Common Workflows

Real-world examples and use cases for PowerNetbox.

Bulk Import from CSV

PowerNetbox supports native bulk operations for high-performance imports. See Bulk Operations for comprehensive examples.

Import Devices (Bulk Mode)

```powershell

devices.csv:

Name,Role,Device_Type,Site,Status

server01,1,1,1,active

server02,1,1,1,active

Fast bulk import - batches requests automatically

Import-Csv devices.csv | New-NBDCIMDevice -BatchSize 100 -Force ```

Import IP Addresses

```powershell

ips.csv:

Address,Description,Tenant

10.0.0.1/24,Web Server,1

10.0.0.2/24,Database Server,1

Import-Csv ips.csv | ForEach-Object { New-NBIPAMAddress -Address $.Address -Description $.Description -Tenant $_.Tenant } ```

Import VLANs (Bulk Mode)

```powershell

vlans.csv:

VID,Name,Status,Site

100,Management,active,1

101,Production,active,1

Import-Csv vlans.csv | New-NBIPAMVLAN -BatchSize 50 -Force ```

Create VM with Interface and IP

```powershell

Create VM

$vm = New-NBVirtualMachine -Name 'web-server-01' -Cluster 1 -Status 'active'

Add interface

$interface = New-NBVirtualMachineInterface -Name 'eth0' -Virtual_Machine $vm.id

Create IP address

$ip = New-NBIPAMAddress -Address '192.168.1.100/24'

Assign IP to interface

Set-NBIPAMAddress -Id $ip.id -Assigned_Object_Type 'virtualization.vminterface' -Assigned_Object_Id $interface.id ```

Inventory Report

Export All Devices to CSV

powershell Get-NBDCIMDevice | Select-Object name, device_type, site, status, primary_ip4 | Export-Csv -Path 'device-inventory.csv' -NoTypeInformation

Count Devices by Site

powershell Get-NBDCIMDevice | Group-Object -Property { $_.site.name } | Select-Object Name, Count | Sort-Object Count -Descending

Find Devices Without IP

powershell Get-NBDCIMDevice | Where-Object { -not $_.primary_ip4 }

IP Address Management

Find Available IPs in Prefix

```powershell

Get available IPs from a prefix

Get-NBIPAMPrefix -Prefix '10.0.0.0/24' | ForEach-Object { # Request next available IP $nextIP = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "$($_.url)available-ips/" -Method POST $nextIP } ```

Find Duplicate IPs

powershell Get-NBIPAMAddress | Group-Object address | Where-Object { $_.Count -gt 1 } | Select-Object Name, Count

Pipeline Operations

Update Multiple Devices (Bulk Mode)

```powershell

Bulk update all planned devices to active

$updates = Get-NBDCIMDevice -Status 'planned' | ForEach-Object { [PSCustomObject]@{ Id = $_.id Status = 'active' } } $updates | Set-NBDCIMDevice -BatchSize 50 -Force

Add tag to all servers

$updates = Get-NBDCIMDevice -Name 'server*' | ForEach-Object { [PSCustomObject]@{ Id = $_.id Tags = @(1, 2) # Tag IDs } } $updates | Set-NBDCIMDevice -Force ```

Bulk Delete

```powershell

Remove all planned devices (with confirmation)

Get-NBDCIMDevice -Status 'planned' | Remove-NBDCIMDevice -Confirm

Remove without confirmation (use with caution!)

Get-NBDCIMDevice -Status 'decommissioning' | Remove-NBDCIMDevice -BatchSize 50 -Force ```

Reporting

Generate Site Summary

```powershell $sites = Get-NBDCIMSite

foreach ($site in $sites) { $deviceCount = (Get-NBDCIMDevice -Site $site.id).Count $rackCount = (Get-NBDCIMRack -Site $site.id).Count

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Site = $site.name
    Devices = $deviceCount
    Racks = $rackCount
}

} ```

VLAN Usage Report

powershell Get-NBIPAMVlan | Select-Object vid, name, site, tenant, status | Sort-Object vid | Format-Table -AutoSize

