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Target Selection

Choosing the right targets for your deployment ensures your changes reach the intended machines.

Selection Methods

Section titled “Selection Methods”

A deployment’s targets are resolved from either explicit target IDs or a set of tags — these are the two underlying selector types. The UI layers convenience flows (manual picking, name patterns) on top of them. The environment is a separate deployment context that supplies the candidate targets and their priority ordering; it is not itself a target selector.

MethodResolves viaBest For
By TagTagsTargeted updates
By TargetTarget IDsAd-hoc operations

Deploying Within an Environment

Section titled “Deploying Within an Environment”

When deploying a solution, the environment supplies the candidate targets, which you can then narrow:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Target Selection                                           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Environment: Production                                    │
│                                                             │
│  Targets in environment (12):                               │
│  ┌────────────────┬────────┬──────────┬────────────┐       │
│  │ Name           │ Status │ Mode     │ Priority   │       │
│  ├────────────────┼────────┼──────────┼────────────┤       │
│  │ ✓ web-prod-01  │ Online │ Listen   │ 80         │       │
│  │ ✓ web-prod-02  │ Online │ Listen   │ 70         │       │
│  │ ✓ web-prod-03  │ Online │ Listen   │ 60         │       │
│  │ ⚠ db-prod-01   │ Stale  │ Poll     │ 10         │       │
│  └────────────────┴────────┴──────────┴────────────┘       │
│                                                             │
│  [✓] Include all online targets                             │
│  [ ] Include stale targets                                  │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Environment Selection Process

Section titled “Environment Selection Process”
  1. Choose the target environment
  2. View all assigned targets
  3. See target status and priority
  4. Optionally exclude offline/stale targets
  5. Proceed with deployment

Tag-Based Selection

Section titled “Tag-Based Selection”

Filter targets using tags for more granular control:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Filter by Tags                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Include targets where:                                     │
│                                                             │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ role    [=] [web                    ]     [×]      │   │
│  │ region  [=] [us-east-1              ]     [×]      │   │
│  │                                [+ Add Filter]       │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                             │
│  Matching targets (4 of 12):                                │
│    ● web-prod-01                                            │
│    ● web-prod-02                                            │
│    ● web-prod-03                                            │
│    ● web-prod-04                                            │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tag Filter Operations

Section titled “Tag Filter Operations”

Tag filters match by exact key=value equality. Each filter you add must specify both a key and a value; a target is included only when it carries a tag with that exact key and that exact value.

FieldDescriptionExample
keyThe tag key to matchrole
valueThe exact valueweb

Combining Filters

Section titled “Combining Filters”

Multiple filters combine with AND logic:

role = web AND region = us-east-1 AND tier = frontend

This selects only targets matching all criteria.

By Target Selection

Section titled “By Target Selection”

For ad-hoc deployments, manually pick targets by their ID. The search box filters the displayed list by name or hostname on the client side — it is a convenience filter for finding the right targets, not a deployment selector itself. Only the targets you check are sent to the deployment.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Select Targets                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Search: [web-prod_________]                                │
│                                                             │
│  Available Targets:                                         │
│  ┌────────────────┬────────┬──────────┬────────────────┐   │
│  │ [✓] web-prod-01│ Online │ Listen   │ Production     │   │
│  │ [✓] web-prod-02│ Online │ Listen   │ Production     │   │
│  │ [ ] web-prod-03│ Online │ Listen   │ Production     │   │
│  │ [ ] web-stg-01 │ Online │ Poll     │ Staging        │   │
│  └────────────────┴────────┴──────────┴────────────────┘   │
│                                                             │
│  Selected: 2 targets                                        │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

When to Use By Target Selection

Section titled “When to Use By Target Selection”
  • Testing on specific machines
  • Investigating issues on particular targets
  • Running maintenance on subset of servers
  • Canary deployments to single targets

Target Status Filtering

Section titled “Target Status Filtering”

Control which targets by status:

StatusDefaultDescription
OnlineIncludedHealthy, connected targets
StaleExcludedRecently missed heartbeat
OfflineExcludedNot connected

Including Stale Targets

Section titled “Including Stale Targets”
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Status Filter                                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Include targets with status:                               │
│  [✓] Online (10 targets)                                    │
│  [ ] Stale (2 targets)                                      │
│  [ ] Offline (1 target)                                     │
│                                                             │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ ⚠ Including offline targets may cause failures       │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Priority-Based Ordering

