For AI agents: The documentation index is at https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of pages use the same URL with index.html.md in place of the HTML page (for example, append index.html.md to the directory path instead of opening the HTML document).

Create Load Balancers

1. From the Control Panel, click Create at the top, then select Load Balancer.
2. Choose a load balancer type (Regional or Global), datacenter region, traffic management (HTTP or Network), network visibility, IPv6 setting, node size, name, and project. Backend Droplets must be in the same region as the load balancer.
3. Click Create Load Balancer. The Control Panel takes you to the new load balancer’s detail page, where you can add backend Droplets and configure forwarding rules and advanced settings.

Add and Remove Droplets

All backend Droplets must be in the same region as the load balancer.

To add Droplets:

1. Click Networking in the main menu, then click Load Balancers.
2. For a load balancer with no backends, click + Connect Droplets in the Status column. For an existing load balancer, click the … (More) menu next to the load balancer and choose Add/Remove Droplets.
3. In the Add Droplets window, search for and select Droplets or a tag in the Search for Droplets or Tags field, then click Add Droplets. See Droplet tags for tag-based selection.

To remove Droplets, open the same Add/Remove Droplets window and deselect the Droplets you want to remove.

Use SSL Certificates

Existing certificates, both Let’s Encrypt and custom, appear in the Certificate drop-down when you add a forwarding rule from the Forwarding Rules section of the Settings tab. You can assign any existing certificate to HTTPS or HTTP/2 forwarding rules.

To delete an existing certificate:

1. In the load balancer’s Settings tab, open Security.
2. In the Certificates section, open the … (More) menu of the certificate you want to delete.
3. Click Delete and confirm the deletion.

You cannot delete certificates that are still in use. Delete the forwarding rule that uses it, or edit the rule to use a different certificate, then return to the Certificates section and delete the certificate.

Delete Load Balancers

1. On the load balancer’s detail page, click the Settings tab and click Destroy in the Destroy section. You can also use the … (More) menu next to the load balancer on the Load Balancers page, then choose Destroy.
2. In the Destroy Load Balancer window, type the load balancer’s name into the confirmation field, then click Destroy.

The Droplets associated with the load balancer stop receiving distributed traffic, but the Droplets themselves are not destroyed.