netbox-cisco-support-plugin 0.0.80

Cisco device support, device type support, and software release information with the Cisco support APIs

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NetBox Cisco Support Plugin

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This README.md documentation contains the following sections:

• Plugin Overview
• Compatibility
• Installation
• Enable the Plugin
• Configure the Plugin
• Rebuild and Restart NetBox-Docker
• Run Database Migrations
• Sync the Cisco Support Data
• How it works
• Plugin Screenshots
• Languages and Tools

Plugin Overview

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This NetBox tracks with the data from the Cisco support APIs the device support status, the device type EoX status as well as the recommended software release. Each Cisco device and Cisco device type have a detail view with all data. There is also a list view with filter options for all devices or device types. All data can also be received and updated over the NetBox REST API.

There is a Python script calles sync_cisco_support_data which can be used as below to update all fields which contains data from the Cisco support APIs. This script can be executed for example inside a Azure DevOps Build Pipeline once a day as these data don't change that often.

The Python script sync_cisco_support_data will do requests to the Cisco support APIs to update the following fields:

Model CiscoDeviceTypeSupport:

:warning: Verbose model field names listed

Model properties are not documented as they can't be edited

• Name *:warning:
• PID *:warning:
• Has EoX Error
• EoX Error
• EoX Announcement Date
• End of Sale Date
• End of Sw-Maint. Date
• End of Sec-Vul. Date
• End of Routine-Fail. Analysis Date
• End of Service Cont. Renewal
• End of Svc-Attach. Date
• Last Date of Support

*:warning: Overwritten by custom model save() function

Model CiscoDeviceSupport:

:warning: Verbose model field names listed

Model properties are not documented as they can't be edited

• Name *:warning:
• Serial *:warning:
• PID *:warning:
• API Status *:warning:
• Is Covered
• Serial Owner
• Coverage End Date
• Service Contract Number
• Service Line Description
• Warranty Type
• Warranty End Date
• Recommended Release
• Has EoX Error *:warning:
• EoX Error *:warning:
• EoX Announcement Date *:warning:
• End of Sale Date *:warning:
• End of Sw-Maint. Date *:warning:
• End of Sec-Vul. Date *:warning:
• End of Routine-Fail. Analysis Date *:warning:
• End of Service Cont. Renewal *:warning:
• End of Svc-Attach. Date *:warning:
• Last Date of Support *:warning:

*:warning: Overwritten by custom model save() function

There are some view fields which provide additional information which can't be updated directly with the help of the Cisco support APIs. These fields should be updated with a external script over the NetBox REST API (for example with a Azure DevOps Build Pipeline).

The following fields can't be updated directly by the Python script sync_cisco_support_data.

Model CiscoDeviceSupport:

:warning: Verbose model field names listed

Model properties are not documented as they can't be edited

• Contract Supplier *:warning:
• Partner Contract Status
• Partner Service Level
• Partner Customer Number
• Partner Coverage End Date
• Desired Release
• Desired Release Status *:warning:
• Current Release
• Current Release Status *:warning:

*:warning: Overwritten by custom model save() function

No Edit Views

Manual edit of fields only in the NetBox Django admin portal At the moment there are no edit views to edit field of any data model of this plugin. The because the idea of this plugin is not to change fields manually (only automated by Python or REST API). If you want to change field manually, at the moment this can only be done in the NetBox Django admin portal.

Compatibility

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:warning: NetBox 3.5: This plugin is for NetBox 3.5

This plugin is compatible with NetBox 3.5.0 and later.

NetBox Version	Plugin Version
3.5	0.0.1

Installation

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The installation and configuration steps are for the NetBox-Docker installation. To install this plugin make sure you followed the prerequisites for using NetBox plugins with NetBox-Docker: Using Netbox Plugins

The plugin is available as a Python package in pypi and can be installed with pip.

pip install netbox_device_support_plugin

Add the plugin to the plugin_requirements.txt or requirements.txt of your NetBox-Docker project.

# Netbox Cisco Support Plugin
netbox-cisco-support-plugin

Enable the Plugin

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Enable the netbox-cisco-support-plugin plugin in /netbox-docker/configuration/plugins.py and add the plugin configuration also in the same file.

