Load Balancer

Load Balancers distribute incoming network traffic across multiple resources to ensure high availability and reliability.

Note: Load Balancers are currently read-only via the CLI. You can list and view details, but cannot create, update, or delete them through the CLI.

Commands

List Load Balancers

List all Load Balancers in your project.

acloud network loadbalancer list [flags]

Flags:

• --project-id string - Project ID (uses context if not specified)

Example:

# List Load Balancers using context
acloud network loadbalancer list

# List with explicit project ID
acloud network loadbalancer list --project-id 68398923fb2cb026400d4d31

Output:

NAME                                     ID                        ADDRESS          STATUS
ingress-nginx-controller                 68ffa1797912602cb16794dc  209.227.232.229  Active
api-gateway-lb                           69485b8a4d0cdc87949b7012  95.110.142.230   Active

Get Load Balancer Details

Get detailed information about a specific Load Balancer.

acloud network loadbalancer get <load-balancer-id> [flags]

Arguments:

• load-balancer-id - The ID of the Load Balancer (supports auto-completion)

Flags:

• --project-id string - Project ID (uses context if not specified)

Example:

acloud network loadbalancer get 68ffa1797912602cb16794dc

Output:

Load Balancer Details:
======================
ID:              68ffa1797912602cb16794dc
URI:             /projects/.../loadBalancers/68ffa1797912602cb16794dc
Name:            ingress-nginx-controller
Address:         209.227.232.229
Linked Resources: 2
VPC:             689307f4745108d3c6343b5a
Creation Date:   27-10-2025 16:44:41
Created By:      aru-297647
Tags:            [kubernetes ingress production]
Status:          Active

Shell Auto-completion

The Load Balancer commands support intelligent auto-completion for Load Balancer IDs:

# Enable completion (bash)
source <(acloud completion bash)

# Type command and press TAB to see available Load Balancer IDs
acloud network loadbalancer get <TAB>

Auto-completion shows Load Balancer IDs with their names:

68ffa1797912602cb16794dc    ingress-nginx-controller
69485b8a4d0cdc87949b7012    api-gateway-lb

Load Balancer States

Load Balancers can be in the following states:

State	Description
InCreation	Load Balancer is being created
Active	Load Balancer is ready and distributing traffic
Updating	Load Balancer configuration is being updated
Deleting	Load Balancer is being deleted

Load Balancer Properties

Address

The public IP address of the Load Balancer:

• Assigned automatically
• Used to route incoming traffic
• Typically an Elastic IP

VPC Association

Load Balancers are associated with a VPC:

• Shown as VPC ID in the details
• Determines network isolation
• Affects routing and security rules

Linked Resources

Load Balancers distribute traffic to linked resources:

• Backend servers
• Target groups
• Health check endpoints

The Linked Resources count shows how many backends are configured.

Tags

Load Balancers support tags for organization:

• Set when the Load Balancer is created
• Visible via the get command
• Cannot be modified via CLI (read-only)

Common Workflows

Viewing Load Balancer Information

# List all Load Balancers
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Get details of a specific Load Balancer
acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id>

# View Load Balancer with specific tags
acloud network loadbalancer list | grep "production"

Monitoring Load Balancers

# Check status of all Load Balancers
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Get detailed info including linked resources
for lb_id in $(acloud network loadbalancer list | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $2}'); do
  echo "=== Load Balancer: $lb_id ==="
  acloud network loadbalancer get $lb_id
  echo ""
done

Finding Load Balancers by Address

# List all Load Balancers with their addresses
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Filter by specific address
acloud network loadbalancer list | grep "209.227.232.229"

Integration with Other Resources

With Elastic IPs

Load Balancers often use Elastic IPs:

# Get Load Balancer address
LB_IP=$(acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id> | grep "Address:" | awk '{print $2}')

# Find the corresponding Elastic IP
acloud network elasticip list | grep "$LB_IP"

With VPCs

Load Balancers are associated with VPCs:

# Get Load Balancer VPC
VPC_ID=$(acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id> | grep "VPC:" | awk '{print $2}')

