Pathways¶

Pathways represent the physical routes that cables follow between structures and locations. Outdoor pathways have a LineString geometry defining their geographic path; indoor pathways (between two locations) have no geometry.

Pathway Types¶

Conduit¶

A pipe or duct that cables are pulled through. Conduits are the most common pathway type for underground infrastructure.

Field	Description
Material	PVC, HDPE, Steel, Concrete, Fiberglass
Inner Diameter	Inside diameter in millimeters
Outer Diameter	Outside diameter in millimeters
Depth	Burial depth in meters
Conduit Bank	Optional bank assignment at a structure
Bank Position	Position within the bank (e.g., `A1`, `B2`)
Start/End Junction	Optional junction endpoint (instead of structure)

Aerial Span¶

An overhead route, typically between poles.

Field	Description
Aerial Type	Messenger, Self-support, Lashed, Wrapped, ADSS, OPGW
Start Attachment Height	Height of cable attachment at the start side, in meters. Nullable.
End Attachment Height	Height of cable attachment at the end side, in meters. Nullable.
Attachment Height (derived)	Read-only mean of the two sides; falls back to whichever side is populated, or `None` if both are unset. Exposed on the detail panel, list table, and REST API but not editable.
Sag	Maximum sag in meters
Messenger Size	Messenger wire specification
Wind Loading	Wind loading specification
Ice Loading	Ice loading specification

Direct Buried¶

A cable path buried directly in the ground without a conduit.

Field	Description
Burial Depth	Depth in meters
Warning Tape	Whether warning tape is installed
Tracer Wire	Whether tracer wire is installed
Armor Type	Cable armor specification

Innerduct¶

A smaller duct installed inside a parent conduit to subdivide capacity.

Field	Description
Parent Conduit	The conduit this innerduct is inside
Size	Innerduct size (e.g., `1.25"`, `32mm`)
Color	Innerduct color, chosen from NetBox's color palette
Position	Position within the parent conduit

Color is picked from NetBox's standard palette, the same widget used for rack roles and cables, and renders as a swatch in innerduct tables and on the parent conduit's detail page. CSV import also accepts a color name (Blue) or a bare hex code (2196f3); slate and violet from the telecom 12-color code map onto the nearest palette entries.

Innerducts inherit start and end endpoints (structures or locations) from their parent conduit if not explicitly set.

The Innerducts panel on a conduit's detail page has an Add button that opens the innerduct create form with the parent conduit and its endpoints pre-filled. Innerducts never need their own path geometry -- the parent conduit owns the route. Lifecycle fields (installer, dates) are not inherited: innerducts are usually installed separately. An innerduct without a tenant shows the parent chain's tenant marked with * in tables.

Endpoints¶

Every pathway has a start endpoint and an end endpoint. These can be:

Structure — An outdoor structure (pole, manhole, etc.)
Location — An indoor NetBox location (room, floor)
Junction — A conduit junction (conduits only)

You can mix endpoint types. For example, a conduit starting at a manhole (structure) and ending at an equipment room (location) models a building entrance path.

Indoor pathways¶

When both endpoints are locations, the pathway is indoor and the geographic path is optional -- NetBox locations carry no coordinates, so there is nothing to draw. Simply pick the two locations and save; the pathway is created without geometry and does not appear on the interactive map or in the GeoJSON API layers. A path is still required whenever either endpoint is geographic (a structure or a junction).

Creating a Pathway¶

Navigate to the appropriate pathway list (e.g., Plugins > Pathways > Conduits)
Click Add
Set the name, endpoints, and type-specific fields
Draw the path on the map widget or enter geometry manually
Save

Tip

The map widget snaps to nearby structures when drawing paths. Start and end your line near your selected structures for accurate geometry.

Pathway on the Map¶

On the interactive map, pathways render as colored lines:

Type	Line Style	Color
Conduit	Solid	Brown
Aerial Span	Dashed	Blue
Direct Buried	Dotted	Gray
Innerduct	Solid (thin)	Orange
Cable Tray	Solid	Green
Raceway	Solid	Indigo

Clicking a pathway line opens the sidebar with details including endpoints, length, type-specific attributes, and routed cables.

Length: drawn vs as-built¶

Every pathway carries two length values:

Field	Source	Use
Length (m, as-built)	User-entered `length` field on the pathway record	Field-measured / as-built length: includes slack, riser drops, sag, and any vertical component the LineString does not capture.
Geo length (m, drawn)	Read-only `geo_length`, computed by PostGIS `ST_Length` on the `path` LineString	The horizontal distance of the drawn geometry. Always reflects the current shape on the map.

The two values are intentionally separate -- they usually disagree, and that disagreement is information (slack, vertical drops, recently re-drawn geometry that has not been re-measured in the field, etc.).

geo_length is exposed:

on the detail panel next to Length (m, as-built),
as a sortable "Geo length (m)" column on each pathway list (off by default; toggle from the "Configure" menu),
on the REST API and GeoJSON endpoints (read-only),
as range filter parameters ?geo_length__gte=... and ?geo_length__lte=... on every Pathway list / API endpoint.

Note

geo_length returns metres. The plugin's PLUGINS_CONFIG['netbox_pathways']['srid'] must be a projected, metre-based CRS (e.g. an EPSG code for a local UTM zone or NAD83 Lambert Conformal Conic). The same requirement already underpins every other distance / area output in the plugin, so most installs need no extra configuration.

Lifecycle¶

Every pathway carries the following lifecycle fields, in addition to the type-specific fields above:

Field	Description
Status	Lifecycle state: `Planned`, `Active` (default), `Under Construction`, `Decommissioning`, `Retired`, or `Abandoned in place` -- the same states as structures. The route planner skips `Retired` and `Decommissioning` pathways unless "Include inactive/retired" is checked.
Installation Date	When the pathway was physically installed
Commissioned Date	When the pathway was commissioned / accepted (often after the install date for outside-plant work)
Tenant	Tenant served by / customer assigned to this pathway
Installed By	Tenant entry for the contractor or workforce that physically installed the pathway (distinct from `Tenant`)

Filtering¶

Pathway lists support filtering by:

Status -- Filter by lifecycle state
Pathway Type -- Conduit, Aerial, Direct Buried, etc.
Start/End Structure -- Filter by connected structures
Site -- Filter by associated site
Material -- Conduit material (conduits only)
Tenant -- Filter by owning tenant (served customer)
Installed By -- Filter by installer/contractor tenant
Installation Date / Commissioned Date -- Filter by date
Has Path -- Filter pathways with/without geometry
Geo length range -- ?geo_length__gte=<m> and ?geo_length__lte=<m> filter pathways by their drawn length. Filtering runs as a PostGIS ST_Length(path) predicate, so it scales with database indexes rather than Python iteration.

Intermediate Locations¶

Pathways can pass through intermediate locations (sites or rooms) along their route. Use Pathway Locations to record these waypoints with sequence numbers for ordering. This is useful for documenting that a conduit passes through multiple manholes along its route.

Cloning¶

Every pathway detail view has a Clone button. Cloning pre-fills the create form with the source object's status, endpoints, installer, dates, and type-specific attributes (faces and bank for conduits, span attributes for aerial spans, burial attributes for direct-buried runs, parent conduit, size, and color for innerducts). The route geometry, label, and per-parent positions are never copied, so you can document parallel runs quickly and then draw each path.