Install NetBox from scratch

From a fresh Linux server to a NetBox instance behind HTTPS, ready for users. PostgreSQL, Redis, NetBox itself, gunicorn, then the web server you choose.

NetBox is four moving parts: a PostgreSQL database, a Redis cache, the Django application served by gunicorn, and a web server in front of it for HTTPS. We install them in that order, checking each one before moving on.

Before you start

$sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

PostgreSQL

$sudo apt install -y postgresql

Check

$psql --version

Expected output

psql (PostgreSQL) 16.x

Create the database and its owner:

Fill in first:

$sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE netbox;"
$sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE USER netbox WITH PASSWORD '';"
$sudo -u postgres psql -c "ALTER DATABASE netbox OWNER TO netbox;"
$sudo -u postgres psql -d netbox -c "GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA public TO netbox;"

Check

$psql --username netbox --password --host localhost netbox -c '\conninfo'

Expected output

You are connected to database "netbox" as user "netbox" on host "localhost"

Redis

$sudo apt install -y redis-server

Check

$redis-cli ping

Expected output

PONG

Install NetBox

$sudo apt install -y git python3 python3-pip python3-venv python3-dev build-essential \
$  libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libffi-dev libpq-dev libssl-dev zlib1g-dev

Check

$python3 -V

Expected output

Python 3.12.x

$sudo mkdir -p 
$sudo git clone -b  --depth 1 https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox.git

$sudo adduser --system --group netbox

$sudo chown --recursive netbox /netbox/media/ /netbox/reports/ /netbox/scripts/

Configuration

$sudo cp /netbox/netbox/configuration_example.py /netbox/netbox/configuration.py
$python3 /netbox/generate_secret_key.py

Edit configuration.py and set these values (paste the key printed above into SECRET_KEY):

python

Fill in first:

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['']
DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'netbox',
        'USER': 'netbox',
        'PASSWORD': '',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '',
        'CONN_MAX_AGE': 300,
    }
}
REDIS = {
    'tasks':   {'HOST': 'localhost', 'PORT': 6379, 'PASSWORD': '', 'DATABASE': 0, 'SSL': False},
    'caching': {'HOST': 'localhost', 'PORT': 6379, 'PASSWORD': '', 'DATABASE': 1, 'SSL': False},
}
SECRET_KEY = 'paste-the-generated-key-here'

Run the upgrade script

$sudo /upgrade.sh

Check

$sudo /venv/bin/python /netbox/manage.py check

Expected output

System check identified no issues

Create the first administrator:

$sudo /venv/bin/python /netbox/manage.py createsuperuser

$sudo ln -s /contrib/netbox-housekeeping.sh /etc/cron.daily/netbox-housekeeping

gunicorn and systemd

$sudo cp /contrib/gunicorn.py /gunicorn.py
$sudo cp -v /contrib/*.service /etc/systemd/system/
$sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$sudo systemctl enable --now netbox netbox-rq

Check

$systemctl is-active netbox netbox-rq

Expected output

active
active

Check

$curl -sI http://127.0.0.1:8001/ | head -1

Expected output

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Web server and HTTPS

$sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
$  -keyout /etc/ssl/private/netbox.key -out /etc/ssl/certs/netbox.crt \
$  -subj "/CN="

Sensitive command — recursive or forced deletion (rm). Review before running.

$sudo apt install -y nginx
$sudo cp /contrib/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/netbox
$sudo sed -i 's/netbox.example.com//' /etc/nginx/sites-available/netbox
$sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
$sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/netbox /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/netbox
$sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl restart nginx

Check

$curl -skI https:/// | head -1

Expected output

HTTP/2 200

Done

Open https:/// and log in with the administrator you created. The next page of this series adds users and permissions, plugins and the settings you will want before opening NetBox to your team.

Install NetBox from scratch

Before you start

PostgreSQL

Redis

Install NetBox

Configuration

Run the upgrade script

gunicorn and systemd

Web server and HTTPS

Done

Did everything work?