django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: netbox_branching: DATABASES must be a DynamicSchemaDict instance.

[rubenjimenezit]

Plugin Version

0.5.5

NetBox Version

4.3.1

Python Version

3.10.12

Steps to Reproduce

Fresh new installation of Netbox 4.3.1 on Ubuntu 22.04
Trying to install netbox-branching plugin following instructions: https://netboxlabs.com/docs/console/netbox-extensions/branching/

Linux user 'netbox' session

GRANT CREATE ON DATABASE netbox TO netbox;
source /opt/netbox/venv/bin/activate
pip install netboxlabs-netbox-branching

Modify file /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/configuration.py

PLUGINS = [
    # ...
    'netbox_branching',
]

Created file /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/local_settings.py with content:

from netbox_branching.utilities import DynamicSchemaDict
from .configuration import DATABASE

# Wrap DATABASES with DynamicSchemaDict for dynamic schema support
DATABASES = DynamicSchemaDict({
    'default': DATABASE,
})

# Employ our custom database router
DATABASE_ROUTERS = [
    'netbox_branching.database.BranchAwareRouter',
]

cd /opt/netbox/netbox
./manage.py migrate

The migrate process raises a Django Exception: ImproperlyConfigured: netbox_branching: DATABASES must be a DynamicSchemaDict instance.

It seems that the migrate process is not taking the local_settings.py file into account for the migration, although it is located in the same directory than settings.py (as documentation indicates)

(venv) netbox@netbox01:/opt/netbox/netbox/netbox$ ls -ls configuration.py settings.py local_settings.py
12 -rw-r----- 1 netbox root 10385 Jun  5 15:23 configuration.py
 4 -rw-rw-r-- 1 netbox root   332 Jun  5 14:48 local_settings.py
36 -rw-rw-r-- 1 netbox root 34203 Jun  5 14:58 settings.py

Thanks for your help!

Expected Behavior

Plugin installed

Observed Behavior

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/netbox/./manage.py", line 10, in <module>
    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 442, in execute_from_command_line
    utility.execute()
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 416, in execute
    django.setup()
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/__init__.py", line 24, in setup
    apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 124, in populate
    app_config.ready()
  File "/opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/netbox_branching/__init__.py", line 39, in ready
    raise ImproperlyConfigured(
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: netbox_branching: DATABASES must be a DynamicSchemaDict instance.

[jeremystretch]

It seems that the migrate process is not taking the local_settings.py file into account for the migration, although it is located in the same directory than settings.py (as documentation indicates)

You seem to have everything set up correctly. I can verify that this approach works for me.

Are you able to start NetBox successfully without the plugin enabled and without anything defined in local_settings.py?

[rubenjimenezit]

Hello Jeremy,

Thanks for your answer.

Yes. Disabling the plugin and removing the local_settings.py file allows the manage.py migrate process to end without errors

configuration.py - disabling plugin

(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:~$ nano /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/configuration.py

# Enable installed plugins. Add the name of each plugin to the list.
PLUGINS = [
#    'netbox_branching',
]

local_settings.py - moving local_settings.py out of the /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/ directory

(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:~$ mv /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/local_settings.py /home/netbox/

manage.py migrate

(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:~$ /opt/netbox/netbox/manage.py migrate
Operations to perform:
  Apply all migrations: account, auth, circuits, contenttypes, core, dcim, django_rq, extras, ipam, sessions, social_django, taggit, tenancy, users, virtualization, vpn, wireless
Running migrations:
  No migrations to apply.

start netbox service

(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:~$ sudo systemctl start netbox
(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:~$ sudo systemctl status netbox
● netbox.service - NetBox WSGI Service
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/netbox.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-06-06 07:31:49 UTC; 4s ago
       Docs: https://docs.netbox.dev/
   Main PID: 2654807 (gunicorn)
      Tasks: 6 (limit: 4556)
     Memory: 503.7M
        CPU: 7.775s
     CGroup: /system.slice/netbox.service
             ├─2654807 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>
             ├─2654808 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>
             ├─2654809 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>
             ├─2654810 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>
             ├─2654811 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>
             └─2654812 /opt/netbox-4.3.1/venv/bin/python3 /opt/netbox/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /var/tmp/netbox.>

Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com systemd[1]: Started NetBox WSGI Service.
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654807]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654807] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654807]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654807] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654807]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654807] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654808]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654808] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654809]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654809] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654810]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654810] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654811]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654811] [INF>
Jun 06 07:31:49 v02dnetbox01.na.drillinginfo.com gunicorn[2654812]: [2025-06-06 07:31:49 +0000] [2654812] [INF>

It seems to me that the migrate process is not able to find the local_settings.py file defined under /opt/netbox/netbox/netbox/. But that is just a guess. What are the requisites for the migrate process to find the local_settings.py file?

Thank you very much

[jeremystretch]

In configuration.py, do you have DATABASE (singular) or DATABASES (plural) defined? I'm guessing you have the latter, which is probably triggering an import error in local_settings.py.

If you're setting DATABASES in configuration.py, try changing

from .configuration import DATABASE

DATABASES = DynamicSchemaDict({
    'default': DATABASE,
})

to

from .configuration import DATABASES

DATABASES = DynamicSchemaDict(DATABASES)

in local_settings.py. (Or, you could just use DynamicSchemaDict directly within configuration.py.)

The DATABASES parameter was introduced in NetBox v4.3.0, obviating the need for it to be declared in local_settings.py, but we're still in a transitional phase to ensure backward compatibility.

[cruse1977]

Confirmed this occurs in 4.3 and using older configs - updating the config to DATABASES as per 4.3 + and the fixes above resolves this. Are we closer to merging #266 ?

[rubenjimenezit]

Thank you both.
After changing the contents of local_settings.py to

from netbox_branching.utilities import DynamicSchemaDict
from .configuration import DATABASES

# Wrap DATABASES with DynamicSchemaDict for dynamic schema support
DATABASES = DynamicSchemaDict(DATABASES)

# Employ our custom database router
DATABASE_ROUTERS = [
    'netbox_branching.database.BranchAwareRouter',
]

And activating the plugin again in configuration.py

PLUGINS = [
    # ...
    'netbox_branching',
]

The migration process went ahead

(venv) netbox@v02dnetbox01:/opt/netbox/netbox$ ./manage.py migrate
Operations to perform:
  Apply all migrations: account, auth, circuits, contenttypes, core, dcim, django_rq, extras, ipam, netbox_branching, sessions, social_django, taggit, tenancy, users, virtualization, vpn, wireless
Running migrations:
  Applying netbox_branching.0001_initial... OK
  Applying netbox_branching.0002_branch_schema_id_unique... OK
  Applying netbox_branching.0003_rename_indexes...
  OK

and after restarting services
sudo systemctl restart netbox netbox-rq

The plugin is installed and working.

Thank you very much