup

This documentation provides example configurations for both nginx and Apache, though any HTTP server which supports WSGI should be compatible.

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ServiceNow Integration Overview

Installation

Check out the NetBox Cloud Free Plan! Skip the installation process and grab your own NetBox Cloud instance, preconfigured and ready to go in minutes. Completely free!

Installing a Plugin

The instructions below detail the general process for installing and configuring a NetBox plugin. However, each plugin is different and may require additional tasks or modifications to the steps below. Always consult the documentation for a specific plugin before attempting to install it.

Installing Custom NetBox Plugins

While NetBox Enterprise comes with a variety of certified and other community plugins built-in, there are cases where you will want to include additional plugins in your NetBox runtime.

Interfaces

Interfaces in NetBox represent network interfaces used to exchange data with connected devices. On modern networks, these are most commonly Ethernet, but other types are supported as well. IP addresses and VLANs can be assigned to interfaces.

Internet Delivery (Single Region)

Overview of NetBox Cloud's standard Internet Delivery connectivity option with security features and multi-availability zone deployment.

Inventory Items

Beginning in NetBox v4.3, the use of inventory items has been deprecated. They are planned for removal in a future NetBox release. Users are strongly encouraged to begin using modules and module types in place of inventory items. Modules provide enhanced functionality and can be configured with user-defined attributes.

LDAP Configuration

This guide explains how to implement LDAP authentication using an external server. User authentication will fall back to built-in Django users in the event of a failure.

Linux Root-Level Changes

This document summarizes the system-level changes made to a Linux host when installing a NetBox Enterprise Embedded Cluster, particularly in relation to directories, files, and runtime configurations affected under /.

Microsoft Entra ID

This guide explains how to configure single sign-on (SSO) support for NetBox using Microsoft Entra ID as an authentication backend.

Microsoft Entra ID SSO Setup

Complete guide to configuring single sign-on (SSO) for NetBox Cloud using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) as an authentication backend.

Migrating to NetBox Enterprise

Migrating from NetBox open source to NetBox Labs Enterprise is a simple and efficient process. Because NetBox Enterprise is built on the same open source platform, database imports can be completed quickly, enabling a smooth transition.

Migrating Your Plugin to NetBox v4.0

This document serves as a handbook for maintainers of plugins that were written prior to the release of NetBox v4.0. It serves to capture all the changes recommended to ensure a plugin is compatible with NetBox v4.0 and later releases.

Module Bays

Module bays represent a space or slot within a device in which a field-replaceable module may be installed. A common example is that of a chassis-based switch such as the Cisco Nexus 9000 or Juniper EX9200. Modules in turn hold additional components that become available to the parent device.

Module Types

A module type represents a specific make and model of hardware component which is installable within a device's module bay and has its own child components. For example, consider a chassis-based switch or router with a number of field-replaceable line cards. Each line card has its own model number and includes a certain set of components such as interfaces. Each module type may have a manufacturer, model number, and part number assigned to it.

Modules

A module is a field-replaceable hardware component installed within a device which houses its own child components. The most common example is a chassis-based router or switch.

NetBox Assurance

Automated operational drift detection for NetBox - continuously monitor network infrastructure and maintain accurate documentation with proactive remediation capabilities

NetBox Branching

NetBox is the world's leading source of truth for network infrastructure, featuring an extensive and complex data model. But sometimes it can be challenging to orchestrate changes, especially when working within a large team. This plugin introduces a new paradigm for NetBox to help overcome these challenges: branching.

NetBox Cloud Console Access

How to access the NetBox Labs Console through direct URL or from within NetBox Cloud UI, including login options and account setup.

NetBox Cloud Plugins

View and manage installed plugins in your NetBox Cloud instance through the administrative console.

NetBox Discovery

Advanced network discovery and observability solution for automated network documentation and drift detection across all NetBox deployments

NetBox Discovery agent

The NetBox Discovery agent is based on the Orb open source project. Orb agent is one component of the NetBox Discovery solution and provides network discovery and observability capabilities.

NetBox Enterprise Backups

Much like the NetBox software itself, NetBox Enterprise uses 2 main datastores: PostgreSQL, and Redis.

