DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet you create is a new server you can use, either standalone or as part of a larger, cloud-based infrastructure.
Tags are custom labels you can apply to Droplets and other DigitalOcean resources. You can filter tagged Droplets, automatically include Droplets in DigitalOcean Firewall or Load Balancer configurations by tag, create monitoring alert policies for groups of tagged Droplets, and use the DigitalOcean API to initiate an action across multiple Droplets with the same tag.
Choosing terms that describe a Droplet’s function can help you locate and administer Droplets that share common roles. For example, you might tag Droplets by:
You can add tags to Droplets during or after creation.
PROD
, you can tag resources in the control panel by entering prod
. The tag still displays with its canonical capitalization, PROD
.PROD
, the URL to add that tag to a resource would be https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/tags/PROD/resources
(not /v2/tags/prod/resources
).To add or modify tags for existing Droplets, use the Droplet’s More menu and select Edit tags or, from the Droplet’s detail page, use the Tags link.
On a project’s dashboard, you can hover over an untagged Droplet’s row of information to reveal the Add tags link.
No matter which way you navigate, the Manage Tags window opens.
Add tags by pressing SPACEBAR
or ENTER
after each term. Navigate between tags with the arrow keys, and remove the highlighted tag with DELETE
or the last tag on the list with BACKSPACE
.
When you’re done, click Save Tags.
If you click a tag from anywhere in the control panel, like on the dashboard of a project or on a Droplet’s Tags page, you go to the list of all resources with that tag.
Filter lists are limited to a single tag, displayed at the top of the list.
To add tags while creating a new Droplet, at the bottom of the Droplet create page, look for the Finalize Details section.
In the Tags field, enter the tags. Add multiple tags by pressing SPACEBAR
or ENTER
after each term. Navigate between tags with the arrow keys, and remove the highlighted tag with DELETE
or the last tag on the list with BACKSPACE
.
When tagging a Droplet via API, you need to have already created a tag. This is not necessary when using doctl
, the CLI.