Netbox Documents Plugin

A plugin designed to facilitate the storage of documents against any object within NetBox.

Features

• Attach documents to any NetBox model, including:
  • Sites, Locations
  • Devices, Device Types, Module Types
  • Circuits, Circuit Providers
  • Virtual Machines
• Upload documents to your NetBox media/ folder or any Django-supported storage backend (e.g. S3)
• Store links to external URLs to avoid duplicating remote documents
• Supports a wide array of file types: bmp, gif, jpeg, jpg, png, pdf, txt, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, xlsm, tif, tiff, drawio, svg, webp, html, pptx
• Add custom document types via plugin configuration
• Control which document types are available per model
• Documents panel appears on object detail pages with permission-aware action buttons

Compatibility

NetBox Version	Plugin Version
4.3+	0.8.2
4.3+	0.7.4
4.2+	0.7.2
4.0 - 4.1	0.7.0
3.6+	0.6.4
3.5.x	0.6.0
3.3.x - 3.4.x	0.5.1

Upgrading to 0.8.2

Breaking Changes: Version 0.8.2 is a major refactoring. Please read carefully before upgrading.

What changed

The plugin previously used 8 separate database models (SiteDocument, DeviceDocument, CircuitDocument, etc.). Version 0.8.2 replaces these with a single unified Document model using Django's ContentType framework (GenericForeignKey). This enables documents to be attached to any NetBox model.

Breaking changes

• API endpoints changed: The 8 separate API endpoints (/api/plugins/netbox-documents/site-documents/, /api/plugins/netbox-documents/device-documents/, etc.) have been replaced with a single endpoint: /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/. API clients must be updated.
• URL paths changed: All web UI paths have changed from model-specific paths (e.g. /plugins/documents/site-document/) to a single path: /plugins/documents/documents/. Any bookmarks or external links will need updating.
• Permissions renamed: Model-specific permissions (e.g. view_sitedocument, add_devicedocument) are replaced with unified permissions: view_document, add_document, change_document, delete_document. Permission assignments will need updating.
• FIELD_CHOICES key changed: The per-model DocTypeChoices keys (e.g. DocTypeChoices.site, DocTypeChoices.device) are replaced with a single key: DocTypeChoices.document. See the configuration section below for the new approach to custom document types.
• Configuration simplified: The 16 per-model settings (enable_site_documents, site_documents_location, etc.) have been removed. They are replaced by a single documents_location setting. The documents panel now always appears on supported model detail pages. Custom document types are now configured via custom_doc_types instead of FIELD_CHOICES.

Upgrade procedure

1. Back up your database before upgrading.
2. Install the new version: pip install netbox-documents==0.8.2
3. Run migrations: python manage.py migrate
4. Update any API integrations to use the new /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/ endpoint
5. Update any permission assignments to use the new document permission names
6. Update your PLUGINS_CONFIG if you used FIELD_CHOICES for custom document types (see below)
7. Restart NetBox: sudo systemctl restart netbox
8. Re-index search: python manage.py reindex netbox_documents

Installation

A working installation of NetBox 4.3+ is required.

Package Installation from PyPI

Activate your virtual env and install via pip:

$ source /opt/netbox/venv/bin/activate
(venv) $ pip install netbox-documents

To ensure the plugin is automatically re-installed during future upgrades, add the package to your local_requirements.txt:

# echo netbox-documents >> local_requirements.txt

Enable the Plugin

In the NetBox configuration.py file add or update the PLUGINS parameter:

PLUGINS = [
    'netbox_documents',
]

Apply Database Migrations

(venv) $ python manage.py migrate

Restart NetBox

sudo systemctl restart netbox

Configuration

Add or update a PLUGINS_CONFIG parameter in configuration.py to configure plugin settings. All settings are optional -- the defaults are shown below:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_documents': {

        # Enable the global navigation menu
        'enable_navigation_menu': True,

        # Location of the documents panel on object detail pages (left/right)
        'documents_location': 'left',

        # Custom document types (see below)
        'custom_doc_types': [],

        # Per-model document type filtering (see below)
        'allowed_doc_types': {},
    }
}

Custom Document Types

Add your own document types by defining them in custom_doc_types. Each entry is a tuple of (value, label, color):

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_documents': {
        'custom_doc_types': [
            ('sla', 'SLA Document', 'teal'),
            ('warranty', 'Warranty Document', 'cyan'),
            ('asbuilt', 'As-Built Drawing', 'lime'),
            ('audit', 'Audit Report', 'black'),
        ],
    }
}

Custom types appear alongside the built-in types in all dropdowns and filters. Available colors: green, purple, orange, indigo, yellow, pink, blue, red, gray, teal, cyan, white, black.

The built-in document types are: diagram, floorplan, purchaseorder, quote, wirelessmodel, manual, supportcontract, circuitcontract, contract, msa, kmz, other.

Per-Model Document Type Filtering

Control which document types appear in the dropdown for each model using allowed_doc_types. Keys are model labels in app_label.model format. The special key __all__ sets the default for any model not explicitly listed:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_documents': {
        'allowed_doc_types': {
            'dcim.site': ['diagram', 'floorplan', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'wirelessmodel', 'other'],
            'dcim.location': ['diagram', 'floorplan', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'wirelessmodel', 'other'],
            'dcim.device': ['diagram', 'manual', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'supportcontract', 'other'],
            'dcim.devicetype': ['diagram', 'manual', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'supportcontract', 'other'],
            'dcim.moduletype': ['diagram', 'manual', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'supportcontract', 'other'],
            'circuits.circuit': ['circuitcontract', 'diagram', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'kmz', 'other'],
            'circuits.provider': ['contract', 'msa', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'other'],
            'virtualization.virtualmachine': ['diagram', 'manual', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'supportcontract', 'other'],
        },
    }
}

If allowed_doc_types is empty ({}), all document types are shown for all models (the default).

Use the __all__ key to set a default for all models, then override specific models as needed:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_documents': {
        'allowed_doc_types': {
            # Default: only show these types for all models
            '__all__': ['diagram', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'other'],

            # Override: Sites also get floorplan and wirelessmodel
            'dcim.site': ['diagram', 'floorplan', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'wirelessmodel', 'other'],

            # Override: Circuits get circuit-specific types
            'circuits.circuit': ['circuitcontract', 'diagram', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'kmz', 'other'],
        },
    }
}

Custom types defined in custom_doc_types can also be referenced in allowed_doc_types:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_documents': {
        'custom_doc_types': [
            ('sla', 'SLA Document', 'teal'),
        ],
        'allowed_doc_types': {
            '__all__': ['diagram', 'purchaseorder', 'quote', 'other'],
            'circuits.provider': ['contract', 'msa', 'sla', 'other'],
        },
    }
}

API Usage

All documents are accessed through a single REST API endpoint:

GET    /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/          # List all documents
POST   /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/          # Create a document
GET    /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/{id}/     # Get a document
PUT    /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/{id}/     # Update a document
DELETE /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/{id}/     # Delete a document

Filter by object type and ID:

GET /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/?content_type=dcim.site&object_id=1

Create a document attached to a site (ID 1):

POST /api/plugins/netbox-documents/documents/
{
    "name": "Network Diagram",
    "document_type": "diagram",
    "external_url": "https://example.com/diagram.pdf",
    "content_type": "dcim.site",
    "object_id": 1
}

Screenshots