NetBox Ansible Collection: Installation
Table of Contents
This is the first post as I start to look at the NetBox Ansible Collection. This is an impressive collection with modules for several of the NetBox applications, a query plugin, and an inventory plugin. This will take a deeper dive into several of the components of the inventory plugin, but not all of the options. The documentation for all of the collection can be found at:
- ReadTheDocs: https://netbox-ansible-collection.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
- Galaxy Page: https://galaxy.ansible.com/netbox/netbox
This post is going to give information on how to install the collection as it may be applicable to every post in the series (as they get posted).
(Update 2020-12-05) The corresponding YouTube video is here:
Installation #
Installation is done via Ansible Galaxy. It is recommended to have the latest version of the collection when working on it as there are updates happening routinely. There is a Python requirement with the modules of the pynetbox package.
It does not matter which order you install these in, you just need to install both before you start using the module.
Installation - pynetbox #
To install you execute the following to get the latest version of pynetbox:
pip install pynetbox --upgrade
Installation - NetBox Collection #
The collection is installed via Ansible Galaxy as a primary method to install. You can also install the collection manually from GitHub, but the galaxy method is the preferred method.
ansible-galaxy collection install netbox.netbox --force
The addition of --force will have Ansible Galaxy install the latest version on top of what you may already have. If you already have a version of the collection installed, Galaxy will not overwrite what you already have.
Verification of Installation #
Once you have run the steps there are many ways to verify that the installation is completed successfully for the Python package. The one that I like to use is to execute a pip freeze | grep <package_name>. The execution looks like this on the current date:
pip3 freeze | grep pynetbox
pynetbox==5.1.0
To verify that you have installed the NetBox Ansible Collection, you can execute the Ansible Doc command to get the current documentation. This is done as followed with the netbox_device module to verify that the docs load:
ansible-doc netbox.netbox.netbox_device
If the module is not installed properly you will see, with a key in on the first line
| |
> NETBOX.NETBOX.NETBOX_DEVICE (/Users/joshvanderaa/.ansible/collections/ansible_collections/netbox/netbox/plugins/modules/netbox_device.py)
Creates, updates or removes devices from Netbox
OPTIONS (= is mandatory):
= data
Defines the device configuration
type: dict
SUBOPTIONS:
- asset_tag
Asset tag that is associated to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- cluster
Cluster that the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- comments
Comments that may include additional information in
regards to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- custom_fields
must exist in Netbox
[Default: (null)]
type: dict
- device_role
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist
yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- device_type
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist
yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- face
Required if `rack' is defined
(Choices: Front, front, Rear, rear)[Default: (null)]
type: str
- local_context_data
Arbitrary JSON data to define the devices configuration
variables.
[Default: (null)]
type: dict
= name
The name of the device
type: str
- platform
The platform of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- position
The position of the device in the rack defined above
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- primary_ip4
Primary IPv4 address assigned to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- primary_ip6
Primary IPv6 address assigned to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- rack
The name of the rack to assign the device to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- serial
Serial number of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- site
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist
yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- status
The status of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- tags
Any tags that the device may need to be associated with
[Default: (null)]
type: list
- tenant
The tenant that the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- vc_position
Position in the assigned virtual chassis
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- vc_priority
Priority in the assigned virtual chassis
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- virtual_chassis
Virtual chassis the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
= netbox_token
The token created within Netbox to authorize API access
type: str
= netbox_url
URL of the Netbox instance resolvable by Ansible control host
type: str
- query_params
This can be used to override the specified values in
ALLOWED_QUERY_PARAMS that is defined
in plugins/module_utils/netbox_utils.py and provides control
to users on what may make
an object unique in their environment.
[Default: (null)]
elements: str
type: list
- state
Use `present' or `absent' for adding or removing.
(Choices: absent, present)[Default: present]
type: str
- validate_certs
If `no', SSL certificates will not be validated. This should
only be used on personally controlled sites using self-signed
certificates.
[Default: True]
type: raw
NOTES:
* Tags should be defined as a YAML list
* This should be ran with connection `local' and hosts
`localhost'
REQUIREMENTS: pynetbox
AUTHOR: Mikhail Yohman (@FragmentedPacket), David Gomez (@amb1s1)
METADATA:
metadata_version: '1.1'
status:
- preview
supported_by: community
VERSION_ADDED_COLLECTION: netbox.netbox
EXAMPLES:
- name: "Test Netbox modules"
connection: local
hosts: localhost
gather_facts: False
tasks:
- name: Create device within Netbox with only required information
netbox_device:
netbox_url: http://netbox.local
netbox_token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
state: present
- name: Create device within Netbox with empty string name to generate UUID
netbox_device:
netbox_url: http://netbox.local
netbox_token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: ""
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
state: present
- name: Delete device within netbox
netbox_device:
netbox_url: http://netbox.local
netbox_token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
state: absent
- name: Create device with tags
netbox_device:
netbox_url: http://netbox.local
netbox_token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Another Test Device
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
local_context_data:
bgp: "65000"
tags:
- Schnozzberry
state: present
- name: Update the rack and position of an existing device
netbox_device:
netbox_url: http://netbox.local
netbox_token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
rack: Test Rack
position: 10
face: Front
state: present
RETURN VALUES:
- device
Serialized object as created or already existent within Netbox
returned: success (when `state=present')
type: dict
- msg
Message indicating failure or info about what has been
achieved
returned: always
type: str
Summary #
Overall the process for getting going with this collection is two steps, of installing the Python dependency and installing the collection via Ansible Galaxy. With these done, you are on your way to using the NetBox Ansible Collection in your environment.