Getting Started

<h1>Getting Started</h1>

This guide documents the process of installing NetBox on an Ubuntu 14.04 server with [nginx](https://www.nginx.com/) and [gunicorn](http://gunicorn.org/).

[TOC]

# PostgreSQL

## Installation

The following packages are needed to install PostgreSQL:

* postgresql
* libpq-dev
* python-psycopg2

```
# apt-get install postgresql libpq-dev python-psycopg2
```

## Configuration

At a minimum, we need to create a database for NetBox and assign it a username and password for authentication. This is done with the following commands.

DO NOT USE THE PASSWORD FROM THE EXAMPLE.

```
# sudo -u postgres psql
psql (9.3.13)
Type "help" for help.

postgres=# CREATE DATABASE netbox;
CREATE DATABASE
postgres=# CREATE USER netbox WITH PASSWORD 'J5brHrAXFLQSif0K';
CREATE ROLE
postgres=# GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE netbox TO netbox;
GRANT
postgres=# \q
```

You can verify that authentication works using the following command:

```
# psql -U netbox -h localhost -W
```

---

# NetBox

## Dependencies

* python2.7
* python-dev
* git
* python-pip
* libxml2-dev
* libxslt1-dev
* libffi-dev
* graphviz*

```
# apt-get install python2.7 python-dev git python-pip libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libffi-dev graphviz
```

*graphviz is needed to render topology maps. If you have no need for this feature, graphviz is not required. 

## Clone the Git Repository

Create the base directory for the NetBox installation. For this guide, we'll use `/opt/netbox`.

```
# mkdir -p /opt/netbox/
# cd /opt/netbox/
```

Next, clone the NetBox git repository into the current directory:

```
# git clone https://github.com/digitalocean/netbox.git .
Cloning into '.'...
remote: Counting objects: 1994, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (150/150), done.
remote: Total 1994 (delta 80), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 1842
Receiving objects: 100% (1994/1994), 472.36 KiB | 0 bytes/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (1495/1495), done.
Checking connectivity... done.
```

Install the necessary Python packages using pip. (If you encounter any compilation errors during this step, ensure that you've installed all of the required dependencies.)

```
# pip install -r requirements.txt
```

## Configuration

Move into the NetBox configuration directory and make a copy of `configuration.example.py` named `configuration.py`.

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

Open `configuration.py` with your preferred editor and set the following variables:
 
* ALLOWED_HOSTS
* DATABASE
* SECRET_KEY

### ALLOWED_HOSTS

This is a list of the valid hostnames by which this server can be reached. You must specify at least one name or IP address.

Example:

```
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['netbox.example.com', '192.0.2.123']
```

### DATABASE

This parameter holds the database configuration details. You must define the username and password used when you configured PostgreSQL. If the service is running on a remote host, replace `localhost` with its address.

Example:

```
DATABASE = {
    'NAME': 'netbox',               # Database name
    'USER': 'netbox',               # PostgreSQL username
    'PASSWORD': 'J5brHrAXFLQSif0K', # PostgreSQL password
    'HOST': 'localhost',            # Database server
    'PORT': '',                     # Database port (leave blank for default)
}
```

### SECRET_KEY

Generate a random secret key of at least 50 alphanumeric characters. This key must be unique to this installation and must not be shared outside the local system.

You may use the script located at `netbox/generate_secret_key.py` to generate a suitable key.

## Run Migrations

Before NetBox can run, we need to install the database schema. This is done by running `./manage.py migrate` from the `netbox` directory (`/opt/netbox/netbox/` in our example):

```
# ./manage.py migrate
Operations to perform:
  Apply all migrations: dcim, sessions, admin, ipam, utilities, auth, circuits, contenttypes, extras, secrets, users
Running migrations:
  Rendering model states... DONE
  Applying contenttypes.0001_initial... OK
  Applying auth.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0001_initial... OK
  ...
```

If this step results in a PostgreSQL authentication error, ensure that the username and password created in the database match what has been specified in `configuration.py`

## Create a Super User

NetBox does not come with any predefined user accounts. You'll need to create a super user to be able to log into NetBox:

```
# ./manage.py createsuperuser
Username: admin
Email address: admin@example.com
Password: 
Password (again): 
Superuser created successfully.
```