NetBox Installation

This section of the documentation discusses installing and configuring the NetBox application itself.

Okta SSO Setup

Step-by-step guide to configuring single sign-on (SSO) for NetBox Cloud using Okta as an authentication backend with OpenID Connect.

Planning Your Move

This guide outlines the steps necessary for planning a successful migration to NetBox. Although it is written under the context of a completely new installation, the general approach outlined here works just as well for adding new data to existing NetBox deployments.

Plugins

Plugins are packaged Django apps that can be installed alongside NetBox to provide custom functionality not present in the core application. Plugins can introduce their own models and views, but cannot interfere with existing components. A NetBox user may opt to install plugins provided by the community or build his or her own.

Plugins Development

Just getting started with plugins? Check out our NetBox Plugin Tutorial on GitHub! This in-depth guide will walk you through the process of creating an entire plugin from scratch. It even includes a companion demo plugin repo to ensure you can jump in at any step along the way. This will get you up and running with plugins in no time!

PostgreSQL Database Installation

This section entails the installation and configuration of a local PostgreSQL database. If you already have a PostgreSQL database service in place, skip to the next section.

Power Outlets

Power outlets represent the outlets on a power distribution unit (PDU) or other device that supplies power to dependent devices. Each power port may be assigned a physical type, and may be associated with a specific feed leg (where three-phase power is used) and/or a specific upstream power port. This association can be used to model the distribution of power within a device.

Power Panel

A power panel represents the origin point in NetBox for electrical power being disseminated by one or more power feeds. In a data center environment, one power panel often serves a group of racks, with an individual power feed extending to each rack, though this is not always the case. It is common to have two sets of panels and feeds arranged in parallel to provide redundant power to each rack.

Power Ports

A power port is a device component which draws power from some external source (e.g. an upstream power outlet), and generally represents a power supply internal to a device.

Pynetbox

Python API client library for NetBox.

Quickstart Guide

Looking to try NetBox Discovery as quickly and easily as possible? The Quickstart Guide on the NetBox Labs blog has you covered! In a few commands you will install and pre-configure everything you need to start experimenting:

Rack Types

A rack type defines the physical characteristics of a particular model of rack.

Racks

The rack model represents a physical two- or four-post equipment rack in which devices can be installed. Each rack must be assigned to a site, and may optionally be assigned to a location within that site. Racks can also be organized by user-defined functional roles. The name and facility ID of each rack within a location must be unique.

Rear Ports

Like front ports, rear ports are pass-through ports which represent the continuation of a path from one cable to the next. Each rear port is defined with its physical type and a number of positions: Rear ports with more than one position can be mapped to multiple front ports. This can be useful for modeling instances where multiple paths share a common cable (for example, six discrete two-strand fiber connections sharing a 12-strand MPO cable).

Release Checklist

This documentation describes the process of packaging and publishing a new NetBox release. There are three types of releases:

Removing a Plugin

The instructions below detail the general process for removing a NetBox plugin. However, each plugin is different and may require additional tasks or modifications to the steps below. Always consult the documentation for a specific plugin before attempting to remove it.

Style Guide

NetBox generally follows the Django style guide, which is itself based on PEP 8. ruff is used for linting (with certain exceptions).

Synchronized Data

Several models in NetBox support the automatic synchronization of local data from a designated remote source. For example, configuration templates defined in NetBox can source their content from text files stored in a remote git repository. This is accomplished using the core data source and data file models.

Translations

NetBox coordinates all translation work using the Transifex platform. Signing up for a Transifex account is free.

Upgrading NetBox Cloud

Step-by-step guide to upgrading your NetBox Cloud instance to newer versions through the administrative console.

Upgrading to a New NetBox Release

Upgrading NetBox to a new version is pretty simple, however users are cautioned to always review the release notes and save a backup of their current deployment prior to beginning an upgrade.

Using the NetBox Assurance UI

Comprehensive guide to the NetBox Assurance web interface - navigation, deviation management, workflows, and daily operations for network drift detection

uWSGI

This page provides instructions for setting up the uWSGI WSGI server. If you plan to use gunicorn instead, go here.