Improve network interface IP list

[danie-dejager]

NetBox version

v3.3.5

Feature type

Change to existing functionality

Proposed functionality

Currently all IP addresses linked to an interface is displayed as a list in the interface

We linked the IP addresses up, internal/external NAT. Is it not possible to display that linkup in the Network interface as well?

Use case

It will clean up the list of IP addresses and show how they are linked.

Database changes

unknown

External dependencies

unknown

[t8simon]

I also just stumbled over this missing feature, as the current situation does not provide optimal overview for NAT relationships and is not quite intuitive.
In the "Primary IP" Field this sort of thing is already implemented:

This view although struggles when an inside and outside NAT is defined on the same IP (yes, this can exist in the wild)

In the Interfaces list it should be clear, which IP is actually configured on this particular interface (and which IPs are just IPs that are from a NAT relationship but configured on another device).

So one solution could be (adapted from your proposal):

10.190.0.53                                                   # normal single IP
10.190.0.54 (-> NAT IP 10.150.68.5)                           # Interface IP is Outside NAT
(NAT IP 10.170.55.7 ->) 10.190.0.55                           # Interface IP is Inside NAT
(NAT IP 10.160.78.97 ->) 10.190.0.56 (-> NAT IP 10.165.4.63)  # Interface IP is both Inside and Outside NAT

Probably it would also help to color Separate the NAT part for further user guidance in the GUI.

As the unaligned IP addresses could trigger some OCDs (including myself):

10.190.0.53                                                             # normal single IP
10.190.0.54 (Inside NAT IP: 10.150.68.5)                                # Interface IP is Outside NAT
10.190.0.55 (Outside NAT IP: 10.170.55.7)                               # Interface IP is Inside NAT
10.190.0.56 (Outside NAT IP: 10.160.78.97, Inside NAT IP: 10.165.4.63)  # Interface IP is both Inside and Outside NAT

Another possibility could be by adding an "Inside NAT" and "Outside NAT" column to the interfaces table.

I'm not sure yet, what option provides the most intuitive way to make the NAT relationships more visible.

[jeremystretch]

NATted IPs aren't displayed because they aren't relevant to the interface, and this is a list of interface attributes. When you start trying to cram in tangential data, the UI quickly degrades into an unusable mess. To view IPs related to the assigned IP, you can easily navigate to its dedicated view.

[jeremystretch]

Going to decline this proposal for the reason cited above.

[t8simon]

Maybe a bit late, but i still would love to see some discussion about the visibility of NAT addresses.
You're right, the interface is maybe the wrong place for that. As I am managing quite a few firewalls it would be useful, to have a good overview over the NAT relationship, that does not involve clicking a lot of IP addresses.

As a NAT is clearly linked to the IP configuration of the device/VM, it should be visible somewhere in the device view. The NAT information for the primary IP is doing some of that already, but the scope of just this one IP is just a small part in the whole picture about how the device/VM is handling IP related things.

The only way I can think of to achieve this visibility is by going to the IP section, add the NAT colums and then apply filter for the device / vm. This is also rather inconvenient when someone is starting from a device/vm perspective and lowers user acceptance due to that.

Some more ideas how NAT visibility could be improved on device level:

• A NAT Card on the device/VM view (like the Service card for example)
• A tab on the device/VM view (like Interfaces)
• A card with stats on the device/VM view, where NAT is one of the stats (like the stats card in the tenants view) -> this would forward you directly to the correct filter (also similar to the tenants stats card)

What is your view on NAT relationship visibility or visibility of peripheral data around devices/vms? What should be the correct and most efficient workflow to gain quick overview over such data? Especially in environments, where there are 100+ IPs on a device and dozens of NAT on the IPs as well?