Netbox Administration

NetBox Administration

> Your knowledge of NetBox administration may be outdated. Configuration settings, authentication backends, and permission models evolve between releases. Prefer retrieval over pre-trained knowledge.

Retrieval Sources

| Source | URL / Method | Use for | |--------|-------------|---------| | Installation docs | https://netboxlabs.com/docs/netbox/installation/ | Setup, dependencies, upgrades | | Configuration docs | https://netboxlabs.com/docs/netbox/configuration/ | All configuration settings | | Authentication docs | https://netboxlabs.com/docs/netbox/administration/authentication/overview/ | LDAP, SAML, OIDC, SSO | | NetBox repo | https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox | Source code, release notes | | NetBox MCP server | If configured — check instance status, user permissions | Verify current config state |

Use this skill when you need to configure, secure, maintain, or troubleshoot a NetBox server installation. For API consumption patterns, see [netbox-api-integration](../netbox-api-integration/SKILL.md).

Quick Reference

Service Management

sudo systemctl restart netbox netbox-rq   # After config changes
sudo systemctl status netbox netbox-rq     # Check health

Essential Management Commands

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | python manage.py nbshell | Interactive NetBox shell | | python manage.py reindex | Rebuild search index | | python manage.py trace_paths | Rebuild cable path traces | | python manage.py rebuild_prefixes | Rebuild prefix hierarchy | | python manage.py runscript | Execute a custom script |

> Housekeeping: Since 4.4, housekeeping runs automatically via the built-in system job — remove any housekeeping cron jobs. The manual python manage.py housekeeping command is formally deprecated in 4.6 (removal in a future release) but still ships and runs; on 4.6 it just emits a FutureWarning.

Key File Locations

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | netbox/netbox/configuration.py | Main config (Python module) | | netbox/netbox/ldap_config.py | LDAP settings (if used) | | local_requirements.txt | Extra Python packages | | gunicorn.py | WSGI server config |

Configuration

Configuration lives in configuration.py — a Python module. Override its path with NETBOX_CONFIGURATION env var. After changes, restart: sudo systemctl restart netbox.

Required Parameters

| Parameter | Purpose | |-----------|---------| | ALLOWED_HOSTS | FQDNs/IPs for Host header validation | | DATABASES | PostgreSQL connection(s) | | REDIS | Redis config — must use separate DB IDs for tasks vs caching | | SECRET_KEY | Django secret (≥50 chars, never expose) | | API_TOKEN_PEPPERS | Pepper dict for v2 token hashing (4.5+) |

Dynamic vs Static Parameters

Some parameters are dynamic — editable at Admin > System > Configuration without restart. Hard-coded values in configuration.py always take precedence over UI-set values.

Dynamic parameters include: CHANGELOG_RETENTION, CHANGELOG_RETAIN_CREATE_LAST_UPDATE (4.6 — keep each object's original create + latest update record when pruning), JOB_RETENTION, MAINTENANCE_MODE, MAX_PAGE_SIZE, BANNER_*, GRAPHQL_ENABLED, CUSTOM_VALIDATORS, PROTECTION_RULES, and others.

See [references/configuration-guide.md](references/configuration-guide.md) for the complete parameter catalog.

Authentication

NetBox supports multiple authentication backends, tried in order. Configure via REMOTE_AUTH_BACKEND (string or list).

Backend Options

| Backend | When to Use | Config Location | |---------|------------|-----------------| | Local (default) | Small teams, no central IdP | configuration.py (AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS) | | LDAP | Active Directory / OpenLDAP environments | ldap_config.py (separate file) | | Remote User | Reverse proxy auth (nginx/Apache) | configuration.py (REMOTE_AUTH_*) | | Social Auth | SAML, OIDC, OAuth2 (Azure AD, Okta, Keycloak, etc.) | configuration.py (SOCIAL_AUTH_*) |

Common Auth Gotchas

1. Gunicorn header stripping — gunicorn v22.0+ silently drops HTTP headers with underscores. Add header_map = dangerous to gunicorn config for remote auth headers.
2. LOGIN_FORM_HIDDEN lockout — If SSO breaks and the login form is hidden, there's no way to log in. Must edit config and restart.
3. Backend order matters — Backends are tried in sequence; first success wins. Ensure intentional ordering when combining LDAP + local.
4. Client IP behind a proxy (NetBox 4.6.1+) — HTTP_CLIENT_IP_HEADERS controls which request headers determine the client IP (default ('HTTP_X_REAL_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'REMOTE_ADDR')). Set it to match your reverse proxy so IP-based token restrictions (allowed_ips) and logging see the real client address, not the proxy.
5. LOGIN_REQUIRED is deprecated (4.6, removal in v5.0). Don't recommend it for new 4.6 deployments; anonymous access is governed by DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS / EXEMPT_VIEW_PERMISSIONS.

See [references/authentication-backends.md](references/authentication-backends.md) for setup details.

