These days, you can run your software practically anywhere. You might run software on:
- Containers running in clusters
- Cloud-managed services, platforms, or serverless functions
- Virtual machines or infrastructure as a service
- Self-managed or managed servers
- Point-of-sale devices in retail stores
- Medical devices in hospitals
All these places are different kinds of deployment targets.
A deployment target is a location that will host your software. We’ve used the term deployment target as this could refer to many different destinations, such as:
- Kubernetes clusters
- Cloud apps or services
- Cloud storage
- Windows or Linux servers
- On-premises machines
- Serverless functions
- SSH connections
Deployment targets represent any intended destination for the contents in your package. You can also run day-2 operations tasks against the deployment targets you set up in Octopus.
Deployments to Kubernetes clusters are performed by a lightweight agent that runs on the cluster. If you’re deploying to a Windows or Linux server or virtual machine, your deployment target will run a lightweight agent called a Tentacle. For cloud services, such as Amazon ECS or Azure Web Apps, the deployment is made through a worker instead.
You select the target type when you add it to Octopus. Based on the type, you’ll be prompted to set up the appropriate connection using a simple form.
Learn more
- How Octopus counts deployment targets
- Adding deployment targets
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Page updated on Thursday, June 27, 2024