Netbox conflicting with Python standard library Lib/secrets.py #3620

New Issue

adam · 2025-12-29T18:30:12+01:00

adam commented

2025-12-29 18:30:12 +01:00

Originally created by @diddi- on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020).

Originally assigned to: @steffann on GitHub.

Netbox does not have a single root netbox package so anything inside netbox/ will be considered a separate package in Python. For example the secets package in Netbox conflicts with Python standard library secrets.

Environment

Python version: 3.7.7
NetBox version: 2.8.1

Steps to Reproduce

Create a new custom script 1-test.py

import secrets
class SecretScript(Script):
    def run(self, data):
        self.log_success(secrets.token_hex())

Browse to the script from web ui http://localhost/extras/scripts/1-test/SecretScript/
Hit Run Script button

Expected Behavior

A success log with the message containing a random hex string, similar to

>>> import secrets
>>> secrets.token_hex()
'95d6e2a2460ffd2fed63d6a78a69ae5a5dd7bf2676e7cd393bc9e80bc261cbe9'

Observed Behavior

Exception:
An exception occurred: AttributeError: module 'secrets' has no attribute 'token_hex'

Originally created by @diddi- on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020). Originally assigned to: @steffann on GitHub.  Netbox does not have a single root `netbox` package so anything inside `netbox/` will be considered a separate package in Python. For example the `secets` package in Netbox conflicts with Python standard library [`secrets`](https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/secrets.html). ### Environment * Python version: 3.7.7 * NetBox version: 2.8.1  ### Steps to Reproduce 1. Create a new custom script `1-test.py` ```from extras.scripts import Script import secrets class SecretScript(Script): def run(self, data): self.log_success(secrets.token_hex()) ``` 2. Browse to the script from web ui `http://localhost/extras/scripts/1-test/SecretScript/` 3. Hit `Run Script` button  ### Expected Behavior A `success` log with the message containing a random hex string, similar to ``` >>> import secrets >>> secrets.token_hex() '95d6e2a2460ffd2fed63d6a78a69ae5a5dd7bf2676e7cd393bc9e80bc261cbe9' ```  ### Observed Behavior Exception: ```An exception occurred: AttributeError: module 'secrets' has no attribute 'token_hex'```

adam closed this issue

2025-12-29 18:30:12 +01:00

adam commented

2025-12-29 18:30:13 +01:00

@diddi- commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020):

I discovered this while trying to build a Python package that our custom scripts will use. Having all directories under netbox/ be their own top level packages make imports a bit awkward as Netbox rely on its own secrets package for example.

Would it be possible to have a structure like netbox.secrets instead?

@diddi- commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020): I discovered this while trying to build a Python package that our custom scripts will use. Having all directories under `netbox/` be their own top level packages make imports a bit awkward as Netbox rely on its own `secrets` package for example. Would it be possible to have a structure like `netbox.secrets` instead?

adam commented

2025-12-29 18:30:13 +01:00

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020):

Fun fact: NetBox predates the standard secrets library, which was introduced in Python 3.6. We recently had to work around this conflict to accommodate a recent Django release, which you can see here.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's a palatable solution to this problem. We would need to rename the secrets app, which obviously would be quite disruptive and probably not worth the negligible gain.

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (Apr 29, 2020): Fun fact: NetBox predates the standard `secrets` library, which was introduced in Python 3.6. We recently had to work around this conflict to accommodate a recent Django release, which you can see [here](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/commit/f1b042180536092fa99d67f55fe5d5ab280d0f69). Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's a palatable solution to this problem. We would need to rename the `secrets` app, which obviously would be [quite disruptive](https://stackoverflow.com/a/8408131/2694522) and probably not worth the negligible gain.

adam commented

2025-12-29 18:30:13 +01:00

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (May 12, 2020):

I'm going to close this issue as I don't think there's anything actionable in the immediate future. Might be worth revisiting down the road but unless the conflict escalates to a serious problem, renaming the app is unlikely to be worth the disruption to users.

@jeremystretch commented on GitHub (May 12, 2020): I'm going to close this issue as I don't think there's anything actionable in the immediate future. Might be worth revisiting down the road but unless the conflict escalates to a serious problem, renaming the app is unlikely to be worth the disruption to users.

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Reference: starred/netbox#3620