r/Netbox

We're setting up Netbox for the first time to replace an Excel-based infrastructure tracker. Looking for feedback on our proposed hierarchy before we start entering data.

Our environment:

• ~30-40 sites of varying complexity ranging from a single room with one device up to multi-building campuses with multiple IDFs
• Sites are loosely grouped into 3 organizational districts (not network-significant)
• Most larger sites have a Fortigate as the primary gateway with FortiSwitches and Ubiquiti APs
• Smaller remote locations use cellular routers (Cradlepoint) as their sole gateway
• Some larger parks have two completely independent networks each with their own ISP circuit and gateway device
• VLANs are mostly consistent across sites

Proposed hierarchy:

• Site Groups = organizational districts (3 total, not network-significant)
• Sites = one per ISP circuit + gateway device, regardless of size or complexity. A single room with a Cradlepoint and its own cellular circuit is a Site just like a multi-building campus with a Fortigate
• Locations = always at least one Location per Site since devices are assigned at Location level not Site level. For Sites with multiple buildings, the building is the first level Location with sub-locations beneath it for specific spaces like IDFs, reception areas, or other rooms. Example: Building A (parent) → IDF (child), Reception (child), Storage Room (child)

Specific questions:

1. Is "one ISP circuit + one gateway device = one Site" a good rule of thumb?
2. Should we always create at least one Location under every Site even for single-device Sites?
3. Is using the building as the parent Location with specific spaces (IDF, rooms) as child Locations the right approach, or should the IDF be the top level Location with everything else subordinate to it?
4. Any gotchas with this approach we should know about before entering data?

My code is as seen below. This initial block will print the correct information so I know my API connection is working (and the API token, not shown, has Write permissions enabled within the web interface). However, the attempt to create a new device entry passes with a <200> code, but the print result is just blank. There is also no change in the web interface to reflect the creation of the device through this script. Using version 4.2.2 of NetBox with the newest version of PyNetBox. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

EDIT: Thanks to user TyphonVirtus for suggesting that POST requests require your NetBox URL to be pointed to HTTPS instead of just HTTP. This solved my issue! Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a helpful comment!

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# Get Specific VM by ID
#----------------------------------------------------------------
vmID = 2069
vm = nb.virtualization.virtual_machines.get(id=vmID)
print(f"Virtual Machine - {vm}")
print(f"VM NetBox ID - {vm.id}")
print(f"VM NetBox Serial # - {vm.serial}")
print(f"Primary IPv4 - {vm.primary_ip4}")

#--------------------------------------------------------
# Create new Device entry
#--------------------------------------------------------
new_device = nb.dcim.devices.create(
    name='new-test-device',
    device_type='1',
    site='1',
    device_role='1',
    status='active'
)
print(new_device)

I finally got my good instructions on how to install netbox docker. I then wanted to install Diode plugin. I got that done and found that the netbox docker pulled v4.6. And the diode plugin only wokss on v4.5 as of now.

How do I pull the v4.5 version?

When I go to pull down the image, I:

1. clone the NetBox Docker Repository "git clone -b release https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox-docker.git"
2. Create and update the "docker-compose.override.yml" file to set the port

&#8203;

"tee docker-compose.override.yml <<EOF services: netbox: ports: - 8000:8080 EOF"

How do I change it to only pull the v4.5 netbox-docker? Like this...?

tee docker-compose.override.yml <<EOF
services:
  netbox:
    image: netboxcommunity/netbox:v4.5
    ports:
      - 8000:8080
EOF

And when I go to get the Diode plug in I need to specify v4.5 in the steps so It doesn't pull v4.6

#Run the following command to create or amend Dockerfile-Plugins:
sudo nano Dockerfile-Plugins

#Input the following, Use the specific version of NetBox you want to maintain:
FROM netboxcommunity/netbox:v4.5"