demo.netbox.dev

What is NetBox?

NetBox is an open-source tool for documenting and managing network infrastructure. It acts as a structured source of truth for the things a network team needs to track: devices, racks, IP addresses, VLANs, circuits, and the relationships between them, rather than leaving that information scattered across spreadsheets and diagrams.

The site at NetBox is a public demo instance, not the product's main documentation or download page. Its own note says data resets nightly at 04:00 UTC, so treat it as a sandbox for trying the interface and data model, not as a place to store anything real. It offers account creation and a login form.

What it is used for

• IP address management (IPAM): tracking prefixes, addresses, and allocations so you know what is free and what is in use.
• DCIM: recording racks, devices, and cabling so physical layout matches reality.
• Documentation as data: linking circuits, providers, tenants, and services to the infrastructure they depend on.
• Automation source: other systems can read from it to generate configurations or validate changes, which is why teams often treat it as the authoritative record.

Who it suits

Network engineers, infrastructure and data centre teams, and platform groups that need one consistent record instead of several conflicting ones. It is less useful if you only need a quick diagram or have a very small, static setup where a spreadsheet already works.

Trade-offs to weigh

• It rewards disciplined data entry; a source of truth is only as good as what you put in it.
• It documents and organises infrastructure — it is not itself a monitoring or configuration-push tool.
• Running and integrating it takes some effort, so the payoff grows with the size and rate of change of your network.

A useful next step

If you want to understand how it fits your work, sign up on the demo and try modelling one real rack or subnet: add a site, a rack, a device, and an IP prefix, then see how the records link together. If that structure matches how your team already thinks about the network, it is likely a good fit; if it feels heavier than your needs, a simpler inventory may serve you better.

How do I create a user account on the NetBox demo site?

To create a user account on the NetBox demo site, open NetBox and click the link on the login page labeled for creating a new user account, then complete the short registration form. The page text confirms this is a public demo instance for community use, and that you can either register a new account or log in with existing credentials.

What to expect after registering

• Your data is temporary. The demo notes state that data is reset nightly at 04:00 UTC, so anything you create — devices, sites, IP addresses, users — will disappear.
• It is a shared environment. Because the instance is public, other people may be working in it at the same time. Avoid entering anything confidential or reusing a password you use elsewhere.
• Registration is for access, not for production. This instance is meant for trying out NetBox's interface and features, not for running a real network inventory.

A practical way to use it

If you are evaluating NetBox for your team, register, then spend a session building a small slice of your actual environment — one site, a handful of racks, a few devices and prefixes — and note how long each step takes. That gives you a realistic sense of the data-entry effort before you commit to a self-hosted or paid deployment.

If you need persistent data or multi-user control, the demo will not meet that need; look instead at installing NetBox yourself or using a hosted option, and treat the demo purely as a hands-on preview.

When is the demo data reset?

The demo data is reset nightly at 04:00 UTC.

If you're testing against this instance, plan your work around that window: any records you create during a session will disappear after the reset, so export or note anything you want to keep before then. For longer experiments, consider running NetBox locally instead of relying on the shared demo.

Can I use the NetBox demo instance for production purposes?

No. The NetBox demo at NetBox is explicitly a public, shared instance, and its data is reset nightly at 04:00 UTC. Anything you enter can disappear within a day, and anything you enter is visible to other users of the demo. That makes it unsuitable for real inventory, monitoring or automation workloads.

What the demo is actually for

• Trying the interface before installing NetBox yourself
• Exploring how devices, racks, IP addresses, prefixes, VLANs and similar objects relate to one another
• Testing an API call or integration pattern against a throwaway dataset
• Training or screenshots where losing the data is acceptable

Why production use fails here

A practical next step

If you are evaluating NetBox for real use, treat the demo as a short-lived sandbox: sketch your data model there, then install NetBox on your own server or use a managed hosting option for anything you intend to keep. As a rule of thumb, if losing the data would disrupt anyone's work, it does not belong on a public demo.

What credentials can I use to log in to the NetBox demo?

You need to create your own account — there are no shared demo credentials.

The demo page at NetBox is described as a public demo instance for community use. It offers a link to create a new user account, or you can log in with existing credentials if you already registered one. There is no published username/password pair to reuse.

Also note: data is reset nightly at 04:00 UTC, so anything you create or change during your session will not persist.

Next step: open the demo, follow the account-creation link, register a username and password, then log in. If you want to explore with a team or keep your work, install NetBox in your own environment instead of relying on the public demo.

Is the NetBox demo instance open to the public?

Yes. The page at NetBox describes itself as a public demo instance of NetBox, and it invites visitors to create a new user account or sign in with existing credentials. So it is not a private or invitation-only environment — anyone can register and explore it.

A few practical implications of how this demo works:

• It is a shared sandbox. Because it is open to the public, treat everything in it as visible to strangers. Do not enter real device names, IP addresses, credentials, customer data or anything confidential.
• Data does not persist. The page states that data is reset nightly at 04:00 UTC, so anything you create will disappear. Plan your exploration around a single session rather than building something long-lived.
• It is for evaluation, not production. Use it to see how NetBox's data model, navigation and workflows feel before deciding whether to run your own instance.

A useful next step: if you want to test configuration changes, API calls or automation against NetBox, do it in the demo during one sitting and keep notes outside the tool. For anything involving real infrastructure, run a self-hosted instance instead, since the public demo is neither private nor persistent.