diff --git a/vars/Debian.yml b/vars/Debian.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fad35c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vars/Debian.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+# netbox vars/Debian.yml
+#
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2020 Open Networking Foundation <support@opennetworking.org>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# NOTE: Only put platform/OS-specific variables in this file.
+# Put all other variables in the 'defaults/main.yml' file.
+
+# shell used by the netbox user (non-interactive)
+netbox_shell: "/usr/sbin/nologin"