diff --git a/.github/BOTMETA.yml b/.github/BOTMETA.yml
index 06445ddb9e..89be6c7ea4 100644
--- a/.github/BOTMETA.yml
+++ b/.github/BOTMETA.yml
@@ -1144,6 +1144,12 @@ files:
   lib/ansible/plugins/filter/network.py:
     maintainers: $team_networking
     labels: networking
+  lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios.py:
+    maintainers: $team_networking
+    labels: networking
+  lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios_next_ip.py:
+    maintainers: $team_networking
+    labels: networking
   lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/dig:
     maintainers: jpmens
     labels: community
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/net_tools/nios/api.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/net_tools/nios/api.py
index 3429ffc00f..fd1689f011 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/net_tools/nios/api.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/net_tools/nios/api.py
@@ -25,9 +25,12 @@
 # LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
 # USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #
+import os
+
 from functools import partial
 
 from ansible.module_utils.six import iteritems
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_text
 
 try:
     from infoblox_client.connector import Connector
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ nios_provider_spec = {
     'http_pool_connections': dict(type='int', default=10),
     'http_pool_maxsize': dict(type='int', default=10),
     'max_retries': dict(type='int', default=3),
-    'wapi_version': dict(default='1.4'),
+    'wapi_version': dict(default='1.4')
 }
 
 
@@ -54,12 +57,22 @@ def get_provider_spec():
     return {'provider': dict(type='dict', options=nios_provider_spec)}
 
 
-def get_connector(module):
+def get_connector(*args, **kwargs):
     if not HAS_INFOBLOX_CLIENT:
-        module.fail_json(msg='infoblox-client is required but does not appear '
-                             'to be installed.  It can be installed using the '
-                             'command `pip install infoblox-client`')
-    return Connector(module.params['provider'])
+        raise Exception('infoblox-client is required but does not appear '
+                        'to be installed.  It can be installed using the '
+                        'command `pip install infoblox-client`')
+
+    if not set(kwargs.keys()).issubset(nios_provider_spec.keys()):
+        raise Exception('invalid or unsupported keyword argument for connector')
+
+    for key in nios_provider_spec.keys():
+        if key not in kwargs:
+            env = ('INFOBLOX_%s' % key).upper()
+            if env in os.environ:
+                kwargs[key] = os.environ.get(env)
+
+    return Connector(kwargs)
 
 
 class WapiBase(object):
@@ -67,7 +80,12 @@ class WapiBase(object):
 
     def __init__(self, module):
         self.module = module
-        self.connector = get_connector(module)
+
+        try:
+            provider = module.params['provider'] or {}
+            self.connector = get_connector(**provider)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            module.fail_json(msg=to_text(exc))
 
