Python Netgear Switch Interface Library

Query and control all your Netgear switches — SNMP (managed), NSDP and HTTP web-UI (Plus) — behind one model-driven Python API and the ngsw CLI.

Documentation: https://python-netgear-switch-library.readthedocs.io/ — API reference, the complete ngsw CLI reference, the virtual-switch guide (how to test your own tools against a mock), and generated model × protocol and model × functionality support tables.

Status: early development. See docs/superpowers/specs/ for the design and docs/superpowers/plans/ for the implementation plans.

Installation

pip / uv (PyPI)

pip install python-netgear-switch-library
# or: uv add python-netgear-switch-library

Optional extras: [async] (pysnmp), [http] (httpx). The synchronous SNMP transport shells out to the net-snmp command-line tools, a system package (not a Python dependency):

sudo apt install snmp   # provides snmpget/snmpbulkwalk/snmpset

Debian / Ubuntu (apt)

Signed .deb packages for Debian trixie and sid are published to a GitHub Pages apt repository. Pick the line matching your suite:

sudo install -d -m0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://mithro.github.io/python-netgear-switch-library/netgear-switch.gpg \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/netgear-switch.gpg > /dev/null

# trixie:
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/netgear-switch.gpg] https://mithro.github.io/python-netgear-switch-library/trixie/ ./" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netgear-switch.list
# sid:
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/netgear-switch.gpg] https://mithro.github.io/python-netgear-switch-library/sid/ ./" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netgear-switch.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-netgear-switch-library

This installs the netgear_switch library and the ngsw CLI, and pulls in the snmp net-snmp CLI tools automatically.

Either way, once installed run ngsw --help to see available commands.

Versioning

This project is a rolling release: the version is derived from git (0.0.postN / X.Y.postN), and every merge to main publishes a new version to PyPI and the apt repo. There are no tags or manual version bumps.

Mock switch daemons (ngsw serve)

The library ships in-repo virtual/mock switches. ngsw serve runs them as standalone, long-lived daemons on real sockets, so an external tool or library can point at a mock when real hardware is unavailable (CI, local development, demos).

# Serve one model (ephemeral ports), or several, or every registered model:
ngsw serve --model gsm7228ps
ngsw serve --model gsm7228ps --model gs305ep
ngsw serve --all

For each switch that comes up it prints the model, bind host, the actual bound port(s) (SNMP/NSDP over UDP, HTTP over TCP), and the SNMP community and HTTP password it accepts, then blocks until interrupted (Ctrl-C / SIGTERM), at which point every switch is stopped cleanly:

[gsm7228ps] host=127.0.0.1
    SNMP udp/36540
    HTTP tcp/42629
    community='public' http_password='password'
serving 1 mock switch(es); press Ctrl-C to stop

Point any tool at the printed port. For example, with the mock above serving SNMP on UDP 36540:

snmpwalk -v2c -c public 127.0.0.1:36540 1.3.6.1.2.1.1
# ...or the library's own CLI against the same mock:
ngsw --host 127.0.0.1 --model gsm7228ps --community public ports   # + your transport wiring

Options:

• --model KEY — model to serve; repeatable. --all serves every registered model (see ngsw models).
• --host IP — bind address (default 127.0.0.1). Pass 0.0.0.0 to expose the mock to other hosts on the network.
• --community STR / --http-password STR — credentials the mock accepts (defaults public / password).
• --port N / --http-port N — pin the SNMP/NSDP UDP port and the HTTP TCP port instead of using ephemeral ones. Because a pinned port is a single listener, these are only allowed when serving exactly one model; otherwise leave them unset and read the printed ephemeral ports.

Full details, including worked examples of testing an external tool against a mock, are in the virtual switch guide.

Development

uv sync --all-extras
uv run pytest
uv run ruff check
uv run mypy

Build the documentation (warnings are errors, as on Read the Docs):

uv sync --extra docs
make -C docs html

License

Apache-2.0.