boundary/website/content/docs/common-workflows/manage-targets.mdx

---
layout: docs
page_title: Manage Targets
description: How to manage Boundary targets
---

# Manage Targets

[Targets](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/targets) are Boundary resources which contain one or more [Host Sets](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/host-sets). A target allows Boundary users to define an endpoint with a default port and a protocol to establish a session. Unless specified with a `-host-id` flag, Boundary will choose one [Host](/boundary/docs/concepts/domain-model/hosts) in the host set to connect to at random.

In this section, we'll show you the basics of how to define a host, host set, and a target in Boundary on the CLI, the admin console, and using our [Terraform provider](https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-boundary).

We assume you're running Boundary in `dev` mode and have a default static host-catalog of `hcst_1234567890`. We also assume you've logged in on the command line and the admin console. See the output of `boundary dev` for these login values.

~> Note that all resource IDs in this example are illustration only - IDs are uniquely generated for every resource upon creation with the exception being
generated resources in `dev` mode. Please make sure to use the resource IDs that are generated when running this example. For example, if you run
`boundary users create`, use the resource ID of the user seen in stdout, not the ID in the example command.

## Define a Host

For this example, we're going to create a target to access postgres on `localhost`. This assumes a couple of things:

1. The host address is `127.0.0.1`
2. The target port is `:5432`

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="CLI">

```bash
boundary hosts create static -name postgres -description "Postgres host" -address "127.0.0.1" -host-catalog-id "hcst_1234567890"

Host information:
  Created Time:        Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:12:39 PDT
  Description:         Postgres host
  Host Catalog ID:     hcst_1234567890
  ID:                  hst_N5l67hLYrQ
  Name:                postgres
  Type:                static
  Updated Time:        Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:12:39 PDT
  Version:             1

  Scope:
    ID:                p_1234567890
    Name:              Generated project scope
    Parent Scope ID:   o_1234567890
    Type:              project

  Attributes:
    address:           127.0.0.1
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Admin Console">

1. Navigate to a host catalog (Projects > Project > Host Catalogs > Host Catalog).
1. Choose **New Host** from the **Manage** dropdown.
1. Fill host details.
1. Choose **Save** and view the host edit form page.

<video muted playsInline autoPlay loop class="boundary-clickthrough-video">
  <source
    type="video/mp4"
    src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/2885/1602267180-boundary-clickthrough-manage-targets-create-host.mp4"
  />
</video>

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Terraform">

To define this same host using our Terraform provider:

```hcl
resource "boundary_host" "postgres" {
  type            = "static"
  name            = "postgres"
  description     = "Postgres host"
  address         = "127.0.0.1"
  host_catalog_id = "hcst_1234567890"
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Define a Host Set

Host sets allow us to group hosts providing equivalent services together. A target works off of host sets, so even though we are only defining one host in this example, we're going to create a host set of one host.

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="CLI">

```bash
boundary host-sets create static -name "postgres" -description "Postgres host set" -host-catalog-id hcst_1234567890

Host Set information:
  Created Time:        Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:27:10 PDT
  Description:         Postgres host set
  Host Catalog ID:     hcst_1234567890
  ID:                  hsst_z7gDCPSig5
  Name:                postgres
  Type:                static
  Updated Time:        Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:27:10 PDT
  Version:             1

  Scope:
    ID:                p_1234567890
    Name:              Generated project scope
    Parent Scope ID:   o_1234567890
    Type:              project
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Admin Console">

1. Navigate to a host catalog, then to the **Host Sets** tab.
1. Choose **Create Host Set** from the **Manage** dropdown.
1. Fill host set details.
1. Choose **Save** and view the host set edit form page.

<video muted playsInline autoPlay loop class="boundary-clickthrough-video">
  <source
    type="video/mp4"
    src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/2885/1603385847-boundary-clickthrough-manage-targets-create-host-set-v0-1-1.mp4"
  />
</video>

Then associate the host set with a host:

1. From the host set edit form, navigate to the **Hosts** tab.
1. Choose **Add Existing Host** from the **Manage** dropdown.
1. Select one or more hosts to associate with the host set.
1. Choose the **Add Hosts** button and view the hosts list.

<video muted playsInline autoPlay loop class="boundary-clickthrough-video">
  <source
    type="video/mp4"
    src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/2885/1603385876-boundary-clickthrough-manage-targets-assign-host-to-host-set-v0-1-1.mp4"
  />
</video>

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Terraform">

To define this host set in Terraform:

```hcl
resource "boundary_host_set" "postgres" {
  type            = "static"
  name            = "postgres"
  description     = "Host set for postgres"
  host_catalog_id = "hcst_1234567890"

  // taken from the Terraform example above
  host_ids = [ boundary_host.postgres.id ]
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Define a Target

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="CLI">

```bash
boundary targets create tcp -name 'postgres' -description 'Postgres target' -default-port 5432 -scope-id p_1234567890 -session-connection-limit '-1'

Target information:
  Created Time:               Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:43:12 PDT
  Description:                Postgres target
  ID:                         ttcp_CzVQA3adBf
  Name:                       postgres
  Session Connection Limit:   -1
  Session Max Seconds:        28800
  Type:                       tcp
  Updated Time:               Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:43:12 PDT
  Version:                    1

  Scope:
    ID:                       p_1234567890
    Name:                     Generated project scope
    Parent Scope ID:          o_1234567890
    Type:                     project
  Attributes:
    Default Port:             5432
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Admin Console">

1. Navigate to a project, then to targets.
1. Choose the **New** button.
1. Fill the target details.
1. Choose **Save** and view the host set edit form page.

<video muted playsInline autoPlay loop class="boundary-clickthrough-video">
  <source
    type="video/mp4"
    src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/2885/1602261018-boundary-clickthrough-manage-targets-create-target.mp4"
  />
</video>

Then associate the host set with a host:

1. From the target edit form, navigate to the **Host Sets** tab.
1. Choose **Add Host Sets** from the **Manage** dropdown.
1. Select one or more host sets to associate with the target.
1. Choose the **Add Host Sets** button and view the host sets list.

<video muted playsInline autoPlay loop class="boundary-clickthrough-video">
  <source
    type="video/mp4"
    src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/2885/1602261011-boundary-clickthrough-manage-targets-assign-host-set-to-target.mp4"
  />
</video>

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Terraform">

To define this target in Terraform:

```hcl
resource "boundary_target" "postgres" {
  type                     = "tcp"
  name                     = "postgres"
  description              = "Postgres target"
  scope_id                 = "p_1234567890"
  session_connection_limit = -1
  default_port             = 5432

  // taken from the example above
  host_set_ids = [
    boundary_host_set.postgres.id
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>