NetBox is an open-source web application used for managing and tracking IP addresses, network devices, and infrastructure. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing NetBox on a Debian latest operating system.
Before proceeding with the installation, it is best to check if your Debian system is up-to-date. Run the following commands to update the index of available packages and upgrade your existing packages:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
After updating, we need to install some required packages for NetBox to run successfully. Use the following command:
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev build-essential libxml2 libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev zlib1g-dev libffi-dev libpq-dev git
We will download the NetBox source code from the official Github repository by issuing the following commands:
git clone https://github.com/digitalocean/netbox.git
cd netbox/
Once you are in the NetBox directory, create and activate a new Python virtual environment for NetBox using the following commands:
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
Next, install Python dependencies for NetBox by running:
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
We need to configure some settings to enable NetBox to connect to the database. For this, we will create a configuration file by making a copy of the netbox/netbox/configuration.example.py file:
cp netbox/netbox/configuration.example.py netbox/netbox/configuration.py
Next, open the netbox/netbox/configuration.py file in your preferred text editor and set the following database settings:
DATABASE = {
'NAME': 'netbox',
'USER': 'netbox',
'PASSWORD': 'your-password-here',
'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
'PORT': '',
'CONN_MAX_AGE': 300,
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
}
Replace the database name, username, and password with your own.
We created a configuration file in the previous step. Now, we need to prepare the database for NetBox's initial use. Run the following commands to create a new PostgreSQL database:
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE netbox;"
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE USER netbox WITH PASSWORD 'your-password-here';"
sudo -u postgres psql -c "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE netbox TO netbox;"
sudo -u postgres psql -c "ALTER USER netbox CREATEDB;"
Before running NetBox, we need to Apply the initial database migrations using the following commands:
./manage.py migrate
After the migrations are applied, we need to create a superuser account:
./manage.py createsuperuser
You will be prompted to enter your credentials to create your superuser account.
Finally, run the following command to start NetBox:
./manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
Now you can access the NetBox web application by visiting http://server-ip:8000/ in your browser.
In this tutorial, we explained how to install NetBox on a Debian latest operating system. By now, you should have successfully installed and started NetBox, and you can start using it to manage and track IP addresses, network devices, and infrastructure.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