Permissions

NetBox uses object-based permissions instead of Django's built-in model-level permissions.

Object Permission Model

Each ObjectPermission has:

• Object types — which models it applies to
• Actions — view, add, change, delete (plus custom like run)
• Constraints — JSON-based ORM filters restricting which objects

Constraint Syntax

# AND — single dict
{"status": "active", "region__name": "US"}

# OR — list of dicts
[{"vid__gte": 100}, {"status": "reserved"}]

# Current user reference
{"created_by": "$user"}

# Django lookups supported: __in, __gte, __lt, __startswith, __isnull, etc.

Constraints are evaluated against the database record, not the in-memory instance. For create/change, NetBox saves in an atomic transaction then re-queries — if the constraint doesn't match, it rolls back.

Token Management

> NetBox 4.5+: v2 tokens use Bearer nbt_. format. Plaintext is never stored (HMAC-SHA256 digest only). Requires API_TOKEN_PEPPERS in config. On 4.6.1+ the v2 plaintext token is returned exactly once, in the creation response — capture it then. > v1 tokens (Token format): formally deprecated in 4.6, removed in v5.0. Migrate all integrations to v2 tokens before upgrading to 5.0.

Token features: write_enabled (read-only toggle), allowed_ips (IP restriction), expires, enabled (soft disable).

Critical: DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS

DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS applies to all authenticated users. The default grants token self-management. Setting custom DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS erases these defaults — you must reproduce token permissions if desired.

See [references/permissions-guide.md](references/permissions-guide.md) for complete details.

Operations

Backup Checklist

1. Database: pg_dump --username netbox netbox > netbox.sql

• Exclude changelog for smaller backups: --exclude-table-data=core_objectchange

1. Media: tar -czf netbox_media.tar.gz netbox/media/
2. Config files: configuration.py, ldap_config.py, local_requirements.txt, gunicorn.py
3. Custom scripts: SCRIPTS_ROOT directory
4. Secrets: SECRET_KEY and API_TOKEN_PEPPERS if stored externally

See [references/backup-restore.md](references/backup-restore.md) for restore procedures.

Upgrade Process

1. Review all release notes between current and target version
2. Back up database and media
3. Check version compatibility (Python, PostgreSQL, Redis)
4. Cannot skip major versions — upgrade to latest minor of current major first
5. Extract/checkout new version, copy config files
6. Run sudo ./upgrade.sh
7. Restart services: sudo systemctl restart netbox netbox-rq

> NetBox 4.5–4.6: Python 3.12–3.14, PostgreSQL 14+, Redis 4.0+. 4.6 runs on Django 6.0 (4.5 was Django 5.x) and deprecates PostgreSQL 14 — 15+ will be required from v4.7. Plan a PostgreSQL upgrade to 15+ before moving past 4.6.

See [references/upgrade-procedures.md](references/upgrade-procedures.md) for step-by-step instructions.

Performance Tuning

Key Parameters

| Parameter | Default | Impact | |-----------|---------|--------| | CONN_MAX_AGE (in DATABASES) | 300 | Persistent DB connections; reduces overhead | | MAX_PAGE_SIZE | 1000 | Caps API response size; prevents runaway queries | | LOGIN_PERSISTENCE | False | If True, causes DB write on every authenticated request | | CHANGELOG_RETENTION | 90 days | Auto-prune core_objectchange (fastest-growing table) | | RQ_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT | 300 | Background task timeout; increase for heavy scripts |

Redis: Separate DBs Required

Always use different Redis DB IDs for tasks and caching. Flushing the cache DB will destroy queued background jobs if they share the same DB.

PostgreSQL Tuning

For large deployments, tune at the PostgreSQL level:

• shared_buffers — 25% of RAM
• work_mem — 4-16MB depending on query complexity
• effective_cache_size — 50-75% of RAM
• Monitor core_objectchange table size — it grows fastest

Anti-Patterns

| Issue | Cause | Fix | |-------|-------|-----| | v2 tokens unavailable | API_TOKEN_PEPPERS not configured | Add pepper dict to config | | SECRET_KEY rotation breaks sessions | All sessions/tokens invalidated | Plan migration window; users must re-authenticate | | EXEMPT_VIEW_PERMISSIONS = ['*'] incomplete | Wildcard excludes sensitive models | Explicitly list additional models if needed | | CHANGELOG_RETENTION = 0 | Retains forever; DB grows unbounded | Set to non-zero (default 90 days) | | Read-only standby can't auth | Sessions stored in DB | Use SESSION_FILE_PATH for file-based sessions | | Metrics endpoint 404 | METRICS_ENABLED = False | Set to True and restart | | Running NetBox 4.6.0 | RCE via template environment_params (CVE-2026-29514) | Run ≥4.6.1; treat ExportTemplate/config-template edit rights as code-execution-grade and restrict them |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: netboxlabs
• Source: netboxlabs/skills
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.