Installation

Compatibility

NetBox Version	Plugin Version
4.7 - 4.99	1.x

Installing the plugin

Install the plugin into your NetBox virtual environment:

source /opt/netbox/venv/bin/activate
pip install netbox-plugin-plan-drawing

To have the plugin reinstalled when NetBox is upgraded, add it to NetBox's local_requirements.txt:

echo netbox-plugin-plan-drawing >> /opt/netbox/local_requirements.txt

Enable the plugin in NetBox's configuration.py:

PLUGINS = [
    "netbox_plugin_plan_drawing",
]

Then run the database migrations, collect the static files, and restart NetBox:

cd /opt/netbox/netbox
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
sudo systemctl restart netbox netbox-rq

Static files

The plugin's static files include draw.io, about 130 MB in about 3,000 files. collectstatic copies them into NetBox's static files directory, from where they are served like NetBox's own.

The PyPI package contains draw.io. Installing from a source checkout or from the source distribution instead downloads the pinned draw.io release from GitHub while building the package.

netbox-docker

With netbox-docker, add the plugin to plugin_requirements.txt, enable it in configuration/plugins.py, and build a custom image, as described in netbox-docker's plugin documentation. The image build runs collectstatic.

Configuration

The plugin works without configuration. The object types that drawing elements can be linked to can be changed in PLUGINS_CONFIG:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    "netbox_plugin_plan_drawing": {
        # Apps whose models can be linked to drawing elements.
        "object_type_apps": ["dcim", "circuits", "wireless"],
        # Models of those apps that cannot be linked, as "<app_label>.<model>". When set,
        # replaces the built-in list.
        "exclude_object_types": None,
        # Additional linkable models from other apps or plugins.
        "extra_object_types": [],
    },
}

By default, all models of the dcim, circuits, and wireless apps can be linked, except for templates (e.g. dcim.interfacetemplate), and for the models listed in DEFAULT_EXCLUDED_OBJECT_TYPES in object_types.py: types, roles, groups, and similar organizational models. To make, say, VLANs linkable as well, add "extra_object_types": ["ipam.vlan"].

Change log

Every save of a drawing is recorded in NetBox's change log, with the complete drawing before and after the change. For large drawings that are saved often, this can make the change log grow noticeably. This command shows how much space drawings take up in the change log:

python manage.py plan_drawing_changelog_stats

Drawing                                     Content  Changes  Log stored     Log raw  Per change
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demo Site Floor Plan                        3.6 KiB        3     6.7 KiB    21.2 KiB     2.2 KiB
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                      3     6.7 KiB    21.2 KiB     2.2 KiB

Change log table core_objectchange: 160.0 KiB in total, 3 entries for all object types.

Log stored is the size after PostgreSQL's compression, Log raw the uncompressed size. NetBox's CHANGELOG_RETENTION setting limits how long change log entries are kept.