Section titled “Priority-Based Ordering”

Selected targets are ordered by priority. Priority values range from -100 to 100 (default 50), and targets with higher priority deploy first:

TargetPriorityDeploy Order
web-0180First batch
web-0280First batch
web-0370Second batch
web-0470Second batch
db-0110Last

Selection Validation

Section titled “Selection Validation”

Before deployment, Mantis validates your selection:

Validation Checks

Section titled “Validation Checks”
CheckDescription
Minimum targetsAt least one target selected
Target healthWarns about offline/stale targets

Validation Warnings

Section titled “Validation Warnings”
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Selection Warnings                                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  ⚠ 1 target is stale and may fail:                         │
│    - db-prod-01 (last seen 15 minutes ago)                  │
│                                                             │
│  ⚠ 2 targets are in different environments:                 │
│    - web-staging-01 (Staging)                               │
│    - web-staging-02 (Staging)                               │
│                                                             │
│              [Continue Anyway]  [Modify Selection]          │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

CLI Target Selection

Section titled “CLI Target Selection”

Using the CLI for target selection:

Terminal window
# By environment
mantisctl deployment create --solution-id <id> --environment-id production


# By tag (repeat --target-tag for multiple key=value pairs)
mantisctl deployment create --solution-id <id> \
  --target-tag role=web --target-tag region=us-east-1


# Explicit targets by UUID (repeat --target for each)
mantisctl deployment create --solution-id <id> \
  --target <target-uuid-1> --target <target-uuid-2> --target <target-uuid-3>

Building a Target List from a File

Section titled “Building a Target List from a File”

--target is repeatable, so you can expand a one-target-per-line file with your shell:

Terminal window
# targets.txt - one target UUID per line (blank lines and # comments ignored)
args=$(grep -v '^\s*#' targets.txt | grep -v '^\s*$' | sed 's/^/--target /')
mantisctl deployment create --solution-id <id> $args

Selection Strategies

Section titled “Selection Strategies”

Canary Deployment

Section titled “Canary Deployment”

Deploy to a single target first:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Canary Strategy                                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  Phase 1: Canary (1 target)                                 │
│    [✓] web-prod-01                                          │
│                                                             │
│  Phase 2: Remaining (11 targets)                            │
│    [ ] web-prod-02 through web-prod-12                      │
│                                                             │
│  ● Deploy Phase 1, then manually approve Phase 2            │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Geographic Rollout

Section titled “Geographic Rollout”

Deploy by region:

Phase 1: us-east-1 (tag: region=us-east-1)
Phase 2: us-west-2 (tag: region=us-west-2)
Phase 3: eu-west-1 (tag: region=eu-west-1)

Role-Based Rollout

Section titled “Role-Based Rollout”

Deploy by server role:

Phase 1: Workers (tag: role=worker)
Phase 2: API servers (tag: role=api)
Phase 3: Web servers (tag: role=web)

Best Practices

Section titled “Best Practices”

1. Always Preview Selection

Section titled “1. Always Preview Selection”

Review matched targets before deploying:

Preview shows:
├── Target count
├── Target names
├── Target status
└── Any warnings

2. Use Tags Consistently

Section titled “2. Use Tags Consistently”

Standardize tags across your infrastructure:

TagPurpose
roleServer function
regionGeographic location
tierApplication tier
teamOwning team

3. Consider Target Status

Section titled “3. Consider Target Status”
  • Deploy to online targets for reliability
  • Investigate stale targets before including
  • Never deploy to offline targets in production

4. Document Selection Criteria

Section titled “4. Document Selection Criteria”

Record why you selected specific targets:

Deployment: Emergency security patch
Selection: role=web AND region=us-east-1
Reason: Patch critical vulnerability in US East web servers only

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

No Targets Found

Section titled “No Targets Found”

Cause: Filter criteria too restrictive

Solution: Broaden filters or check tag values

Wrong Targets Selected

Section titled “Wrong Targets Selected”

Cause: Incorrect filter or environment

Solution: Review selection preview before deploying

Target Missing from Selection

Section titled “Target Missing from Selection”

Cause: Target not in environment or missing tags

Solution: Verify target assignment and tag values

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”