Structures¶
Structures are the anchor points of your cable plant. Every pathway starts and ends at a structure (or indoor location), and structures host conduit banks, equipment, and cable transitions.
Structure Types¶
| Type | Icon Shape | Color | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | Circle outline | Green | Aerial cable attachment |
| Manhole | Circle filled | Blue | Underground access, large |
| Handhole | Circle outline | Cyan | Underground access, small |
| Cabinet | Square rounded | Orange | Street-level enclosure |
| Vault | Square filled | Purple | Underground concrete vault |
| Pedestal | Square outline | Yellow | Above-ground distribution |
| Building Entrance | Square dot | Red | Cable entry to building |
| Tower | Crosshair | Dark Red | Communication tower |
| Roof | Triangle | Gray | Rooftop mount |
| Equipment Room | Square outline | Teal | Indoor telecom room |
| Telecom Closet | Diamond | Indigo | Indoor wiring closet |
| Riser Room | Diamond outline | Pink | Vertical cable transition |
Creating a Structure¶
- Navigate to Plugins > Pathways > Structures
- Click Add
- Fill in the fields:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Unique identifier (e.g., MH-001, POLE-042) |
| Status | No | Lifecycle state: Planned, Active, Under Construction, Decommissioning, Retired, or Abandoned in place (still physically present, no longer in service) |
| Structure Type | No | Type from the table above |
| Site | No | NetBox site this structure belongs to |
| Location | No | NetBox location inside the site (e.g., a floor, room, or vault row). Must belong to the selected site; if you set a location and leave Site blank, the site is filled in from the location |
| Geometry | Yes | Geographic point or polygon -- click the map or enter coordinates |
| Elevation | No | Elevation in meters |
| Dimensions | No | Height, width, length, depth in meters |
| Installation Date | No | When the structure was physically installed |
| Commissioned Date | No | When the structure was commissioned / handed over (often after the install date for outside-plant work) |
| Tenant | No | Tenant served by / customer assigned to this structure |
| Installed By | No | Tenant entry for the contractor or workforce that physically installed the structure (distinct from Tenant) |
| Access Notes | No | Instructions for field crews (e.g., "Key #42, contact dispatch") |
Site and Location¶
Site and Location are the NetBox place hierarchy, not geography. A
structure can sit in a site with no location, or in a location inside that
site. The two must agree: assigning a location from a different site is
rejected, and a location on its own fills in the site for you. Use these to
tie a structure to indoor space (a floor, an equipment room, a vault row) so
devices in the same location can be reconciled against it.
Geographic position is the separate Geometry field, described below.
Geometry¶
Structure geometry can be either a Point (lat/lon) or a Polygon (footprint).
A polygon structure draws its real outline once you are zoomed in to
map_structure_polygon_zoom (default 18) or closer, on both the interactive
map and the map panel of a detail page. Zoomed out past that, it collapses to
the same icon marker a point structure uses, placed at the centroid -- a
manhole footprint is a sub-pixel smudge on a city-wide view. Lower the setting
to see footprints sooner; raise it to keep the map iconic for longer. GIS
exports always carry the stored geometry, point or polygon.
The geometry picker on the form supports:
- Click to place — Click the map to set a point
- Draw polygon — Use polygon draw tools for building footprints
- Manual entry — Enter WKT or coordinates directly
Structures on the Map¶
On the interactive map, structures appear as markers with shapes and colors matching their type (see table above); polygon structures appear as filled outlines in the same type color once past the footprint zoom. Clicking a structure marker opens the sidebar detail panel with:
- Structure name and type
- Site assignment
- Dimensions and elevation
- Connected pathways
- Associated conduit banks
Filtering¶
The structure list supports filtering by:
- Site -- Filter by NetBox site
- Location -- Filter by NetBox location within a site
- Structure Type -- Filter by type (pole, manhole, etc.)
- Status -- Filter by lifecycle state (including
Abandoned in place) - Tenant -- Filter by owning tenant (served customer)
- Installed By -- Filter by installer/contractor tenant
- Installation Date / Commissioned Date -- Filter by date
- Occupied -- Filter structures that have routed cables
- Has Connected Pathways -- Filter structures with/without attached pathways
Conduit Banks¶
Each structure can have one or more conduit banks. A conduit bank represents a wall or face of the structure with conduit openings. See Cable Routing for details on bank configuration and conduit positioning.
Bulk Operations¶
The structure list view supports bulk editing and deletion. Select multiple structures using the checkboxes, then use the toolbar actions to:
- Assign to a site
- Change structure type
- Assign a tenant
- Delete selected structures
Cloning¶
The Clone button on a structure pre-fills a new create form with the source structure's status, type, site, tenant, installer, dates, and dimensions. The name, geometry, elevation, and linked NetBox location are never copied, since those identify the original structure.