NetBox Automation with Ansible & Python Masterclass

Explore NetBox installation options for learning, including a local docker setup on macOS and Windows via WSL. Also review cloud options such as AWS EC2 and NetBox cloud free plan.

Renames netbox api v2 environment variables to netbox_local_token and netbox_token, dropping v1 support; updates env and example files, inventory, and scripts, and verifies connectivity with Python and Ansible playbooks.

Set up Windows 11 with WSL, Ubuntu, and Docker Desktop to install and run NetBox Docker. Clone the NetBox Docker repository, pull images, start containers, and create an admin user.

Learn to set up a windows-based netbox automation environment using Visual Studio Code, WSL, uv, and Ansible, clone the repository, and verify NetBox connectivity with test scripts.

Install netbox docker on macos using docker desktop, git, and docker-compose; start postgres and netbox containers, access the netbox UI at localhost:8000, and create an admin user.

Set up a macOS automation environment by installing Visual Studio Code and uv-environment-manager, cloning the course project, and testing Python and Ansible with a script using a .env token file.

Install a netbox docker instance on aws ec2 using ubuntu and docker engine. Configure security with ssh and port 8000 access, and validate with api tokens and an ansible playbook.

Learn to set up NetBox cloud free plan, verify identity with a credit card, and use a fully managed instance with limits on devices, IPs, API calls, plus pay-as-you-go options.

Access the public NetBox demo instance for quick testing without setup. Create a netadmin user, sign in, and explore sample data and devices, noting nightly resets and one-day retention.

Explore NetBox architecture in Docker: the core application, Postgres, Redis queue and cache, and the NetBox worker. See container networking and how Redis coordinates background tasks.

Learn how to manually add a device to NetBox, understand data relationships and the hierarchical structure, and set up the prerequisites of site, manufacturer, device type, and device role.

Explore NetBox data relationships and hierarchical structure for reliable automation. See how devices relate to sites and regions, and how interfaces, IP addresses, prefixes, VRFs, VLANs, and roles interlink.

Build a NetBox organization by creating tenant groups, tenants, regions, site groups, sites, and locations, using manual setup and CSV bulk imports with hierarchical structures.

Learn how NetBox Copilot works in the community edition as an AI assistant for natural language queries, generating playbooks and Python scripts, with enterprise features on the horizon.

Explore git-style branching in NetBox, creating isolated branches, making changes, and merging back to main via change requests and reviews with policy-driven approvals.

Explore the NetBox REST API and Swagger UI to access app-level endpoints, apply advanced filters, and perform get, post, put, and patch operations against devices, sites, and circuits.

Learn how to use postman to interact with the NetBox REST API, create collections and environments, configure bearer token authentication, and test endpoints like status and sites.

Compare netbox api token version 1 and 2, highlighting v2’s bearer authentication, hmac-based tokens, salted hashes, and enhanced security while noting backward compatibility and eventual removal.

Learn how the NetBox REST API options method reveals allowed operations without modifying data, enabling dynamic field validation and choice discovery for automations and site decommission scripts.

Learn to use post, put, and patch requests against the NetBox API, showing creation with mandatory fields, full updates with put, and partial updates with patch through practical site examples.

Learn how to bulk create and update NetBox objects using POST, PUT, and PATCH with the NetBox API, including list-form data, changelog entries, and verification of new IDs.

Learn how to perform bulk deletion of NetBox objects via the NetBox API using Postman by passing a list of IDs and validating removals.

Learn to use brief format in the NetBox REST API to return a minimal object representation, such as id, name, slug, and description, reducing payload and speeding up large-scale automations.

Learn how NetBox handles API response pagination, including max page size, default 50 per page, and how Ansible and Pynetbox manage pagination to fetch all objects.

Configure an Ansible inventory to manage multiple NetBox instances (local, cloud, AWS) using URLs and tokens from .env, and create sites across all deployments via the NetBox module.

Connect to the Netbox API using the Python Request Library to fetch endpoint options, set up headers from environment variables, and print status choices for dynamic discovery and validation.

Automate NetBox site creation with an Ansible playbook that reads csv, yaml, or json data. Utilize the netbox_site module to define name, region, site group, and tenant, ensuring idempotent changes.

Learn to delete NetBox locations and sites with an Ansible playbook by fetching all items via the NetBox API, iterating results by name, site, and slug, and handling pagination.

Learn to perform a bulk delete of NetBox sites by extracting IDs with Ansible, constructing a list of id dictionaries, and calling the API delete endpoint with authorization headers.

learn to handle NetBox API pagination with Ansible by looping through pages, collecting all sites data, and using next page logic.

Learn to use the NetBox lookup plugin to query NetBox data with query filters, apply single and multi-condition filters, pass variables, and run filtered data in Ansible tasks.

