How to Install Netbox on NetBSD

Netbox is an open-source IPAM and DCIM tool developed by DigitalOcean that helps network administrators manage network assets such as IP addresses, devices, circuits, and passwords. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Netbox on a NetBSD machine.

Prerequisites

Before starting the installation process, you need to ensure that your NetBSD machine meets the following requirements:

• A clean installation of NetBSD
• Root access to the system
• Python 3
• PostgreSQL

Step 1: Install Required Packages

Before installing Netbox, make sure that your system is up to date by running the following command:

# pkgin update

Next, install the following required packages:

# pkgin install py37-pip py37-virtualenv postgresql13-server

Step 2: Install Netbox

You can easily install Netbox by cloning the source code from the official GitHub repository to your local machine.

# cd /usr/local/www
# git clone -b release https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git

Next, create a virtual environment for Netbox and activate it by running the following commands:

# cd netbox
# python3 -m venv venv
# . venv/bin/activate

Then, install the required Python packages by running:

# pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 3: Configure PostgreSQL

Netbox uses PostgreSQL as a backend database. Before you can start using Netbox, you need to create a database and a user account for it.

# sudo -u pgsql /usr/pkg/bin/initdb -D /var/postgresql/data13
# /etc/rc.d/postgresql13 start

Next, create a new database and a user account for Netbox:

# sudo -u pgsql psql
CREATE DATABASE netbox;
CREATE USER netbox WITH PASSWORD 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE netbox TO netbox;
\q

Step 4: Configure Netbox

Now, you need to configure Netbox to use the PostgreSQL database. Copy the example configuration file to the main configuration file:

# cp netbox/netbox/configuration.example.py netbox/netbox/configuration.py

Then, edit the configuration file by running:

# vi netbox/netbox/configuration.py

Update the following parameters as shown below:

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
DATABASE = {
    'NAME': 'netbox',
    'USER': 'netbox',
    'PASSWORD': 'password',
    'HOST': 'localhost',
    'PORT': '',
    'CONN_MAX_AGE': 300,
}

Step 5: Run Netbox

You can now start the built-in development server for testing purposes:

# python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

This will start the server on port 8000, and you can access the web interface by opening your web browser and entering the following URL: http://your_netbsd_ip:8000/.

To run Netbox in production stage, you need to create a symbolic link from the netbox/netbox/wsgi.py file to your web server's configuration folder.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install Netbox on a NetBSD machine. Once installed, you can use Netbox to manage your network assets and configurations with ease.

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!