“Hello Netbox” in Automation

What are we doing?

• Connecting to Netbox
• Fetching devices
• Printing a short preview

Prerequisites

• NetBox URL is reachable from the Netpicker job runner.
  • Use the site base URL (e.g., https://netbox.example.com). Do not include /api
  • If NetBox lives behind a path, include it (e.g., https://portal.example.com/netbox)
• NetBox API token with at least read access to DCIM → Devices.
• Netpicker can run jobs (UI access) and you can select any device when launching the job (even for read‑only jobs)
  • The runner may require a target device context; the code may ignore it.

Environment variables

Netpicker injects a netbox client when these env vars are present in the worker processes:

• NETBOX_API — NetBox base URL (or API root)
• NETBOX_TOKEN — NetBox API token with DCIM read access

Option A — docker-compose.yml (use a shared anchor)

x-api: &api_common
  environment:
    NETBOX_API: "https://netbox.example.com/"   # base URL or API root
    NETBOX_TOKEN: "wersdf…."

services:
  api:
    <<: *api_common
  celery:
    <<: *api_common
  agent:
    <<: *api_common

Option B — docker-compose.override.yml (preferred)

If updated in docker-compose.override.yml ensure to define NetBox env explicitly under both api and celery:
services:
  api:
    environment:
      NETBOX_API: "https://netbox.example.com/"
      NETBOX_TOKEN: "wersdf….}"
  celery:
    environment:
      NETBOX_API: "https://netbox.example.com/"
      NETBOX_TOKEN: "wersdf…."

The job

In the Netpicker UI, go to Automation → Jobs, create a new job named netbox_hello, paste the code below, and Save.

from comfy.automate import job


@job()
def netbox_hello(netbox, preview=25):
    if netbox is None:
        raise RuntimeError("NetBox integration not available. Check NETBOX_API/NETBOX_TOKEN.")


    try:
        preview = int(preview) if str(preview).strip() else 25
    except Exception:
        preview = 25


    names = []
    for d in netbox.dcim.devices.all():
        n = getattr(d, "name", None) or getattr(d, "display", None) or getattr(d, "id", None)
        if n:
            names.append(str(n))
    names.sort(key=str.lower)


    shown = min(preview, len(names))
    if shown:
        print("PREVIEW:", ", ".join(names[:shown]))
    print(f"Total devices: {len(names)} (showing {shown})")

Screenshots from the lab setup:

Netbox env settings

Updated in docker-compose.override.yml with NetBox env under both api and celery:

Creating the Job

Open Jobs → Automation → Jobs → Create Job

• Python Job
  • Use the code mentioned under The Job section of this article

• Click Save

While saving it prompts for Name: netbox_hello

Running the job

• Select any device (Needed to execute the runner, no action performed on the device)
• Set params (optional):
  • preview → e.g., 25
• Click Run (You can also do Dry Run, you would be able to see the result in same page)