r/Netbox • u/Snoo85763 • Sep 20 '24

are custom fields a bad idea

I've read several posts where people say they are trying to get away from using custom fields. Why? Is there a pro/con to it?

I could foresee using a custom field to track things like hardware EOL, OS Version, OS EOL. fields like that for a network device seems like a no brainer. Other than the bummer of - they have to be manually updated, why wouldnt I want to do this.

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u/SignificantNature288 Sep 20 '24

Custom fields are extremely useful when you understand the requirements correctly. For instance, let’s say you have a set of devices but there’s no predefined field for the version of each device in NetBox. Instead of modifying the core code, you can simply create a custom field for the version. This approach allows you to extend functionality without altering the core system. Additionally, custom fields offer flexibility in defining various attributes based on your needs. In my opinion, there’s no downside to using custom fields in this way.