Static Media Failure After Fresh Install

[boomsfib]

I've seen quite a few post about this error, but none that quite fit what I'm experiencing.

It started when trying to upgrade my existing 3.7.3 to 4.1.0. After following the instructions and running the upgrade script and restarting services, I get the below error when browsing to my instance

At first I thought it was from going from 3.7.3 to 4.1.0, so I tried upgrading from 3.7.3 to 3.7.8 and got the same results.

Next I tried a fresh clean install and got the same results.

What I found was that the /opt/netbox/netbox/static folder was not created. I had to create it manually, set permissions to 777 and then run python3 manage.py collectstatic for it to populate the directory with necessary files.

I went back through the installation and upgrade instructions and didn't see anything mentioning this.

Am I missing something? I've been using NetBox since 2017 and haven't had an issue like this when it came to upgrading or installing. Last upgrade was from 3.5.9 to 3.7.3 and don't remember this happening. What's changed that I am overlooking?

[boomsfib]

So some more information hoping that someone will see and help guide me as I am stuck. I've done a complete new installation of Ubuntu20.04, Ubuntu22.04 and Ubuntu24.04.

When I go to install NetBox, per the step by step instructions for downloading a release archive, the installation fails everytime when running the upgrade script and always at the same spot 'Builds the documentation locally (for offline use)'. Since installation fails at this point, we never make it to the next step of 'Aggregate static resource files on disk' which in turn never creates the static directory and I end up with the Static Media Failure message above. I've tried fresh installation of 3.7.3, 3.7.8, 4.0.11 and everytime I get the same results.

I am not using an existing database, these all took place with a new database. I've tried with my remote database server as well as with postgres installed on the local machine I am installing NetBox on.

This is the output when installation fails

[kevinscottuk]

@boomsfib I ran into the same issue when performing a clean installation of v3.6.3. Your solution worked for me. Thank you. @jeremystretch any explanation of why this folder isn't created as part of the installation and should the installation steps at https://netboxlabs.com/docs/netbox/en/stable/installation/ be updated to include this?