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# Create a load balancer

> Create an L4 or L7 load balancer on IBEE Solutions — choose a protocol, add backends, set the routing algorithm, and configure health checks.

Create a load balancer from the portal in a few minutes. Choose the layer and protocol, add one or more backends, and set routing and health-check behavior. Optional settings — sticky sessions, retries, L7 rules, proxy protocol, and access logs — are on the same form.

## Before you begin

* A verified IBEE Solutions organization — creation requires identity verification ([Verify your identity](/docs/getting-started/account-setup/verify-account))
* The address and port of at least one backend (a Cloud VM private IP, a hostname, or a service name)

## Create a load balancer

### Open Load Balancers

In the portal sidebar, click **Load Balancer** under **Network**, then click **Create Load Balancer**.

### Set the general options

| Field        | Description                                                      |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name**     | Unique per organization — e.g. `orders-gateway`                  |
| **Layer**    | **L7** for HTTP/HTTPS or **L4** for TCP and TLS passthrough      |
| **Protocol** | L7: `HTTPS` (default) or `HTTP` · L4: `tcp` or `tls_passthrough` |

### Add backends

Add one row per backend. Click **Add backend** for more.

| Field      | Description                                                                                                                 |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Type**   | `service`, `ip`, or `hostname`                                                                                              |
| **Target** | The service name, IP address, or hostname — e.g. `orders-service` or `10.8.0.12`                                            |
| **Port**   | Backend port, `1`–`65535` (default `8080`)                                                                                  |
| **Weight** | Relative share of traffic (default `100`) — a backend with weight `200` receives twice the traffic of one with weight `100` |
| **TLS**    | Enable if the load balancer should connect to this backend over TLS                                                         |

### Configure routing and health

Select an **Algorithm** — `round_robin` (default), `least_request`, `random`, or `consistent_hash` — and a request **Timeout** in milliseconds (default `30000`).

Set the active health check:

| Field                      | Default                      |
| -------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **Type**                   | `http` (also `https`, `tcp`) |
| **Path** (http/https only) | `/health`                    |
| **Interval**               | `10000` ms                   |
| **Timeout**                | `2000` ms                    |
| **Healthy threshold**      | `2` consecutive passes       |
| **Unhealthy threshold**    | `3` consecutive failures     |

### Set optional configuration

* **Sticky sessions** (L7 only) — route requests with the same header value to the same backend. Set the **Sticky header name** (default `X-User-ID`).
* **Proxy protocol** — send PROXY protocol v2 to backends so they see the original client IP.
* **Retries** — retry failed requests on `5xx`, connection reset, or connect failure. Set **Attempts** (default `3`) and **Per-retry timeout** (default `5000` ms).
* **L7 rules** (L7 only) — priority-ordered routing rules. Each rule has a **Priority**, a **Path prefix** (e.g. `/api`), and an optional **Header name/value** match.
* **Access logs** — enable per-request logging.

### Create

Click **Create Load Balancer**. You are redirected to the load balancer's detail page, which shows its status, endpoint host and port, and the endpoint URL to point your clients or DNS at.

## Detail page

The detail page shows four sections:

| Section      | Contents                                                                |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **General**  | Name, layer, protocol, status, namespace, created/updated timestamps    |
| **Endpoint** | Host, port, URL — plus the custom domain and CNAME target if configured |
| **Backends** | Type, target, port, weight, and TLS for every backend                   |
| **L7 Rules** | Priority, path prefix, and header matches (L7 only)                     |

Click **Refresh** to re-poll status. If provisioning fails, the error message appears at the bottom of the page.

## Troubleshooting

**"Backend port must be between 1 and 65535"**
Each backend needs a valid numeric port.

**Creation blocked with a verification message**
Complete identity verification — the create button is disabled until your organization is verified.

**Status stays in a provisioning state**
Click **Refresh** on the detail page. If an error message appears, fix the reported issue and recreate; otherwise contact support.

## Related pages

* [Load balancer overview](/docs/network-security/load-balancer)
* [Algorithms](/docs/network-security/load-balancer/algorithms)
* [SSL and TLS termination](/docs/network-security/load-balancer/ssl-and-tls-termination)
* [Attach VMs as backends](/docs/network-security/load-balancer/attach-vms)