Add field export link/button on model Import pages?

[cmcknz77]

One of the things that I've always found frustrating about NetBox is the lack of a 'light-effort' way to get hold of the column headers on any of the data Import pages. (I'm currently still on 3.7.7).

So, say I want to import a whole bunch of Device Roles. The import page for that particular model gives me the Field Options table shown here (minus one custom field).

But because the field names are all in column 1, I have to copy the entire table from the page, drop it into something like Excel and then transpose it and then delete the data that I didn't need or vice-versa, just in order to get the column headers that I need to use.
I know I read somewhere that there's no current method to export the live data from any particular model that includes and uses the correct import field names instead of the 'humanized' display names.

I can think of 2 ways to make this easier.

1. In the Field Options section but above, or below the table, print a comma-separated list of just the correctly formatted field names. In the pictured case (for Device Roles) it'd just read: name,slug,color,vm_role,config_template,description,tags,id,cf_addcustomfield
   or
2. Add a button to each import page allowing the downloading of a correctly formatted but 'blank' .csv (or .json or .yaml) file (respecting the Format and CSV delimiter dropdowns) containing just the correctly formatted field names (so in this case, assuming that .csv is chosen format, it'd generate a text file with the name 'import.csv' and the contents followed by a new line would be: name,slug,color,vm_role,config_template,description,tags,id,cf_addcustomfield
   Unless I'm not seeing the wood for the trees in which case can someone please point out where I'm making things unnecessarily hard for myself?

Pro for Option1 - It'd be real easy
Con for Option1 - Difficult to make look pretty especially for models with large numbers of fields
Pro for Option2 - Minimizes cluttering the gorgeous new v4.x.x UI
Con for Option2 - I don't know if it's possible

[KMTMark]

Was just looking at this myself - I'm currently doing a bit of local testing for a plugin we're considering using but wanted to see how it would look with our own data so thought I'd export the min. I can get away with from our Prod versions and import to my local Docker one - but have come up against this weird issue as Netbox export gives the CSV & YAML headers with the uppercase formatting but the import expects them all lowercase

[candlerb]

have come up against this weird issue as Netbox export gives the CSV & YAML headers with the uppercase formatting but the import expects them all lowercase

I agree it's weird, but it's an intentional design decision by the Netbox authors that the export and import formats are different and mutually incompatible. It's documented in the FAQ.

[KMTMark]

Ah thanks! In my case atm I'm just doing some local testing via docker so was hoping to be able to import data from our current setup.

…

On Tue, 21 May 2024 at 17:01, Brian Candler ***@***.***> wrote: have come up against this weird issue as Netbox export gives the CSV & YAML headers with the uppercase formatting but the import expects them all lowercase I agree it's weird, but it's an intentional design decision by the Netbox authors that the export and import formats are different and mutually incompatible. It's documented in the FAQ <https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions#why-cant-i-pass-exported-data-directly-into-the-import-form> . — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#16197 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/APHEWNQJEYL6HDJFVSAQVFDZDNVXHAVCNFSM6AAAAABH6NZJD2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43SRDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHM4TKMJQGU4DI> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

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[candlerb]

You can't transfer data between Netbox instances using CSV. There are lots of reasons why, including some circular references (e.g. device <- interface <- IP address <- device), the inability to name things uniquely, and the inability to select the IDs of items you are importing.

Instead, you need to dump the postgres database from one instance, and import it into another. This process is documented under the heading Replicating Netbox in the Administration section of the documentation.