# Get VPC details
acloud network vpc get $VPC_ID

Best Practices

1. Regular Monitoring

   # Check Load Balancer status regularly
   acloud network loadbalancer list

2. Document Configuration

   # Save Load Balancer details for reference
   acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id> > lb-config-backup.txt

3. Track Resource Associations

   # Note which VPC and resources are associated
   acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id>

4. Use with Project Contexts

   acloud context use prod-project
   acloud network loadbalancer list  # No need for --project-id

Limitations

Read-Only Access

Load Balancers are read-only via the CLI:

• ❌ Cannot create Load Balancers
• ❌ Cannot update Load Balancer configuration
• ❌ Cannot delete Load Balancers
• ❌ Cannot modify tags
• ✅ Can list Load Balancers
• ✅ Can view Load Balancer details

Managing Load Balancers

To create, update, or delete Load Balancers, use:

• Aruba Cloud Web Console
• Aruba Cloud API directly
• Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, etc.)

The CLI provides read-only access for monitoring and reference.

Use Cases

Monitoring Traffic Distribution

# View Load Balancer status
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Check linked resources count
acloud network loadbalancer get <lb-id> | grep "Linked Resources"

Infrastructure Auditing

# List all Load Balancers with their configurations
for lb_id in $(acloud network loadbalancer list | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $2}'); do
  echo "Load Balancer ID: $lb_id"
  acloud network loadbalancer get $lb_id
  echo "---"
done > load-balancers-audit.txt

Integration with Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# Check if a Load Balancer is active

LB_ID="68ffa1797912602cb16794dc"
STATUS=$(acloud network loadbalancer get $LB_ID | grep "Status:" | awk '{print $2}')

if [ "$STATUS" = "Active" ]; then
  echo "Load Balancer is healthy"
  exit 0
else
  echo "Load Balancer is not active: $STATUS"
  exit 1
fi

Finding Load Balancers by VPC

#!/bin/bash
# Find all Load Balancers in a specific VPC

VPC_ID="689307f4745108d3c6343b5a"

echo "Load Balancers in VPC: $VPC_ID"
for lb_id in $(acloud network loadbalancer list | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $2}'); do
  LB_VPC=$(acloud network loadbalancer get $lb_id | grep "VPC:" | awk '{print $2}')
  if [ "$LB_VPC" = "$VPC_ID" ]; then
    LB_NAME=$(acloud network loadbalancer get $lb_id | grep "Name:" | awk '{print $2}')
    echo "  - $LB_NAME ($lb_id)"
  fi
done

Troubleshooting

"Error: required flag(s) 'project-id' not set"

Problem: No project context set and project ID not provided.

Solution:

# Option 1: Use context
acloud context use my-project
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Option 2: Provide project ID
acloud network loadbalancer list --project-id <project-id>

Load Balancer Not Showing in List

Problem: Expected Load Balancer is not visible.

Solution:

# Check you're using the correct project
acloud context current

# Switch to the correct project if needed
acloud context use correct-project
acloud network loadbalancer list

Cannot Find Load Balancer Address

Problem: Need to find which Load Balancer uses a specific IP.

Solution:

# List all Load Balancers with addresses
acloud network loadbalancer list

# Or search for specific IP
acloud network loadbalancer list | grep "209.227.232.229"

Output Format

List Output

The list command shows a table with:

• NAME: Load Balancer name (may be truncated)
• ID: Unique identifier
• ADDRESS: Public IP address
• STATUS: Current state (Active, InCreation, etc.)

Get Output

The get command shows detailed information:

• Basic metadata (ID, URI, Name)
• Network configuration (Address, VPC)
• Resource associations (Linked Resources count)
• Timestamps (Creation Date, Created By)
• Tags (if configured)
• Current status

Related Commands

• VPC - View VPC associated with Load Balancers
• Elastic IP - View Elastic IPs used by Load Balancers
• Context Management - Manage project contexts

Future Enhancements

The following features may be added in future versions:

• Create Load Balancer
• Update Load Balancer configuration
• Delete Load Balancer
• Modify Load Balancer tags
• Manage backend pools
• Configure health checks
• View traffic statistics

For now, use the Aruba Cloud Web Console or API for write operations.