[Bug]: Unable to use services in netbox inventory module

[StoffelCPR]

Ansible NetBox Collection version

devel

Ansible version

ansible [core 2.17.11]
  config file = /home/stoffel/Projects/tenants/aac-lintert-homelab/ansible.cfg
  configured module search path = ['/home/stoffel/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /home/stoffel/.local/lib/python3.10/site-packages/ansible
  ansible collection location = /home/stoffel/.ansible/collections:/usr/share/ansible/collections
  executable location = /home/stoffel/.local/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.10.12 (main, Feb  4 2025, 14:57:36) [GCC 11.4.0] (/usr/bin/python3)
  jinja version = 3.1.6
  libyaml = True

I had setup my ansible to use the dynamic inventory with services attached to VMs and Devices alike to roll out let's encrypt certificates, this randomly stopped working. After debugging for 2 hours I noticed that I didn't actually fuck up but the ansible-inventory doesn't return any services attached to either VMs or Devices. I hoped the latest netbox_service fixes would fix this but they don't

NetBox version

v4.3.2-Docker-3.3.0

Python version

3.10

Steps to Reproduce

Create a VM and attach a service to it of any kind.

Set your inventory to include service as follows:

plugin: netbox.netbox.nb_inventory
api_endpoint: http://your-netbox
token: your_valid_token
validate_certs: false
config_context: true
services: true
flatten_config_context: true
site_data: true
group_by:
  #- device_roles
  #- services
  - tags

defaults:
  groups:
    - all

You'd expect the service to be shown in your inventory but all you will see is an empty services list

                "services": [],                                                                                                                                                               

Expected Behavior

The services list to be filled with all the attached services

Observed Behavior

List was empty. Though services are attached to the VMs; curl on the API shows that services are properly returned and have a parent object and type

[sc68cal]

Yep, seeing this in CI tests against 4.1 and 4.3. This was being masked by an issue we've had lately with version string parsing so something might have slipped in.

[StoffelCPR]

bumping. Do you have an idea where to look? @sc68cal if you help me get started I am technically a software dev and could help. New to your project though.

[sc68cal]

@StoffelCPR

So, at least in CI, our tests against NetBox API 4.1 are not creating the new service correctly since it appears the API changed, and we are not associating it with a device or virtual machine correctly. We are creating a device, but it appears that we are not correctly sending the API call in the way the server expects, so there needs to be a code change in the service module.

https://github.com/netbox-community/ansible_modules/actions/runs/15967236770/job/45030247613

TASK [v4.1 : 1 - Device with required information needs to add new service] ****
changed: [testhost] => {"changed": true, "device": {"airflow": null, "asset_tag": null, "cluster": null, "comments": "", "config_context": {}, "config_template": null, "console_port_count": 0, "console_server_port_count": 0, "created": "2025-06-30T08:11:09.310491Z", "custom_fields": {}, "description": "", "device_bay_count": 0, "device_type": 1, "display": "FOR_SERVICE", "display_url": "http://localhost:32768/dcim/devices/13/", "face": null, "front_port_count": 0, "id": 13, "interface_count": 0, "inventory_item_count": 0, "last_updated": "2025-06-30T08:11:09.310508Z", "latitude": null, "local_context_data": null, "location": null, "longitude": null, "module_bay_count": 0, "name": "FOR_SERVICE", "oob_ip": null, "parent_device": null, "platform": null, "position": null, "power_outlet_count": 0, "power_port_count": 0, "primary_ip": null, "primary_ip4": null, "primary_ip6": null, "rack": null, "rear_port_count": 0, "role": 1, "serial": "", "site": 1, "status": "staged", "tags": [], "tenant": null, "url": "http://localhost:32768/api/dcim/devices/13/", "vc_position": null, "vc_priority": null, "virtual_chassis": null}, "msg": "device FOR_SERVICE created"}

TASK [v4.1 : NETBOX_SERVICE: Create new service] *******************************
fatal: [testhost]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "msg": "{"all":["A service must be associated with either a device or a virtual machine."]}"}

[sc68cal]

I believe the responsible code is here https://github.com/netbox-community/ansible_modules/blob/devel/plugins/module_utils/netbox_ipam.py#L219

[sc68cal]

So, looks like #1421 got us closer to resolving this issue but it's not complete. It appears to be two situations:

• For API 4.1 - we are not sending the correct parameters. This was something I highlighted in Update netbox_service.py #1421 (review) - but I mistakenly thought that fixes #1426 : broken netbox_service module #1427 did not suffer from the same issue since its approach was different.

• For API 4.3 we appear to have a CI issue with the code, where our assert does not pass. The service does get created but I think our assert is outdated and needs changing for when the API is 4.3 - https://github.com/netbox-community/ansible_modules/actions/runs/15967236770/job/45030247618#step:12:3294

TASK [v4.3 : NETBOX_SERVICE: Create new service on virtual_machine] ************
changed: [testhost] => {"changed": true, "msg": "services node-exporter updated", "services": {"comments": "", "created": "2025-06-30T08:11:58.725610Z", "custom_fields": {}, "description": "", "display": "node-exporter (TCP/9100, 9200)", "display_url": "http://localhost:32768/ipam/services/1/", "id": 1, "ipaddresses": [], "last_updated": "2025-06-30T08:12:00.513092Z", "name": "node-exporter", "parent": 13, "parent_object_id": 1, "parent_object_type": "virtualization.virtualmachine", "ports": [9100], "protocol": "tcp", "tags": [4], "url": "http://localhost:32768/api/ipam/services/1/"}}

TASK [v4.3 : NETBOX_SERVICE ASSERT - Create] ***********************************
fatal: [testhost]: FAILED! => {"msg": "The conditional check 'test_service_create_vm['diff']['after']['state'] == "present"' failed. The error was: error while evaluating conditional (test_service_create_vm['diff']['after']['state'] == "present"): 'dict object' has no attribute 'state'"}

[StoffelCPR]

Ah. My request is for collecting services in the nb_inventory module. Not for creating services

But I'll have a look into the code in general

[StoffelCPR]

Based on a quick run-through of the code and release notes I guess the current problem is the following Breaking Change:

The device and virtual_machine foreign keys on the Service model have been replaced with a generic parent relationship to support the assignment of services to FHRP groups as well.

https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/releases/tag/v4.3.0

Which then results in the current code being the problem:

ansible_modules/plugins/inventory/nb_inventory.py

Line 1352 in 77e28f8

if service.get("device"):

ansible_modules/plugins/inventory/nb_inventory.py

Line 1357 in 77e28f8

if service.get("virtual_machine"):

This Code block tries splitting the services into device and virtualmachine lists. Though these don't longer exist as the Object is now wrapped into parent parent_object_type and parent_object_id

[StoffelCPR]

@sc68cal I do have a quick fix available. That fix would be a breaking change to anyone using Netbox with a version before the breaking change.

I dove in and simply fixed the issue itself. I'll now start reading into your documentation on how to properly integrate the fix into your code base. If you have the time to help me get there please do so ^^

[StoffelCPR]

I believe the fix itself is done in my PR @sc68cal would be nice if someone can take a look

[StoffelCPR]

Basically bumping. Any news? Anything I can do to get this through?