     def __getattr__(self, name):
         try:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5236bef492
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios.py
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+#
+#  Copyright 2018 Red Hat | Ansible
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+DOCUMENTATION = """
+---
+lookup: nios
+version_added: "2.5"
+short_description: Query Infoblox NIOS objects
+description:
+  - Uses the Infoblox WAPI API to fetch NIOS specified objects.  This lookup
+    supports adding additional keywords to filter the return data and specify
+    the desired set of returned fields.
+requirements:
+  - infoblox_client
+extends_documentation_fragment: nios
+options:
+    _terms:
+      description: The name of the object to return from NIOS
+      required: True
+    return_fields:
+      description: The list of field names to return for the specified object.
+      required: False
+      default: null
+    filter:
+      description: a dict object that is used to filter the return objects
+      required: False
+      default: null
+"""
+
+EXAMPLES = """
+- name: fetch all networkview objects
+  set_fact:
+    networkviews: "{{ lookup('nios', 'networkview', provider={'host': 'nios01', 'username': 'admin', 'password': 'password'}) }}"
+
+- name: fetch the default dns view
+  set_fact:
+    dns_views: "{{ lookup('nios', 'view', filter={'view': 'default'}, provider={'host': 'nios01', 'username': 'admin', 'password': 'password'}) }}"
+
+# all of the examples below use credentials that are  set using env variables
+# export INFOBLOX_HOST=nios01
+# export INFOBLOX_USERNAME=admin
+# export INFOBLOX_PASSWORD=admin
+
+- name: fetch all host records and include extended attributes
+  set_fact:
+    host_records: "{{ lookup('nios', 'record:host', return_fields=['extattrs', 'name', 'view', 'comment']}) }}"
+
+
+- name: use env variables to pass credentials
+  set_fact:
+    networkviews: "{{ lookup('nios', 'networkview') }}"
+
+- name: get a host record
+  set_fact:
+    host: "{{ lookup('nios', 'record:host', filter={'name': 'hostname.ansible.com'}) }}
+
+- name: get the authoritative zone from a non default dns view
+  set_fact:
+    host: "{{ lookup('nios', 'zone_auth', filter={'fqdn': 'ansible.com', 'view': 'ansible-dns'}) }}"
+"""
+
+RETURN = """
+obj_type:
+  description:
+    - The object type specified in the terms argument
+  returned: always
+  type: complex
+  contains
+    obj_field:
+      - One or more obj_type fields as specified by return_fields argument or
+        the default set of fields as per the object type
+"""
+
+from ansible.plugins.lookup import LookupBase
+from ansible.module_utils.net_tools.nios.api import nios_provider_spec
+from ansible.module_utils.net_tools.nios.api import get_connector
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
+
+
+class LookupModule(LookupBase):
+
+    def run(self, terms, variables=None, **kwargs):
+        try:
+            obj_type = terms[0]
+        except IndexError:
+            raise AnsibleError('the object_type must be specified')
+
+        return_fields = kwargs.pop('return_fields', None)
+        filter_data = kwargs.pop('filter', {})
+        provider = kwargs.pop('provider', {})
+        connector = get_connector(**provider)
+        return connector.get_object(obj_type, filter_data, return_fields=return_fields)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios_next_ip.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios_next_ip.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adfe1e7a2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/nios_next_ip.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+#
+#  Copyright 2018 Red Hat | Ansible
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+DOCUMENTATION = """
+---
+lookup: nios_next_ip
+version_added: "2.5"
+short_description: Return the next available IP address for a network
+description:
+  - Uses the Infoblox WAPI API to return the next available IP addresses
+    for a given network CIDR
+requirements:
+  - infoblox_client
+extends_documentation_fragment: nios
+options:
+    _terms:
+      description: The CIDR network to retrieve the next addresses from
+      required: True
+    num:
+      description: The number of IP addresses to return
+      required: false
+      default: 1
+"""
+
+EXAMPLES = """
+- name: return next available IP address for network 192.168.10.0/24
+  set_fact:
+    ipaddr: "{{ lookup('nios_next_ip', '192.168.10.0/24', provider={'host': 'nios01', 'username': 'admin', 'password': 'password'}) }}"
+
+- name: return the next 3 available IP addresses for network 192.168.10.0/24
+  set_fact:
+    ipaddr: "{{ lookup('nios_next_ip', '192.168.10.0/24', num=3, provider={'host': 'nios01', 'username': 'admin', 'password': 'password'}) }}"
+"""
+
+RETURN = """
+_list:
+  description:
+    - The list of next IP addresses available
+  returned: always
+  type: list
+"""
+
+from ansible.plugins.lookup import LookupBase
+from ansible.module_utils.net_tools.nios.api import nios_provider_spec
+from ansible.module_utils.net_tools.nios.api import get_connector
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_text
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
+
+
+class LookupModule(LookupBase):
+
+    def run(self, terms, variables=None, **kwargs):
+        try:
+            network = terms[0]
+        except IndexError:
+            raise AnsibleError('missing argument in the form of A.B.C.D/E')
+
+        provider = kwargs.pop('provider', {})
+        connector = get_connector(**provider)
+
+        network_obj = connector.get_object('network', {'network': network})
+        if network_obj is None:
+            raise AnsibleError('unable to find network object %s' % network)
+
+        num = kwargs.get('num', 1)
+
+        try:
+            ref = network_obj[0]['_ref']
+            avail_ips = connector.call_func('next_available_ip', ref, {'num': num})
+            return [avail_ips['ips']]
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise AnsibleError(to_text(exc))
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/nios.py b/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/nios.py
index 0496702f38..ede310199e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/nios.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/nios.py
@@ -31,35 +31,49 @@ options:
         description:
           - Specifies the DNS host name or address for connecting to the remote
             instance of NIOS WAPI over REST
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_HOST) environment
+            variable.
         required: true
       username:
         description:
           - Configures the username to use to authenticate the connection to
             the remote instance of NIOS.
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_USERNAME) environment
+            variable.
       password:
         description:
           - Specifies the password to use to authenticate the connection to
             the remote instance of NIOS.
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_PASSWORD) environment
+            variable.
         default: null
       ssl_verify:
         description:
           - Boolean value to enable or disable verifying SSL certificates
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_SSL_VERIFY) environment
+            variable.
         required: false
         default: false
       http_request_timeout:
         description:
           - The amount of time before to wait before receiving a response
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT) environment
+            variable.
         required: false
         default: 10
       max_retries:
         description:
           - Configures the number of attempted retries before the connection
             is declared usable
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_MAX_RETRIES) environment
+            variable.
         required: false
         default: 3
       wapi_version:
         description:
           - Specifies the version of WAPI to use
+          - Value can also be specified using C(INFOBLOX_WAP_VERSION) environment
+            variable.
         required: false
         default: 1.4
 """