Configuration¶

NetBox FMS works out of the box with no required configuration. This page covers the optional settings, the permission model, optional integration points, and the runtime side effects of installing the plugin.

Plugin settings¶

The current release ships with no required entries in PLUGINS_CONFIG:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    "netbox_fms": {},
}

PluginConfig.default_settings is intentionally empty. Future releases that introduce configurable behavior will document any new keys here.

What `ready()` does at startup¶

When NetBox loads the plugin, NetBoxFMSConfig.ready() performs four actions:

Patches the cable-profile registry to register custom 24, 48, 72, 96, 144, 216, 288, and 432 strand profiles plus trunk profiles. NetBox does not yet expose a public API for plugin-defined cable profiles (see netbox#21663), so the registration uses a monkey-patch in monkey_patches.py.
Connects signal handlers that keep splice plan diffs fresh and block out-of-band edits to FMS-managed PortMapping rows. See signals.
Connects the counter cache for FiberCableType so list views can display the instance count without an extra query.
Registers map layers with netbox-pathways, if it is installed: fms_splice_closures and fms_slack_loops. The integration is best-effort and silently skipped when netbox-pathways is not present.

None of these are configurable, but they are useful to know if you are debugging plugin startup.

Permissions¶

NetBox FMS uses Django's standard permission system. Every model exposes the four CRUD permissions (view, add, change, delete); SplicePlan adds one custom permission, approve_spliceplan, that gates the approval workflow.

Cable types and instances¶

Permission	Description
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_fibercabletype`	Manage cable type blueprints
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_buffertubetemplate`	Manage buffer tube templates
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_ribbontemplate`	Manage ribbon templates
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_cableelementtemplate`	Manage non-fiber element templates
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_fibercable`	Manage cable instances
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_buffertube`	Manage buffer tube instances (rare)
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_ribbon`	Manage ribbon instances (rare)
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_fiberstrand`	Manage fiber strand instances (rare)
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_cableelement`	Manage cable element instances (rare)

Most users do not need write access to the instance-level component models (buffer tubes, ribbons, strands, cable elements). The plugin creates and maintains them automatically when a FiberCable is saved.

Splice planning¶

Permission	Description
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_spliceproject`	Manage splice projects
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_spliceplan`	Manage splice plans
`netbox_fms.approve_spliceplan`	Approve, reject, reopen, or archive a non-draft plan
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_spliceplanentry`	Manage individual splice plan entries
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_closurecableentry`	Manage gland labels for cables entering a closure
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_trayprofile`	Mark a `dcim.ModuleType` as a splice tray or express basket
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_tubeassignment`	Assign buffer tubes to splice trays inside a closure

The change_spliceplan permission lets a user submit a draft plan and make edits, but it does not let them approve the plan once it is in pending_approval. Reserve approve_spliceplan for leads, network engineers, or anyone responsible for validating splice designs before they are applied.

Fiber circuits¶

Permission	Description
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_fibercircuit`	Manage fiber circuits
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_fibercircuitpath`	Manage individual fiber circuit paths

FiberCircuitNode is a relational index used internally by the trace engine and circuit-protection checks. It does not have its own UI, but the standard Django auto-generated permissions exist if needed.

Operational metadata¶

Permission	Description
`netbox_fms.{view,add,change,delete}_slackloop`	Manage slack loop records

Assigning permissions¶

Permissions are assigned through standard NetBox flows. The most common patterns are:

Admin > Users > Permissions in the UI.
/api/users/permissions/ in the REST API.
A constraint-based permission with an object filter (for example, restrict approval to plans owned by a specific tenant or located on closures inside a specific site group).

approve_spliceplan is enforced both by API view permissions and by model clean() validation, so granting it via a constrained permission also constrains the action.

Optional integrations¶

netbox-pathways (map layers)¶

If netbox-pathways is installed, FMS automatically registers two map layers during startup:

Layer name	Geometry	Source data
`fms_splice_closures`	Point	`dcim.Device` instances that have at least one `SplicePlan`
`fms_slack_loops`	Point	`SlackLoop` instances

Both layers are placed in the Fiber Management group on the layer toolbar. No configuration is needed; the registration is silently skipped if the import of netbox_pathways.registry fails.

Cable profiles (NetBox core)¶

The plugin's cable profile registrations make NetBox's strand-level cable trace work for high-count fiber. See Cable Profiles for the full list and the upstream issue tracking the migration to a public API.

Disabling features¶

There is currently no flag for disabling any of the runtime side effects. If you need to skip the cable-profile patching (for example, while testing upstream NetBox changes), the cleanest path is to remove netbox_fms from PLUGINS for that environment.