Create a Load Balancer

Overview

Creating a load balancer in Polystack involves provisioning the top-level resource with a virtual IP, then adding a listener (protocol and port), a pool (backend collection), pool members (backend instances), and a health monitor. The Dashboard creation wizard guides you through all five steps in sequence. The CLI allows each component to be created independently.

Prerequisites

An active Polystack account with appropriate permissions
Access to the Polystack Dashboard or CLI configured with credentials
API credentials sourced (source openrc.sh)

Load balancers must be placed on a subnet that has routing access to your backend instances. Verify that security group rules allow ingress on the member port from the load balancer’s VIP subnet before adding members.

Create via Dashboard (Wizard)

Open the creation wizard

Navigate to Network > Load Balancers. Click Create Load Balancer.

Configure load balancer details

Complete the Load Balancer Details panel:

Field	Description
Name	Display name (e.g., `prod-web-lb`)
Description	Optional description
IP Address	Leave blank to auto-assign a VIP, or specify a fixed IP
Subnet	The subnet hosting the VIP — must be reachable from backend instances
Availability Zone	Fault domain for appliance placement

Use a dedicated management subnet for the VIP to isolate load balancer traffic from application data paths.

Add a listener

Complete the Listener Details panel:

Field	Value	Description
Name	`listener-http`	Display name
Protocol	`HTTP`	Layer 7 protocol
Protocol Port	`80`	Port accepting connections
Connection Limit	`-1`	Unlimited; set positive integer to cap

Configure the pool

Complete the Pool Details panel:

Field	Value	Description
Name	`pool-http`	Pool display name
Algorithm	`ROUND_ROBIN`	Traffic distribution method
Session Persistence	`None`	Enable for stateful application sessions

Algorithm options:

ROUND_ROBIN — distributes requests evenly across all UP members
LEAST_CONNECTIONS — sends to the member with fewest active connections
SOURCE_IP — routes the same client IP to the same member

Add pool members

In the Pool Members panel, click Add next to each instance to register it.

Field	Description
IP Address	Auto-populated from the selected instance
Protocol Port	Port your application listens on (e.g., `8080`)
Weight	Relative weight — higher weight receives proportionally more requests

Members must be reachable from the load balancer’s VIP subnet. Verify security groups allow ingress on the member port from the VIP address.

Configure health monitor

Complete the Monitor Details panel:

Field	Value	Description
Type	`HTTP`	Sends a GET request and validates the response code
Delay	`5`	Seconds between probes
Timeout	`3`	Seconds to wait for a probe response
Max Retries	`3`	Failures before marking a member DOWN
URL Path	`/health`	Endpoint returning HTTP 200 when healthy
Expected Codes	`200`	Comma-separated acceptable HTTP status codes

Review and create

Review the summary and click Create Load Balancer.The load balancer enters PENDING_CREATE status. Provisioning typically completes within 30–60 seconds.

The load balancer displays status ACTIVE in the Load Balancers list.

Create via CLI

Authenticate and create the load balancer

Source credentials

source openrc.sh

Create load balancer

openstack loadbalancer create \
  --name prod-web-lb \
  --vip-subnet-id <subnet-id>

Wait for ACTIVE status:

Wait for ACTIVE status

openstack loadbalancer show prod-web-lb \
  -c provisioning_status -c operating_status

Create a listener

Create HTTP listener

openstack loadbalancer listener create \
  --name listener-http \
  --protocol HTTP \
  --protocol-port 80 \
  prod-web-lb

Create a pool

Create pool with round-robin algorithm

openstack loadbalancer pool create \
  --name pool-http \
  --lb-algorithm ROUND_ROBIN \
  --listener listener-http \
  --protocol HTTP

Add members

Add backend member

openstack loadbalancer member create \
  --subnet-id <instance-subnet-id> \
  --address <instance-ip> \
  --protocol-port 8080 \
  pool-http

Repeat for each backend instance.

Create a health monitor

Create HTTP health monitor

openstack loadbalancer healthmonitor create \
  --name hm-http \
  --delay 5 \
  --timeout 3 \
  --max-retries 3 \
  --type HTTP \
  --url-path /health \
  --expected-codes 200 \
  pool-http

Load balancer is ACTIVE. Health monitor is probing members.

Next Steps

Floating IP Assignment

Expose the load balancer VIP on a public network for external access.

Listeners

Add HTTPS, TCP, or additional HTTP listeners to the load balancer.

Health Monitors

Tune health check parameters for your application’s response characteristics.

Troubleshooting

Resolve PENDING_CREATE status and member health issues.

Core Services

Other Services

Overview

Create via Dashboard (Wizard)

Open the creation wizard

Configure load balancer details

Add a listener

Configure the pool

Add pool members

Configure health monitor

Review and create

Create via CLI

Authenticate and create the load balancer

Create a listener

Create a pool

Add members

Create a health monitor

Next Steps

Floating IP Assignment

Listeners

Health Monitors

Troubleshooting

​Overview

​Create via Dashboard (Wizard)

Open the creation wizard

Configure load balancer details

Add a listener

Configure the pool

Add pool members

Configure health monitor

Review and create

​Create via CLI

Authenticate and create the load balancer

Create a listener

Create a pool

Add members

Create a health monitor

​Next Steps

Floating IP Assignment

Listeners

Health Monitors

Troubleshooting

Overview

Create via Dashboard (Wizard)

Create via CLI

Next Steps