## Collect Static Files

```
# ./manage.py collectstatic

You have requested to collect static files at the destination
location as specified in your settings:

    /opt/netbox/netbox/static

This will overwrite existing files!
Are you sure you want to do this?

Type 'yes' to continue, or 'no' to cancel: yes
```

## Test the Application

At this point, NetBox should be able to run. We can verify this by starting a development instance:

```
# ./manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure
Performing system checks...

System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
June 17, 2016 - 16:17:36
Django version 1.9.7, using settings 'netbox.settings'
Starting development server at http://0.0.0.0:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
```

Now if we navigate to the name or IP of the server (as defined in `ALLOWED_HOSTS`) we should be greeted with the NetBox home page. Note that this built-in web service is for development and testing purposes only. It is not suited for production use.

If the test service does not run, or you cannot reach the NetBox home page, something has gone wrong. Do not proceed with the rest of this guide until the installation has been corrected.

# Web Server and gunicorn

## Installation

We'll set up a simple HTTP front end using [gunicorn](http://gunicorn.org/) for the purposes of this guide. For web servers, we have 2 configurations ready to go - we provide instructions for both [nginx](https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/)and [Apache](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4). (You are of course free to use whichever combination of HTTP and WSGI services you'd like.) We'll also use [supervisord](http://supervisord.org/) for service persistence. 

```
# apt-get install gunicorn supervisor
```

## nginx Configuration

The following will serve as a minimal nginx configuration. Be sure to modify your server name and installation path appropriately.

```
# apt-get install nginx
```

Once nginx is installed, proceed with the following configuration:

```
server {
    listen 80;

    server_name netbox.example.com;

    access_log off;

    location /static/ {
        alias /opt/netbox/netbox/static/;
    }

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8001;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $server_name;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        add_header P3P 'CP="ALL DSP COR PSAa PSDa OUR NOR ONL UNI COM NAV"';
    }
}
```

Save this configuration to `/etc/nginx/sites-available/netbox`. Then, delete `/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default` and create a symlink in the `sites-enabled` directory to the configuration file you just created.

```
# cd /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
# rm default
# ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/netbox 
```

Restart the nginx service to use the new configuration.

```
# service nginx restart
 * Restarting nginx nginx
```
## Apache Configuration

If you're feeling adventurous, or you already have Apache installed and can't run a dual-stack on your server - an Apache configuration has been created:

```
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ServerName netbox.totallycool.tld

    Alias /static/ /opt/netbox/static/static

    <Directory /opt/netbox/netbox/static>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
        AllowOverride None
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
        #Require all granted [UNCOMMENT THIS IF RUNNING APACHE 2.4]
    </Directory>

    <Location /static>
        ProxyPass !
    </Location>

    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8001;
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8001;
</VirtualHost>
```

Save the contents of the above example in `/etc/apache2/sites-available/netbox.conf`, add in the newly saved configuration and reload Apache:

```
# a2ensite netbox; service apache2 restart
```

## gunicorn Configuration

Save the following configuration file in the root netbox installation path (in this example, `/opt/netbox/`.) as `gunicorn_config.py`. Be sure to verify the location of the gunicorn executable (e.g. `which gunicorn`) and to update the `pythonpath` variable if needed.

```
command = '/usr/bin/gunicorn'
pythonpath = '/opt/netbox/netbox'
bind = '127.0.0.1:8001'
workers = 3
user = 'www-data'
```

## supervisord Configuration

Save the following as `/etc/supervisor/conf.d/netbox.conf`. Update the `command` and `directory` paths as needed.

```
[program:netbox]
command = gunicorn -c /opt/netbox/gunicorn_config.py netbox.wsgi
directory = /opt/netbox/netbox/
user = www-data
```

Finally, restart the supervisor service to detect and run the gunicorn service:

```
# service supervisor restart
```

At this point, you should be able to connect to the nginx HTTP service at the server name or IP address you provided. If you are unable to connect, check that the nginx service is running and properly configured. If you receive a 502 (bad gateway) error, this indicates that gunicorn is misconfigured or not running.

Please keep in mind that the configurations provided here are a bare minimum to get NetBox up and running. You will almost certainly want to make some changes to better suit your production environment.