# Installation

This section of the documentation discusses installing and configuring the NetBox application. Begin by installing all system packages required by NetBox and its dependencies:

**Ubuntu**

```no-highlight
# apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip python3-dev build-essential libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libffi-dev graphviz libpq-dev libssl-dev redis-server zlib1g-dev
```

**CentOS**

```no-highlight
# yum install -y epel-release
# yum install -y gcc python36 python36-devel python36-setuptools libxml2-devel libxslt-devel libffi-devel graphviz openssl-devel redhat-rpm-config redis
# easy_install-3.6 pip
# ln -s /usr/bin/python36 /usr/bin/python3
```

You may opt to install NetBox either from a numbered release or by cloning the master branch of its repository on GitHub.

## Option A: Download a Release

Download the [latest stable release](https://github.com/digitalocean/netbox/releases) from GitHub as a tarball or ZIP archive and extract it to your desired path. In this example, we'll use `/opt/netbox`.

```no-highlight
# wget https://github.com/digitalocean/netbox/archive/vX.Y.Z.tar.gz
# tar -xzf vX.Y.Z.tar.gz -C /opt
# cd /opt/
# ln -s netbox-X.Y.Z/ netbox
# cd /opt/netbox/
```

## Option B: Clone the Git Repository

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

```no-highlight
# mkdir -p /opt/netbox/ && cd /opt/netbox/
```

If `git` is not already installed, install it:

**Ubuntu**

```no-highlight
# apt-get install -y git
```

**CentOS**

```no-highlight
# yum install -y git
```

Next, clone the **master** branch of the NetBox GitHub repository into the current directory:

```no-highlight
# git clone -b master 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.
```

!!! warning
    Ensure that the media directory (`/opt/netbox/netbox/media/` in this example) and all its subdirectories are writable by the user account as which NetBox runs. If the NetBox process does not have permission to write to this directory, attempts to upload files (e.g. image attachments) will fail. (The appropriate user account will vary by platform.)

    `# chown -R netbox:netbox /opt/netbox/netbox/media/`

# Install Python Packages

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

```no-highlight
# pip3 install -r requirements.txt
```

!!! note
    If you encounter errors while installing the required packages, check that you're running a recent version of pip (v9.0.1 or higher) with the command `pip3 -V`.

## NAPALM Automation (Optional)

NetBox supports integration with the [NAPALM automation](https://napalm-automation.net/) library. NAPALM allows NetBox to fetch live data from devices and return it to a requester via its REST API. Installation of NAPALM is optional. To enable it, install the `napalm` package using pip or pip3:

```no-highlight
# pip3 install napalm
```

# Configuration

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

```no-highlight
# 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:

```python
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:

```python
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.

!!! note
    In the case of a highly available installation with multiple web servers, `SECRET_KEY` must be identical among all servers in order to maintain a persistent user session state.

## Webhooks Configuration

If you have opted to enable the webhooks, set `WEBHOOKS_ENABLED = True` and define the relevant `REDIS` database parameters. Below is an example:

```python
WEBHOOKS_ENABLED = True
REDIS = {
    'HOST': 'localhost',
    'PORT': 6379,
    'PASSWORD': '',
    'DATABASE': 0,
    'DEFAULT_TIMEOUT': 300,
}
```

# Run Database Migrations

Before NetBox can run, we need to install the database schema. This is done by running `python3 manage.py migrate` from the `netbox` directory (`/opt/netbox/netbox/` in our example):

```no-highlight
# cd /opt/netbox/netbox/
# python3 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:

```no-highlight
# python3 manage.py createsuperuser
Username: admin
Email address: admin@example.com
Password:
Password (again):
Superuser created successfully.
```

# Collect Static Files

```no-highlight
# python3 manage.py collectstatic --no-input

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
```

# Load Initial Data (Optional)

NetBox ships with some initial data to help you get started: RIR definitions, common devices roles, etc. You can delete any seed data that you don't want to keep.

!!! note
    This step is optional. It's perfectly fine to start using NetBox without using this initial data if you'd rather create everything from scratch.

```no-highlight
# python3 manage.py loaddata initial_data
Installed 43 object(s) from 4 fixture(s)
```

# Test the Application

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

```no-highlight
# python3 manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure
Performing system checks...

System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
November 28, 2018 - 09:33:45
Django version 2.0.9, using settings 'netbox.settings'
Starting development server at http://0.0.0.0:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
```

Next, connect to the name or IP of the server (as defined in `ALLOWED_HOSTS`) on port 8000; for example, <http://127.0.0.1:8000/>. You 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.**

!!! warning
    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.
