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Installation

There are 2 main deployment options which can be installed locally on an external system or IP Fabric Extensions to deploy as a containerized application with a GUI.

Local Installation

Installation via pip on an external system. This method should not be used to install directly on the IP Fabric VM unless directly communicated from the IP Fabric Support or Solution Architect teams. Any action on the Command-Line Interface (CLI) using the root, osadmin, or autoboss account may cause irreversible, detrimental changes to the product and can render the system unusable.

Requirements

  • Python Version > 3.9.7, < 3.14
  • Python Development packages
  • Mac or Linux is preferred.
  • Installation of pytricia Python package is possible on Windows however please refer to their documentation.

Installation

  • pip install ipfabric-infoblox
  • pip install ipfabric-infoblox[streamlit] for installation of the GUI.

CLI Usage

  • ipfabric-infoblox diff: Perform a diff and output results without synchronizing data.
  • ipfabric-infoblox sync: Perform the network and discovery import.

Arguments:

  • --config config.yml: Defaults to use config.yml if not specified.
  • --logging: Enable saving detailed log files.

Streamlit Usage

Streamlit is a browser-based application that supplies a GUI. For those who would like a graphical interface to interact with the syncing or diffing of data from IP Fabric and Infoblox.

To start the Streamlit app run the command:

ipfabric-infoblox streamlit

IP Fabric Extension

This can be installed on IP Fabric as an extension which also provides a GUI interface.

Requirements

  • Extension Feature Flag must be enabled. Link to Docs
  • User account with read/write access to /extensions endpoints.

Installation

Pip Installation

Note

Pip installation is supported on Linux and macOS.

For Windows, additional setup is required: Install Microsoft C++ Build Tools (includes Visual C++ 14.0 or higher).

pip install ipfabric-infoblox
ipfabric-infoblox install-extension

Extension will be available at: https://{IPF URL}/extensions-apps/ipfabric-infoblox

Manual Installation

  1. Download the latest version of IPFabric-Infoblox-main.zip from our GitLab.
  2. Navigate to the Extensions page in the IP Fabric GUI and click the “Add” button.
  3. In the “Add Extension” page:
    1. Enter a name for the extension.
    2. Select the “Docker File” option for type.
    3. Enter a description.
    4. Upload the zip file.
    5. Press Save.

Add Extension

Extension will be available at: https://{IPF URL}/extensions-apps/<EXTENSION_NAME>

Extension and Streamlit Usage

Ensure you follow the steps defined below in the configuration section to define a proper YAML file that will be used. Once you have a valid YAML file you can upload it via the Streamlit GUI.

After supplying the credentials that will be used to perform the sync or diff, press the “Start Process” button to trigger a diff. To trigger a full sync, tick the enable sync checkbox and press the “Start Process” button.

Streamlit Example

Logging

CLI

Logging to files can be enabled by appending the logging flag to the CLI command:

ipfabric-infoblox diff|sync --logging

This will create the following files under the “logs” directory in the present working directory:

  • diff_TIMESTAMP.json: JSON file showing full logs of all networks that were processed from IP Fabric and if they are created, were matched an existing network in NIOS, or the reason why it failed or skipped.
  • diff_TIMESTAMP.csv: CSV format of the JSON file for quick debugging purposes. Some information may be excluded to ensure readability.
  • network_import_TIMESTAMP.csv: CSV file that was uploaded to NIOS for network import for all Network Views.
  • discovery_import_TIMESTAMP.csv: CSV file that was used to populate discovery information on IP addresses. Discovery import is performed by Network View however these are condensed into a single file separated by ### View: View Name.
  • sync_TIMESTAMP.json: JSON file showing the returned responses from NIOS for all import operations. This contains information such as the number of processed or failed lines.