netbox-vcenter-server 0.4.3

NetBox plugin for viewing and importing VMs from VMware vCenter servers

NetBox vCenter Server Plugin

A NetBox plugin for viewing and importing VMs from VMware vCenter servers.

Features

• Multi-vCenter Support - Connect to multiple vCenter servers (cached separately)
• VM Dashboard - View all VMs from vCenter with power state, vCPUs, memory, and disk
• VM Import - Import VMs from vCenter into NetBox with one click
• Comparison View - Compare vCenter VMs with NetBox to find differences
• Manual Cache Control - Data persists until you click Refresh
• MFA/2FA Support - Works with environments requiring multi-factor authentication

Requirements

• NetBox 4.0 or higher
• Python 3.10+
• VMware vSphere 7.0+ (tested with vSphere 8.0.3)

Installation

From PyPI (recommended)

pip install netbox-vcenter-server

From Source

git clone https://github.com/sieteunoseis/netbox-vcenter-server.git
cd netbox-vcenter-server
pip install -e .

Docker Installation

Add to your NetBox Docker requirements file:

# requirements-extra.txt
netbox-vcenter-server

Configuration

Add the plugin to your NetBox configuration:

# configuration.py or plugins.py

PLUGINS = [
    'netbox_vcenter',
]

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    'netbox_vcenter': {
        # Required: List of vCenter servers to choose from
        'vcenter_servers': [
            'vc-server1.example.com',
            'vc-server2.example.com',
        ],
        # Connection settings
        'timeout': 60,       # Timeout for vCenter connections (seconds)
        'verify_ssl': False, # SSL verification (False for self-signed certs)
        # MFA/2FA settings (optional)
        'mfa_enabled': True,  # Show MFA warning in UI
        'mfa_label': 'MFA',   # Label shown in UI (e.g., "Duo", "2FA", "MFA")
        'mfa_message': 'Check your authenticator after clicking Connect & Sync.',
        # Name matching for duplicate detection
        # Options: "exact" (full name), "hostname" (strip domain), "regex"
        'name_match_mode': 'hostname',
        'name_match_pattern': r'^([^.]+)',  # Used with "regex" mode
        # Import settings
        'normalize_imported_name': True,  # "WebServer01.example.com" -> "webserver01"
        'default_tag': '',      # Tag slug to apply (e.g., "vcenter-sync")
        'default_role': '',     # Role slug (e.g., "server")
        'default_platform': '', # Platform slug (e.g., "vmware")
    }
}

Usage

Syncing VMs from vCenter

1. Navigate to Plugins > vCenter Dashboard
2. Select a vCenter server from the dropdown
3. Enter your username and password
4. Click Connect & Sync
5. If MFA is enabled, approve the authentication prompt
6. VMs will be fetched and cached (data persists until you click Refresh)

Importing VMs to NetBox

1. From the VM list, check the boxes next to VMs you want to import
2. Click Import Selected to NetBox
3. Select the target NetBox cluster
4. Click Import
5. VMs are created in NetBox with vCPUs, memory, disk, and status

Comparing vCenter with NetBox

1. Navigate to Plugins > Compare with NetBox
2. Select a vCenter server
3. View:
   • Only in vCenter - VMs that can be imported
   • Only in NetBox - VMs not found in vCenter (orphaned?)
   • Spec Differences - VMs with mismatched vCPUs, memory, or disk

Screenshots

Coming soon

Troubleshooting

Connection errors

• Verify vCenter hostname is reachable from the NetBox server
• Check that credentials are correct (use domain\username format)
• For self-signed certificates, set verify_ssl: False
• If using MFA/2FA, ensure you approve the authentication prompt promptly

Authentication issues

• Use format DOMAIN\username or username@domain
• Ensure the account has at least read-only access to vCenter

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/sieteunoseis/netbox-vcenter-server.git
cd netbox-vcenter-server
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Code Style

black netbox_vcenter/
isort netbox_vcenter/
flake8 netbox_vcenter/

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release history.

Support

If you find this plugin helpful, consider supporting development:

License

Apache License 2.0 - See LICENSE for details.

Author

sieteunoseis (@sieteunoseis)