> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/~/revisions/1AlFSZBNMIBgs7fiOwFD/managed-services/application-load-balancer/how-tos/create-target-groups.md).

# Create Target Groups

Before setting up an Application Load Balancer (ALB), predefine a target group to distribute the incoming traffic to the correct target. An IP address and a port are used to register a target.

A target group is a set of one or more registered targets and you can predefine targets in the **Target Groups**. You can create multiple target groups and reuse them to set up different ALB forwarding rules.

### Creating a Target Group

A target group is a set of registered targets to which ALB distributes traffic. For each new group, set **Connection** details and add **Targets**. You may also configure **Health Checks** for the group.

1. Go to **Management** > **Target Groups** under **Load Balancing**.
2. Click **+ Create** to create a new target group.

![Creating a Target Group](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-962058f491b09d75a2c99dabb71639e1df191edb%2Fcreate_targetgroup.png?alt=media)

3. To create a target group, fill in the following fields:

* **Name**: Enter a name for the target group.
* **Algorithm**: Select an algorithm to determine how network traffic is distributed among targets.
* **Protocol**: The default value is HTTP.

### Configure Connection Settings

4\. In the **Connection** tab, fill in the following fields for the connection settings:

* **Check Timeout**: Enter the maximum wait time in milliseconds (ms) for a target in the group to respond to a check.
* **Check Interval**: Enter the time in milliseconds (ms) between the end of the previous connection attempt and the start of the next.
* **Retries**: Enter the maximum number of attempts to reconnect to a target after a connection failure.

![Configuring connection settings](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-bb6daa653fa6ce98edbab0af30b7b42d133e1c5d%2Fcreate_properties_target_groups.png?alt=media)

### Add Health Checks

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** This step is optional. For more information, see [Health Checks](/cloud/~/revisions/1AlFSZBNMIBgs7fiOwFD/managed-services/application-load-balancer/overview.md#health-checks).
{% endhint %}

5\. In the **Connections** tab, click **Add Health Check** to define the settings for a target group:

* **Path**: Enter the destination URL for the HTTP health check request. The default value is set to **/**.
* **Method**: Choose a method from the list of available health checks.
* **Match Type**: Choose **Status Code** to indicate if the request was successful or not, or choose **Response Body** if you need to evaluate the content of the response body. You can further select the following checkboxes:
  * **Regular Expression**: To provide flexibility in matching the expected response from a healthy server.
  * **Negation**: To negate an individual entry.

![Health Check Settings](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-f0ef3afa53c9e66db9b7fb132c5e186e04bcd92d%2Fhealthcheck_settings_target_group.png?alt=media)

### Adding Targets

You must register targets with the group so the ALB can forward traffic to the targets.

6\. In the **Targets** tab, click **+ Add** to add a new target to the group and fill in the following fields:

* **IP**: Enter the target IP directly, or choose one from the drop-down list.
* **Port**: Enter the target port directly, or choose one from the drop-down list.
* **Weight**: Assign a target weight from 0 to 256. A target with a higher weight gets a larger share of traffic. The default weight value is set to 1.

![Targets tab Settings](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4692e16f230fd44a53704bfc0b82f4e03c660316%2Fadd_target_group.png?alt=media)

* For changing the target-specific health check configuration, use the following checkboxes:
  * **Health Check Enabled**: On selecting, the target becomes available only for TCP or HTTP connection attempts.
  * **Maintenance Enabled**: On selecting, the target does not receive balanced traffic and affects the health of the target.

![Target options](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c2a7047e6a4758a0d8edec812f57adbb25d84c11%2Ftarget-options.png?alt=media)

7\. Click **Create** to add the target.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Info:** From the Targets list, click ![](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c3f8e278987920cd504e968cbfb3f9f9da899375%2Fedit-icon.png?alt=media) to edit an existing target or click ![](https://1737632334-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifAzdGvKLDTtvJP8sm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c095feb60eac79f23a87e33959ac42abb3215dc5%2Fdelete-icon.png?alt=media) to delete a target.
{% endhint %}

8\. Click **Create** to save all the configurations and to create the target group.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Result** Your target group is added to the Target Groups list.
{% endhint %}


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