Error Handling

powershell try { $device = New-NBDCIMDevice -Name 'server01' -Device_Type 1 -Site 1 Write-Host "Created device: $($device.name)" -ForegroundColor Green } catch { Write-Host "Failed to create device: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red }

Scripting Best Practices

Use Splatting for Readability

```powershell $params = @{ Name = 'new-server' Device_Type = 1 Site = 1 Status = 'active' Description = 'Provisioned via PowerNetbox' }

New-NBDCIMDevice @params ```

Store Connection for Scripts

```powershell

At script start

$token = Get-Content 'token.txt' # Or use SecretManagement module $cred = [PSCredential]::new('api', (ConvertTo-SecureString $token -AsPlainText -Force)) Connect-NBAPI -Hostname 'netbox.example.com' -Credential $cred ```

VMware PowerCLI Integration

Sync VMware vCenter data to Netbox using PowerCLI and PowerNetbox.

Prerequisites

```powershell

Install required modules

Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser Install-Module PowerNetbox -Scope CurrentUser ```

Connect to Both Systems

```powershell

Connect to vCenter

Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore -Confirm:$false Connect-VIServer -Server 'vcenter.example.com' -Credential (Get-Credential)

Connect to Netbox

$nbCred = [PSCredential]::new('api', (ConvertTo-SecureString 'your-token' -AsPlainText -Force)) Connect-NBAPI -Hostname 'netbox.example.com' -Credential $nbCred ```

Sync VMware Clusters to Netbox

```powershell

Get or create cluster type

$clusterType = Get-NBClusterType -Name 'VMware' if (-not $clusterType) { $clusterType = New-NBClusterType -Name 'VMware' -Slug 'vmware' }

Sync clusters

Get-Cluster | ForEach-Object { $cluster = $_ $existingCluster = Get-NBCluster -Name $cluster.Name

if (-not $existingCluster) {
    New-NBCluster -Name $cluster.Name -Type $clusterType.id -Site 1
    Write-Host "Created cluster: $($cluster.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
}

} ```

Sync VMs to Netbox

```powershell

Full VM sync from vCenter to Netbox

function Sync-VMwareToNetbox { param( [int]$SiteId = 1, [int]$ClusterId )

$vms = Get-VM
$count = 0

foreach ($vm in $vms) {
    # Check if VM exists in Netbox
    $existingVM = Get-NBVirtualMachine -Name $vm.Name

    # Get VM details
    $vmView = $vm | Get-View
    $vcpus = $vm.NumCpu
    $memoryMB = $vm.MemoryMB
    $diskGB = [math]::Round(($vm.ProvisionedSpaceGB), 0)

    # Determine status
    $status = switch ($vm.PowerState) {
        'PoweredOn'  { 'active' }
        'PoweredOff' { 'offline' }
        'Suspended'  { 'staged' }
        default      { 'active' }
    }

    $params = @{
        Name     = $vm.Name
        Status   = $status
        Vcpus    = $vcpus
        Memory   = $memoryMB
        Disk     = $diskGB
        Comments = "Last synced: $(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm')"
    }

    if ($ClusterId) { $params['Cluster'] = $ClusterId }

    if ($existingVM) {
        # Update existing VM
        Set-NBVirtualMachine -Id $existingVM.id @params
        Write-Host "Updated: $($vm.Name)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    }
    else {
        # Create new VM
        New-NBVirtualMachine @params
        Write-Host "Created: $($vm.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
    }

