Who This Is For
Intermediate to advanced.
Think of it like a building's blueprint instead of "ask Dave, he remembers where the wiring goes." When Dave's on vacation, the blueprint still works fine.
What You'll Build
A documented network with at least one VLAN, one prefix, one switch, one server, and one VM recorded.
Prerequisites
- Docker host
- An existing network worth documenting
Why Spreadsheets Fail
They drift out of sync silently, with no validation and no history of what changed or when.
What NetBox Tracks
- Sites
- Racks
- Devices
- Interfaces
- IP prefixes and addresses
- VLANs
- Virtual machines
- Services
Deploy NetBox
NetBox ships an official Docker Compose project, clone it and follow the documented .env setup rather than hand-rolling a compose file.
Define Your First Site and VLANs
Start broad (one site, your home) then add each VLAN from your network design.
Add IP Prefixes and Devices
Record your router, switches, access points, servers, and mini PCs, then their interfaces and cable connections.
Record VMs and Services
Add each VM/container and the services it runs (HTTPS, SSH, DNS, SMB) so NetBox becomes the map of what's actually running where.
Naming Conventions and Tags
Decide on naming conventions before you have 50 devices, not after. Use tags for production/testing/IoT/backup/management groupings.
Security & Backup Notes
- NetBox itself should stay internal/VPN-only, it's a detailed map of your entire attack surface
Troubleshooting
- Over-documenting before defining conventions, decide naming/tagging rules first, or you'll redo everything later
- Duplicate IP address records, NetBox will warn on conflicts; resolve them promptly rather than ignoring
- VLAN scope confusion, be consistent about whether VLANs are scoped per-site or global
- Treating NetBox as a monitoring tool, it's documentation, not live status; pair it with Uptime Kuma/Grafana for that
Lab Finish Line
A documented network with at least one VLAN, one prefix, one switch, one server, and one VM.