Netbox Update Device Interfaces Task¤

The Netbox Update Device Interfaces Task is a feature of the NorFab Netbox Service that allows you to synchronize and update the interface data of your network devices in Netbox. This task ensures that the interface configurations in Netbox are accurate and up-to-date, reflecting the current state of your network infrastructure.

Keeping interface data accurate and up-to-date is crucial for effective network management. The Netbox Update Device Interfaces Task automates the process of updating interface information, such as interface names, statuses, mac addresses, and other relevant details.

How it works - Netbox worker on a call to update interfaces task fetches live data from network devices using nominated datasource, by default it is Nornir service parse task using NAPALM get_interfaces getter. Once data retrieved from network, Netbox worker updates records in Netbox database for device interfaces.

Netbox Update Device Interfaces

Client submits and on-demand request to NorFab Netbox worker to update device interfaces
Netbox worker sends job request to nominated datasource service to fetch live data from network devices
Datasource service fetches data from the network
Datasource returns devices interfaces data back to Netbox Service worker
Netbox worker processes device interfaces data and updates records in Netbox for requested devices

Limitations¤

Datasource nornir uses NAPALM get_interfaces getter and as such only supports these device platforms:

Arista EOS
Cisco IOS
Cisco IOSXR
Cisco NXOS
Juniper JUNOS

Update Device Interfaces Sample Usage¤

NORFAB Netbox Update Device Interfaces Command Shell Reference¤

NorFab shell supports these command options for Netbox update_device_interfaces task:

nf# man tree netbox.update.device.interfaces
root
└── netbox:    Netbox service
    └── update:    Update Netbox data
        └── device:    Update device data
            └── interfaces:    Update device interfaces
                ├── timeout:    Job timeout
                ├── workers:    Filter workers to target, default 'any'
                ├── instance:    Netbox instance name to target
                ├── dry_run:    Return information that would be pushed to Netbox but do not push it
                ├── devices:    Devices to update
                └── datasource:    Service to use to retrieve device data, default 'nornir'
                    └── nornir:    Use Nornir service to retrieve data from devices
                        ├── add_details:    Add task details to results, default 'False'
                        ├── run_num_workers:    RetryRunner number of threads for tasks execution
                        ├── run_num_connectors:    RetryRunner number of threads for device connections
                        ├── run_connect_retry:    RetryRunner number of connection attempts
                        ├── run_task_retry:    RetryRunner number of attempts to run task
                        ├── run_reconnect_on_fail:    RetryRunner perform reconnect to host on task failure
                        ├── run_connect_check:    RetryRunner test TCP connection before opening actual connection
                        ├── run_connect_timeout:    RetryRunner timeout in seconds to wait for test TCP connection to establish
                        ├── run_creds_retry:    RetryRunner list of connection credentials and parameters to retry
                        ├── tf:    File group name to save task results to on worker file system
                        ├── tf_skip_failed:    Save results to file for failed tasks
                        ├── diff:    File group name to run the diff for
                        ├── diff_last:    File version number to diff, default is 1 (last)
                        └── progress:    Display progress events, default 'True'
nf#

Python API Reference¤

Function to update device interfaces in Netbox using information provided by NAPALM get_interfaces getter:

interface name
interface description
mtu
mac address
admin status
speed

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
`instance`	`str`	Netbox instance name	`None`
`dry_run`	`bool`	return information that would be pushed to Netbox but do not push it	`False`
`datasource`	`str`	service name to use to retrieve devices' data, default is nornir parse task	`'nornir'`
`timeout`	`int`	seconds to wait before timeout data retrieval job	`60`
`create`	`bool`	create missing interfaces	`True`
`kwargs`		any additional arguments to send to service for device data retrieval	`{}`

Returns:

Type	Description
`dict`	dictionary keyed by device name with update details

Source code in norfab\workers\netbox_worker.py

def update_device_interfaces(
    self,
    instance: str = None,
    dry_run: bool = False,
    datasource: str = "nornir",
    timeout: int = 60,
    devices: list = None,
    create: bool = True,
    **kwargs,
) -> dict:
    """
    Function to update device interfaces in Netbox using information
    provided by NAPALM get_interfaces getter:

    - interface name
    - interface description
    - mtu
    - mac address
    - admin status
    - speed

    :param instance: Netbox instance name
    :param dry_run: return information that would be pushed to Netbox but do not push it
    :param datasource: service name to use to retrieve devices' data, default is nornir parse task
    :param timeout: seconds to wait before timeout data retrieval job
    :param create: create missing interfaces
    :param kwargs: any additional arguments to send to service for device data retrieval
    :returns: dictionary keyed by device name with update details
    """
    result = {}
    ret = Result(task=f"{self.name}:update_device_interfaces", result=result)
    nb = self._get_pynetbox(instance)

    if datasource == "nornir":
        if devices:
            kwargs["FL"] = devices
        kwargs["getters"] = "get_interfaces"
        data = self.client.run_job(
            "nornir",
            "parse",
            kwargs=kwargs,
            workers="all",
            timeout=timeout,
        )
        for worker, results in data.items():
            for host, host_data in results["result"].items():
                updated, created = {}, {}
                result[host] = {
                    "update_device_interfaces_dry_run"
                    if dry_run
                    else "update_device_interfaces": updated,
                    "created_device_interfaces_dry_run"
                    if dry_run
                    else "created_device_interfaces": created,
                }
                interfaces = host_data["napalm_get"]["get_interfaces"]
                nb_device = nb.dcim.devices.get(name=host)
                if not nb_device:
                    raise Exception(f"'{host}' does not exist in Netbox")
                nb_interfaces = nb.dcim.interfaces.filter(device_id=nb_device.id)
                # update existing interfaces
                for nb_interface in nb_interfaces:
                    if nb_interface.name not in interfaces:
                        continue
                    interface = interfaces.pop(nb_interface.name)
                    nb_interface.description = interface["description"]
                    nb_interface.mtu = interface["mtu"]
                    nb_interface.speed = interface["speed"] * 1000
                    nb_interface.mac_address = interface["mac_address"]
                    nb_interface.enabled = interface["is_enabled"]
                    if dry_run is not True:
                        nb_interface.save()
                    updated[nb_interface.name] = interface
                    self.event(f"{host} - updated interface {nb_interface.name}")
                # create new interfaces
                if create is not True:
                    continue
                for interface_name, interface in interfaces.items():
                    interface["type"] = "other"
                    nb_interface = nb.dcim.interfaces.create(
                        name=interface_name,
                        device={"name": nb_device.name},
                        type=interface["type"],
                    )
                    nb_interface.description = interface["description"]
                    nb_interface.mtu = interface["mtu"]
                    nb_interface.speed = interface["speed"] * 1000
                    nb_interface.mac_address = interface["mac_address"]
                    nb_interface.enabled = interface["is_enabled"]
                    if dry_run is not True:
                        nb_interface.save()
                    created[interface_name] = interface
                    self.event(f"{host} - created interface {nb_interface.name}")
    else:
        raise UnsupportedServiceError(f"'{datasource}' service not supported")

    return ret