Support to bulk import multiple objects

[dmulyalin]

NetBox version

v3.7.6

Feature type

New functionality

Proposed functionality

Add support to import multiple objects into Netbox using YAML/JSON files of this structure:

dcim:
  sites:
    - <list of sites data>
  racks:
    - <list of racks data>
  devices:
    - <list of devices data>
ipam:
  prefixes:
    - <list of prefixes data>
  ip_addresses:
    - <list of IP addresses data>
<...>

Import dictionary structure follows Netbox API endpoints.

Use case

Currently to model single site need to use this list of import CSV spreadsheets (or more in some cases):

• site_data.csv
• rack_data.csv
• devices_data.csv
• modules_data.csv
• inventory_items_data.csv
• interfaces_data.csv
• cables_data.csv
• vlans_data.csv
• bgp_asn_data.csv
• prefixes_data.csv
• ip_addresses_data.csv
• circuits_data.csv

which is fine for initial import of many locations for example during brown field network onboarding into Netbox. However, modifying 10+ spreadsheets for addition of each new site is tedious especially if only few parameters changing such as site ID and IP addresses.

Being able to put a single YAML/JSON file to import all site data would simplify the process of onboarding new sites significantly. Moreover, this would allow to templatize entire portions of the network for importing into Netbox.

For example, DC-1 was imported into Netbox using YAML/JSON bulk import file, next DC-2 being built, import of entire new data center would be a mater of modifying DC-1 file to adjust few changing parameters.

Another use case could be, brown field network onboarding - organization can develop a script that will be producing bulk import data files, out of network discovery data (SNMP, device configurations, Netconf etc) allowing Engineers to review the file before import prior to uploading it into Netbox.

For many organization (from my past and current experience) it would be a game changing functionality, if they have to onboard hundreds of nearly identical sites into Netbox on frequent basis or build multiple nearly identical network segments (i.e. data centers, office campuses etc.).

Database changes

None

External dependencies

None

[dmulyalin]

Possible WEB UI location for this functionality could be Operations -> Integrations -> Bulk Import

[jeremystretch]

We've considered this in the past, but there's simply too much complexity involved with importing multiple types of objects simultaneously to handle validation in a performant and user-friendly manner. For instances where you need to import many objects, we recommend either automatically consuming the REST API or writing a purpose-built custom script to ensure all operations occur in the anticipated sequence.