| name | run-tests |
| description | Run the netbox_custom_objects plugin's Django test suite against a local NetBox checkout. Use when the user asks to run tests, run a specific test module/class/method, or verify changes pass before opening a PR. |
Run the plugin's test suite
This plugin uses Django's built-in test runner (django.test.TestCase), not pytest — pyproject.toml lists pytest as a test extra but the suite is invoked via NetBox's manage.py test. CI runs this exact command in .github/workflows/lint-tests.yaml.
Canonical command
From the NetBox repo root (with the plugin installed in editable mode and testing/configuration.py linked into NetBox):
python netbox/manage.py test netbox_custom_objects.tests --keepdb
This is the same command CI runs. Add -v 2 to print each test as it executes; drop to -v 1 for terser output.
Prerequisites (one-time setup)
- NetBox checkout alongside this repo (
../netbox or any sibling path).
testing/configuration.py symlinked into NetBox:
ln -sf "$PWD/testing/configuration.py" ../netbox/netbox/configuration.py
This config sets PLUGINS = ['netbox_custom_objects'] and points at a local Postgres + Redis on default ports (netbox / netbox / netbox).- Plugin installed in editable mode with test extras:
pip install -e '.[dev,test]'
- NetBox dependencies installed:
pip install -r ../netbox/requirements.txt.
- Postgres + Redis reachable on localhost (defaults).
If any of these are missing, surface the gap to the user — do not silently skip.
Useful variants
Run a single test module / class / method (Django's dotted-path target):
python netbox/manage.py test netbox_custom_objects.tests.test_models --keepdb
python netbox/manage.py test netbox_custom_objects.tests.test_api --keepdb
python netbox/manage.py test netbox_custom_objects.tests.test_models.CustomObjectTypeTestCase --keepdb
Available test modules in netbox_custom_objects/tests/:
test_api — REST API endpoints (CRUD, linked objects view).test_deletion — Cascade deletion when a referenced object is deleted.test_field_types — FieldType subclass behaviour (model field, form field, serializer, filter).test_filtersets — Filterset generation and filtering for custom object models.test_models — CustomObjectType and CustomObjectTypeField model logic and validation.test_navigation — Dynamic navigation menu construction.test_schema_operations — DB schema create/delete/alter for custom object tables.test_views — UI views via NetBox's test client.
Stop on first failure: --failfast. Run in parallel: --parallel auto (note: --keepdb and --parallel don't always compose cleanly).
After model changes
Generate migrations before running tests, otherwise the test DB build will fail:
python netbox/manage.py makemigrations netbox_custom_objects
Why these choices
- Don't substitute pytest. The suite uses
django.test.TestCase; pytest would need pytest-django configured against NetBox's settings, which nobody has set up. Run via manage.py test to match CI.
- Always use
--keepdb. Dynamic table creation and schema operations hit a real PostgreSQL database. Recreating the test DB on every run is slow and unnecessary; --keepdb preserves it between runs.
- Don't mock the database. Tests exercise the real ORM, views, and APIs end-to-end. Dynamic model generation and schema editor operations require a real database — a mocked DB can't exercise that.
- Match CI's invocation. If a test passes locally but fails in CI, the first diagnostic is "did you run the same command?" — keeping the canonical form identical removes that variable.
References
