Setting Up AWS Application Load Balancer (ALB)

Overview

An AWS Application Load Balancer (ALB) serves as the entry point for HTTP/HTTPS traffic to your AutoStopping-managed resources. It intelligently routes requests and works with AutoStopping to start and stop resources based on traffic patterns.

How AWS Load Balancer Works with AutoStopping

A Harness load balancer in AWS consists of two primary components:

1. Application Load Balancer (ALB): Routes HTTP/HTTPS traffic based on application-level information
2. Lambda Function: Manages resource warm-up and displays progress pages during startup

Key Benefits

• Centralized Traffic Management: Direct traffic to multiple AutoStopped resources
• Reuse Across Rules: One load balancer can serve multiple AutoStopping rules
• Path-Based Routing: Route different paths to different resource groups
• Seamless User Experience: Users access resources through familiar URLs

Prerequisites

• An active AWS account with appropriate permissions.
• AWS CCM Connector

Setup Process

You can either create a load balancer from the CCM UI or import an existing load balancer on your AWS account.

Create Load Balancer

Creating a Load Balancer from the AutoStopping Homepage

1. In the AutoStopping overview page, click Load Balancers in the top right

2. Enter a name and select AWS in Cloud Provider

3. Choose a cloud connector or create a new one.

4. Enter Load Balancer Configuration.

   • Choose access type as Internal or External
   • Select the AWS region for deployment
   • Choose an SSL certificate
   • Select the VPC for deployment
   • Choose appropriate security groups

5. Click Save Load Balancer

Your load balancer is now ready to use with AutoStopping rules.

Import Load Balancer

1. If you already have a load balancer on your AWS account, you can import it into Harness CCM.
2. In the AutoStopping Rules, in "Setup Access", click on "HTTP/HTTPS".
3. From the "Specify Application Load Balancer (or AutoStopping Proxy)" dropdown, select the load balancer you want to import.
4. The field will be auto-populated with the load balancer information.
5. Specify the URL used to access the resources (Optional). The URL should be accessible before configuration if it's been used to warm up the resources. Harness-generated auto URLs won't be able to warm up resources and won't have access to the underlying resources.
6. Custom Exclusions / Inclusions: You can specify to exclude or include certain types of HTTP/HTTPS traffic from being considered as activity and consequently warm-up AutoStopping Rules