Sensitive data validation

[hart323]

Hi! Thanks for great plugin :)
I'm still exploring the limits of what stuff can be tested with it and I've asked myself how to validate values that are stored on the external api (some secret vault or other). Could I use Name Sets for this? Some custom function MY_CUSTOM_FUNCTION1 that will do requests to other api and get value that I need for comparison? Or write a job script that will periodically fetch external values and save it to the context for further comparison by validity?

[amyasnikov]

Hey @hart323, thanks for your kind words!
About your case with third-party data:

1. Although the approach with custom Name Set function which calls some external API is technically possible, it has some drawbacks:

• Name Set function is called at least once for each particular Test Result during tests execution. So, if you have e.g. 100 tests, 10 devices and only 1 shared secret to load, it will still be downloaded 100 x 10 = 1000 times.
• There is no built-in approach for storing the credentials to access this external API in a secured manner

2. Some kind of local storage of the data is generally preferable

• You can store your data in a custom Field. By setting ui_visible=hidden you can hide the contents from the UI
• I'm not sure, but you can try netbox-secrets to store your third-party sensitive data. I haven't tried it by myself, but looks like it's possible.