Use yaml anchors and aliases in Ansible to share variables across NetBox api tasks, reducing repetition and merging values into json outputs for sites, locations, and site groups.

Explore PyNetBox, the official Python API client for NetBox, and learn how it abstracts HTTP requests for easy CRUD operations, pagination, filtering, and bulk actions on NetBox objects like sites.

Create NetBox sites from a CSV using Pynetbox in Python. Convert CSV rows into dictionaries and pass them to sites.create with name, slug, status, region, and group.

Learn to update and sync NetBox sites from a CSV using PyNetBox, handling existing sites with an idempotent-like approach that uses GET, POST, PATCH, and conditional create or update.

Implement custom idempotency with PyNetBox to update NetBox sites only when changes occur, avoiding patch requests by comparing CSV data with site fields like name, status, description, region, and tenant.

Learn to use Pynetbox filters to query NetBox, including active sites, regional filters, id lookups, not-equal tests, and multi-condition queries, with generator behavior and counting results.

Get object counts in NetBox efficiently with Pynetbox by using the lightweight site.count method, including applying filters to tally active sites even in large datasets.

Understand the difference between filter and get in Pynetbox: filter returns multiple results as a record set, while get returns a single object. Apply fail-fast validation to catch inconsistencies.

Reset the NetBox environment by deleting tenants, tenant groups, region, site groups, sites, and locations using a PyNetBox script in the NetBox automation with Ansible & Python masterclass.

Automate NetBox organizational hierarchy by creating tenant groups and regions with Ansible and Python, importing from CSV files, and resetting and rebuilding data as needed.

Automate NetBox data management by creating tenants, site groups, sites, and locations with an Ansible playbook, reading structured CSV data for corporate division and customer A.

Create contact groups, roles, and contacts in NetBox by manual import or an Ansible playbook, using CSV data in org root and tenant level, then verify site assignments.

Learn to assign contacts to NetBox objects using Ansible playbooks, defining contact roles, groups, and priorities. Practice CSV import and object-level mapping with sites and a reset script.

Master building a complete NetBox organizational hierarchy with a single Ansible playbook, combining tenants, regions, site groups, sites, locations, and contact assignments from CSV data.

Create a complete NetBox organizational hierarchy with a single Python script using PyNetbox, reading CSV data from org root to build tenant groups, regions, sites, locations, and contact assignments.

Learn to create and manage racks in NetBox using csv import, including manufacturers, rack types, and rack roles, and prepare for automation with ansible and python.

Create rack manufacturers and rack roles in netbox using data from the ansible_data directory and the device manufacturer and rack role modules, with slug, color, and description.

learn to create rack types in NetBox using the Ansible URI module via the NetBox API, with CSV data, Swagger validation, and handling idempotency limitations until a module exists.

Learn how to create racks at scale in NetBox using Ansible URI, mapping rack types via API, and handling idempotency, pagination, and errors while building a racks creation playbook.

Implement a basic idempotent rack creation workflow in NetBox with Ansible and Python: read racks from a CSV, check existence, then POST or PATCH accordingly.

Orchestrate end-to-end rack provisioning with a single Ansible playbook, combining manufacturer, role, rack type, and rack creation via NetBox API while demonstrating idempotency and script execution.

Learn end-to-end rack orchestration in NetBox using a single Python script, including a reset, payload creation, and automated creation of manufacturers, rack roles, rack types, and racks.

Explore manual device onboarding in NetBox via CSV import, define manufacturers, device roles, platforms, and device types, and import a single device into a rack with an optional name.

Provision device manufacturers and device roles in NetBox using an Ansible playbook that reads csv data and creates manufacturers and device roles with name, slug, color, and description.

Programmatically download NetBox device types and module types from the community GitHub using an Ansible playbook, with Arista and Cisco examples.

Learn to download NetBox community library device and module types with a Python script, mirroring the Ansible approach, including directory setup, parsing a vars file, and robust download logic.

Build and run a NetBox custom device type importer with a Python script and Ansible playbook, creating manufacturers, building payloads, and syncing interfaces, module bases, and console and power ports.

Define device platforms with an Ansible playbook by reading a CSV and creating platforms (name, slug, manufacturer) via the NetBox platform module.

Add devices to NetBox using an Ansible playbook, reading a CSV and populating the NetBox device module with name, device type, site, rack, rack position, tenant, and status.

Automate end-to-end device provisioning in NetBox with Python, deleting old data and recreating 95 devices from a CSV, including device types, roles, and platforms via a sync resource workflow.

Adopt a clear device assignment strategy in NetBox by standardizing names (site–role–number), mapping models to device roles, and importing device and module types with Python scripts and Ansible.