Inventory¶

This page has a few examples that people have had questions about in the past. Please visit the inventory plugin documentation page for the full reference.

Using Compose to Set `ansible_network_os` to Platform Network Driver¶

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
compose:
  ansible_network_os: platform.network_driver

You can also use custom fields on the device or a nested object.

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
compose:
  device_owner: custom_fields.device_owner
  ansible_network_os: platforms.custom_fields.ansible_network_os

Using Keyed Groups to set `ansible_network_os` to Platform Network Driver¶

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
keyed_groups:
  - key: platform
    prefix: "network_os"
    separator: "_"

Note

The above examples are excerpts from the following blog post.

Using Computed Fields¶

Computed fields are Jinja2 templates that Nautobot renders when an object is read. The REST API only returns them when they are explicitly requested, so the inventory plugin does not fetch them unless you ask it to.

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
computed_fields: true

Each host then gets a computed_fields host var holding every computed field that applies to it, keyed by the computed field's key. A host that no computed field targets still gets computed_fields: {} rather than no variable at all, so test for contents rather than for existence.

Set flatten_computed_fields: true to promote each key to a host var of its own instead. Flattened hosts with no applicable fields get no variable at all rather than an empty dict, and flattening has no namespacing: a computed field key that collides with an existing host var name (status, dns_name, platform, and so on) will clobber it or be clobbered by it depending on extractor order, the same hazard as flatten_custom_fields. Use compose to lift a single field to a name of your choosing.

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
computed_fields: true
compose:
  device_summary: computed_fields.my_device_summary

You can also build groups from computed fields. Each key/value pair becomes its own group, named computed_field_<key>_<value>, or <key>_<value> when group_names_raw is enabled. A computed field that renders to an empty value is skipped entirely — it produces no group at all, rather than a group with a trailing underscore.

---
plugin: networktocode.nautobot.inventory
computed_fields: true
group_by:
  - computed_fields

Grouping requires computed_fields: true; it does not turn the option on for you — if you set group_by: [computed_fields] without it, the plugin raises an AnsibleError naming the missing option (group_by option "computed_fields" requires the "computed_fields" option to be set to True) rather than silently producing no groups.

Warning

Two things to keep in mind. Nautobot renders every computed field for every object on every request, so enabling this against a large inventory adds real server-side work — leave it off unless you need it. And because computed field values are arbitrary rendered text, group_by on a field that renders free-form prose produces unusable group names; keyed_groups on a single composed field is the precise alternative.

Note

Enabling computed_fields changes the device and virtual-machine API URLs, which changes the cache key, so the first run after turning it on refetches the full device and VM list instead of serving the previously cached entries — those linger until they expire.

Using Inventory Plugin Within AWX/Tower¶

This will cover the basic usage of the Nautobot inventory plugin within this collection.

Define collections/requirements.yml within a Git project.
AWX/Tower will download the collection on each run. This can be handled differently or excluded if storing Ansible Collections on the AWX/Tower box.
Define inventory.yml in Git project that adheres to inventory plugin structure.
Add Git project to AWX/Tower as a project.
Create inventory and select source from project.
Select the AWX/Tower project from Step 2
Select the inventory.yml file in the project from Step 3
Make sure your Tower installation uses Python 3 or select the proper ANSIBLE ENVIRONMENT
Click Save and sync source.