    $count++
}

Write-Host "`nSynced $count VMs" -ForegroundColor Cyan

}

Run sync

Sync-VMwareToNetbox -ClusterId 1 ```

Sync VM Interfaces and IPs

```powershell function Sync-VMNetworkToNetbox { param([string]$VMName)

$vm = Get-VM -Name $VMName
$nbVM = Get-NBVirtualMachine -Name $VMName

if (-not $nbVM) {
    Write-Error "VM not found in Netbox: $VMName"
    return
}

# Get network adapters
$nics = Get-NetworkAdapter -VM $vm

foreach ($nic in $nics) {
    $ifName = $nic.Name
    $macAddress = $nic.MacAddress

    # Check if interface exists
    $existingIF = Get-NBVirtualMachineInterface -Virtual_Machine_Id $nbVM.id |
        Where-Object { $_.name -eq $ifName }

    if (-not $existingIF) {
        $newIF = New-NBVirtualMachineInterface -Name $ifName -Virtual_Machine $nbVM.id -Mac_Address $macAddress
        Write-Host "Created interface: $ifName" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
}

# Get IP addresses from VMware Tools
$vmGuest = Get-VMGuest -VM $vm

foreach ($ip in $vmGuest.IPAddress) {
    # Skip IPv6 link-local
    if ($ip -like 'fe80::*') { continue }

    # Determine prefix length
    $prefix = if ($ip -like '*:*') { '/128' } else { '/24' }
    $address = "$ip$prefix"

    # Check if IP exists in Netbox
    $existingIP = Get-NBIPAMAddress -Address $ip

    if (-not $existingIP) {
        $nbIF = Get-NBVirtualMachineInterface -Virtual_Machine_Id $nbVM.id | Select-Object -First 1

        $newIP = New-NBIPAMAddress -Address $address -Description "VM: $VMName"

        if ($nbIF) {
            Set-NBIPAMAddress -Id $newIP.id `
                -Assigned_Object_Type 'virtualization.vminterface' `
                -Assigned_Object_Id $nbIF.id
        }

        Write-Host "Created IP: $address" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
}

}

Sync network for all VMs

Get-VM | ForEach-Object { Sync-VMNetworkToNetbox -VMName $_.Name } ```

Complete VMware Sync Script

```powershell <# .SYNOPSIS Syncs VMware vCenter inventory to Netbox .DESCRIPTION This script connects to vCenter and Netbox, then syncs: - Clusters - Virtual Machines (with CPU, memory, disk) - VM Interfaces and MAC addresses - IP Addresses

>

param( [Parameter(Mandatory)] [string]$vCenterServer,

[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[string]$NetboxHost,

[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[string]$NetboxToken,

[int]$SiteId = 1

)

Connect to systems

Connect-VIServer -Server $vCenterServer $cred = [PSCredential]::new('api', (ConvertTo-SecureString $NetboxToken -AsPlainText -Force)) Connect-NBAPI -Hostname $NetboxHost -Credential $cred

Ensure cluster type exists

$clusterType = Get-NBClusterType -Name 'VMware' if (-not $clusterType) { $clusterType = New-NBClusterType -Name 'VMware' -Slug 'vmware' }

Sync clusters

Write-Host "`n=== Syncing Clusters ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan Get-Cluster | ForEach-Object { $existing = Get-NBCluster -Name $.Name if (-not $existing) { New-NBCluster -Name $.Name -Type $clusterType.id -Site $SiteId Write-Host "Created: $($_.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green } }

Sync VMs

Write-Host "`n=== Syncing VMs ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan Get-VM | ForEach-Object { $vm = $_ $existing = Get-NBVirtualMachine -Name $vm.Name

$params = @{
    Name   = $vm.Name
    Status = if ($vm.PowerState -eq 'PoweredOn') { 'active' } else { 'offline' }
    Vcpus  = $vm.NumCpu
    Memory = $vm.MemoryMB
    Disk   = [math]::Round($vm.ProvisionedSpaceGB)
}

# Get Netbox cluster ID
$vmCluster = Get-Cluster -VM $vm
if ($vmCluster) {
    $nbCluster = Get-NBCluster -Name $vmCluster.Name
    if ($nbCluster) { $params['Cluster'] = $nbCluster.id }
}

if ($existing) {
    Set-NBVirtualMachine -Id $existing.id @params
}
else {
    New-NBVirtualMachine @params
}

}

Write-Host "`n=== Sync Complete ===" -ForegroundColor Green Disconnect-VIServer -Confirm:$false ```

Schedule Regular Sync

```powershell

Create scheduled task (Windows)

$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute 'pwsh.exe' -Argument '-File C:\Scripts\Sync-VMwareToNetbox.ps1' $trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At '02:00' Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName 'Netbox VMware Sync' -Action $action -Trigger $trigger ```