# Enable installed plugins. Add the name of each plugin to the list.
PLUGINS = [
    "netbox_napalm_plugin",
    "netbox_device_support_plugin",
]

Configure the Plugin

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In order to get valid API response data, several requirements must be fulfilled:

1. A Cisco API ID and secret (with access to the APIs "EoX V5 API", "Serial Number to Information API Version 2" and "Software Suggestion") must have been created and configured inside plugins.py

   The following plugin configuration options are mandatory for the Cisco support API.

   • CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_ID: String - Client ID of your plugin installation. Generate it inside Cisco API Console
   • CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_SECRET: String - Client Secret of your plugin installation. Generate it inside Cisco API Console

   Add the netbox-cisco-support-plugin plugin configuration in /netbox-docker/configuration/plugins.py.

   # Plugins configuration settings. These settings are used by various plugins that the user may have installed.
   # Each key in the dictionary is the name of an installed plugin and its value is a dictionary of settings.
   PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
       "netbox_device_support_plugin": {
           "CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_ID": environ.get("CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_ID", ""),
           "CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_SECRET": environ.get("CISCO_SUPPORT_API_CLIENT_SECRET", ""),
       },
   }
   

2. A manufacturer called Cisco must have been configured inside NetBox. If your manufacturer is named differently, change it inside the plugin configuration in plugins.py:

   PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
       "netbox_device_support_plugin": {
           ...,
           "MANUFACTURER": "Cisco Systems" # Optional setting for definiing the manufacturer
       }
   }
   

3. Optional the TEMPLATE_EXTENSION_PLACEMENT can be changed inside the plugin configuration in plugins.py:

   PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
       "netbox_device_support_plugin": {
           ...,
           "TEMPLATE_EXTENSION_PLACEMENT": "left" # Optional setting render the content on the left or right side
       }
   }
   

Rebuild and Restart NetBox-Docker

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Delete the NetBox-Docker project completly.

docker compose down -v

Rebuild the NetBox-Docker project to install the new added plugin.

docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

Run Database Migrations

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Restore the database and run the Django database migration to your existing NetBox database.

python3 manage.py migrate

Sync the Cisco Support Data

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In order that sync_cisco_support_data works correctly, several requirements must be fulfilled:

1. All devices types for manufacturer Cisco must have filled the optional Part number field inside NetBox with the correct Base PID for that Cisco product.

2. All devices with devices types from manufacturer Cisco must have filled the Serial Number field inside NetBox with a valid Cisco serial number for that Cisco product.

3. If you want full visibility, the support contracts for all your devices needs to be associated with the CCO ID which has been used for created the API ID and secret. Otherwise you will only get a coverage true/false answer, but no detailed information regarding end of support contract coverage.

Run the previously described Python script the first time to sync all Cisco support API data.

python3 manage.py sync_cisco_support_data.py

Execute a Azure DevOps Build Pipeline which runs sync_cisco_support_data.py to periodically refresh the data or create a cronjob which to the same a bit more old school.

How it works

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1. Calling the sync_cisco_support_data method will catch all device types for the configured manufacturer.

2. Each device types Part number will be send to Cisco EoX API. API answer will be saved inside a CiscoDeviceTypeSupport model. One CiscoDeviceTypeSupport per device type.

3. Afterwards all devices for the configured manufacturer will be gathered.

4. Each devices Serial number will be send to Cisco SN2Info coverage API. API answer will be saved inside a CiscoDeviceSupport model. One CiscoDeviceSupport per device.

5. The device type template will be extended to display this data. Information will be shown, if a CiscoDeviceTypeSupport object for that device type exists.

6. The device template will be exteneded to display device and device type information. Information will be shown, if a CiscoDeviceSupport object for that device exists. Additionally device type information will be shown, if a CiscoDeviceTypeSupport object for the parent device type exists.

7. Field Coloring: Expired timestamps or no data will be colored red, timestamps which will expire in the next calendar year will be colored yellow for planning or forecast reasons.

8. Progress Bar: The progress bars will visualize the timestamps duration to the expiration date. The progress bar color will be green until the timestamp will expire in the next calendar year. Then the color will change to yellow. The color will finally change to red when the timestamp expire within 60 days.

Plugin Screenshots

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Device Detail View

Device Type Detail View

Device List View

Device Type List View

Languages and Tools

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APIs can also be amusing to provide a programming joke ...

... or an interesting quote.