---
layout: docs
page_title: Manage Sessions
description: How to manage Boundary sessions
---
# Manage Sessions
[Sessions](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/sessions) are Boundary resources created when connecting to a [Target](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/targets). A target allows Boundary users to define an endpoint with a protocol and default port to establish a session. Unless specified with a `-host-id` flag when establishing a session, Boundary will choose one [Host](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/hosts) from the target's [Host Sets](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/host-sets) to connect to at random.
In this section, we'll show you the basics of how to start a session, view the session details, and cancel a session in Boundary using the CLI.
We assume you're running Boundary in `dev` mode using the default target resource of `ttcp_1234567890`. We also assume you've authenticated using the CLI. See the output of `boundary dev` for these login values.
## Start a Session
Connecting to a target creates a session in Boundary (via a call to the target to authorize a session for the user). To demonstrate what a session looks like we are going to connect to a `tcp` target with a default port of 22 for SSH access.
```bash
$ boundary connect ssh -target-id ttcp_1234567890 --
Proxy listening information:
Address: 127.0.0.1
Connection Limit: 1
Expiration: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 23:18:14 MST
Port: 61991
Protocol: tcp
Session ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
```
For more information regarding different ways to connect to a target behind Boundary see [Connect to Target](/boundary/docs/getting-started/connect-to-target) under Getting Started and [Advanced Session Establishment](#advanced-session-establishment) below.
## View Sessions
View all sessions which Boundary has for the project `p_1234567890` by listing them.
```bash
$ boundary sessions list -scope-id p_1234567890
Session information:
ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Status: active
Created Time: 2020-09-30T15:18:14-07:00
Expiration Time: 2020-09-30T23:18:14-07:00
Updated Time: 2020-09-30T15:18:35-07:00
User ID: u_1234567890
Target ID: ttcp_1234567890
```
We can get a more detailed view of a specific session by reading it.
```bash
$ boundary sessions read -id s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Session information:
Auth Token ID: at_51XQGx0bzk
Created Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:14 MST
Endpoint: tcp://localhost:22
Expiration Time: 2020-09-30T23:18:14-07:00
Host ID: hst_1234567890
Host Set ID: hsst_1234567890
ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Status: active
Target ID: ttcp_1234567890
Type: tcp
Updated Time: 2020-09-30T15:18:35-07:00
User ID: u_1234567890
Version: 2
Scope:
ID: p_1234567890
Name: Generated project scope
Parent Scope ID: o_1234567890
Type: project
States:
Start Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:35 MST
Status: active
End Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:35 MST
Start Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:14 MST
Status: pending
```
1. Navigate to a project, then to sessions.
1. View the session information provided there.
## Cancel a Session
To send a request to Boundary to cancel a session:
```bash
$ boundary sessions cancel -id s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Session information:
Auth Token ID: at_51XQGx0bzk
Created Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:14 MST
Endpoint: tcp://localhost:22
Expiration Time: 2020-09-30T23:18:14-07:00
Host ID: hst_1234567890
Host Set ID: hsst_1234567890
ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Status: canceling
Target ID: ttcp_1234567890
Type: tcp
Updated Time: 2020-09-30T15:19:17-07:00
User ID: u_1234567890
Version: 3
Scope:
ID: p_1234567890
Name: Generated project scope
Parent Scope ID: o_1234567890
Type: project
States:
Start Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:19:17 MST
Status: canceling
End Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:19:17 MST
Start Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:35 MST
Status: active
End Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:35 MST
Start Time: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:18:14 MST
Status: pending
```
Boundary then cancels the session and move it into a "Terminated" state.
1. Navigate to a project, then to sessions.
1. Choose a session and its **Cancel** button.
1. View the session status update from _canceling_ to _terminated_.
## Advanced Session Establishment
Above, we discussed connecting to a target using the `boundary connect` command. In addition to this we can create a session to a target and connect to that session in separate steps. This is accomplished using the `boundary targets authorize-session` command, which generates an authorization token that a user can use to start a session via `boundary connect -authz-token` at their own convenience.
```bash
$ boundary targets authorize-session -id ttcp_1234567890
Target information:
Authorization Token: $LONG_STRING_OF_TEXT
Created Time: 2020-09-30T15:18:14-07:00
Host ID: hst_1234567890
Scope ID: p_1234567890
Session ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
Target ID: ttcp_1234567890
Type: tcp
User ID: u_1234567890
```
Note: You can also provide a `-host-id` flag in the request above which ensures connecting using the provided Authorization Token will connect you to this specific host.
```bash
$ boundary connect -authz-token $LONG_STRING_OF_TEXT
Proxy listening information:
Address: 127.0.0.1
Connection Limit: 1
Expiration: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 23:18:14 MST
Port: 61991
Protocol: tcp
Session ID: s_h7vBIhH5SZ
```
With the above address and port information we can now connect to our local proxy and have our tcp traffic sent through the Boundary system.
```bash
$ ssh 127.0.0.1 -p 61991
...
```