netbox-nsm 0.4.20

A NetBox plugin for documenting network security policy: rulebooks, zones, and NSM object links

netbox-nsm

NetBox plugin for security policy documentation (zones, rulebooks, object links).
No firewall push — inventory and policy only.

⚠️ Work in progress — Not recommended for production use yet. Breaking changes possible (e.g. 0.4.5 permission migration).

Status: NetBox: 4.5–4.6 · Plugin: 0.4.17 · Requires: netbox-custom-objects

Features

• Security Panel on prefix, IP, device, VM, custom objects — + Assign for zones, addresses, …
• Bundles — deploy NSM schema and demo data from JSON bundles (Security → Configuration → Bundles)
• Type Metadata — per-COT settings (nsm_config in type comments): role, display template, sort order
• Rulebooks with flexible columns (zones, addresses, labels, …)
• Rules — table, row grouping, grouped columns, zone matrix; Export JSON (bundle-compatible, re-import via Bundles)
• IP Analyzer — address resolution via the IP Analyzer applet on rule pages (loupe icon)
• Object Analyzer — graph from any NetBox object
• Object Report — daily background audit of NSM addresses/groups; TOML export

Navigation

Group	Items
Configuration	Bundles, Type Metadata, Object Report
Rulebooks	Rulebooks (+ Add)
Analysis	Object Analyzer

Screenshots

Bundles — apply nsm_schema first, then optional demo bundles:

Type Metadata — nsm_config per COT type (role, display template, sort order):

Object Report — daily address/group audit with TOML export:

Rulebooks — list and detail (fields, enforcement targets):

Rules — row grouping, grouped columns, Export JSON:

Zone matrix — permit/deny between zones:

IP Analyzer — destination tree with merge/diff:

Installation

pip install netbox-nsm

PLUGINS = ["netbox_custom_objects", "netbox_nsm"]

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    "netbox_nsm": {
        "menu_label": "Security",
        "panel_label": "Security",
        "top_level_menu": True,
        "bundles_menu": True,  # False hides Configuration → Bundles
        "setup_allow_destructive_actions": True,  # destructive preview/apply + demos; disable in prod
        "bundle_paths": [],
        "builtin_bundles": True,
        # Optional Jinja2 address naming — see docs/address_name_templates.md
        # "address_name_templates": [
        #     {"template": "h-{ipam>ip}", "match": "host"},
        # ],
    },
}

./manage.py migrate netbox_custom_objects --no-input
./manage.py migrate netbox_nsm --no-input

First run

1. Security → Configuration → Bundles — Apply nsm_schema (required; imports built-in nsm_* COT types and writes nsm_config into each type's comments).
2. Optional demo bundles: RB Demo Zone Matrix, RB Demo Zone/Address (Preview → Apply).
3. Open a prefix → Security tab → + Assign → zone.
4. Rulebooks under Security → Rulebooks.

Details: docs/using_netbox_nsm.md

Rules export / import

On a rulebook Rules tab, Export JSON downloads all rules matching the current filters (not just the visible page) as a bundle-compatible JSON document (objects[].records[] with portable refs like nsm_zone/zone_01). Import the file via Security → Configuration → Bundles (objects seeding).

API

/api/plugins/netbox-nsm/ — Type Metadata via nsm-configs/<slug>/, plus object-links/, ip-analyzer/
Rules and policy objects: netbox-custom-objects API.

Demos

Demo	Where	Notes
NSM Schema	Bundles → nsm_schema	Required base import (types, choice sets, seed objects, metadata)
RB Demo Zone Matrix	Bundles → nsm_demo_zone_matrix	30×30 zone matrix, 900 rules
RB Demo Zone/Address	Bundles → nsm_demo_zone_address_adressgroup	Zones, addresses, groups, 500 rules

Documentation

File	Topic
docs/using_netbox_nsm.md	Operations
docs/DATABASE.md	PostgreSQL tables
docs/RULE_DATA_STORAGE.md	UI vs DB data model
docs/object_report.md	Daily object report: job, checks, scaling
ARCHITECTURE.md	Code (developers)
CHANGELOG.md	Versions

License

LICENSE