> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/connectors/cloud-providers/pdc-connector.md).
# Add a Physical Data Center connector
Connect Harness to hosts in your physical data center for traditional deployments.
Use a Harness Physical Data Center (PDC) connector to connect Harness to the hosts in your physical data center. PDC connectors are typically used for traditional deployments, including [SSH](https://developer.harness.io/continuous-delivery/use-continuous-delivery/deploy-services-on-different-platforms/traditional/ssh-ng) and [WinRM](https://developer.harness.io/continuous-delivery/use-continuous-delivery/deploy-services-on-different-platforms/traditional/win-rm-tutorial) deployments.
***
## What you will learn from this topic
* How to [create a Physical Data Center connector](#create-a-physical-data-center-connector) using the Harness Manager.
* How to [create a Physical Data Center connector using the API](#create-a-physical-data-center-connector-using-the-api).
* How to [specify target hosts manually or using a JSON hosts file](#specify-target-hosts).
* How to define a Physical Data Center connector using a [YAML example](#yaml-examples).
***
## Before you begin
* **Target hosts**: The domain name or IP address of each host you want Harness to connect to, reachable from your Harness Delegate.
* **Harness Delegate**: A running Harness Delegate that can reach the target hosts. Go to [Delegate installation overview](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/delegates/delegate/install-delegates/overview.md) to install one.
***
## Create a Physical Data Center connector
Perform the following steps to create the PDC connector using the Harness Manager. The connector wizard has four steps: **Overview**, **Details**, **Delegates Setup**, and **Test Connection**.
### Overview
1. In your project, org, or account, select **Connectors**, and then select **New Connector**.
2. Select **Physical Data Center**.
3. Enter a **Name** for the connector. Harness automatically creates an **Id** ([entity identifier](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/references/entity-identifier-reference.md)) based on the **Name**.
4. Optionally, add a **Description** and **Tags**.
5. Select **Continue** to proceed to **Details**.
### Details
1. Select **Manually enter host names** or **Upload JSON file** to define your list of hosts. For details on both options, go to [Specify target hosts](#specify-target-hosts).
2. Select **Continue** to proceed to **Delegates Setup**.
### Delegates Setup
1. Select **Use any available Delegate**, or select **Only use Delegates with all of the following tags** and enter one or more delegate tags.
2. Select **Save and Continue** to proceed to **Test Connection**.
### Test Connection
Harness validates connectivity to the PDC hosts. If verification succeeds, select **Finish**.
***
## Create a Physical Data Center connector using the API
Create the PDC connector using the [Create a Connector](https://apidocs.harness.io/tag/Connectors#operation/createConnector) API. The request sends the connector definition as YAML in the request body.
Create Connector API request
```bash
curl --location --request POST 'https://app.harness.io/gateway/ng/api/connectors?accountIdentifier=' \
--header 'Content-Type: text/yaml' \
--header 'x-api-key: ' \
--data-raw 'connector:
name: PDC-Connector
identifier: PDCConnector
description: ""
orgIdentifier: default
projectIdentifier: CD_Docs
type: Pdc
spec:
hosts:
- hostname: ec2-54-111-26-183.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
- hostname: ec2-54-222-142-249.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com'
```
The request uses the following query parameter, headers, and body fields.
* **`accountIdentifier`** (query parameter, required): The identifier of the Harness account where the connector is created. Replace `` with your account identifier.
* **`Content-Type`** (header, required): Set to `text/yaml` because the request body is YAML. Use `application/json` instead if you send the connector definition as JSON.
* **`x-api-key`** (header, required): A Harness API key with permission to create connectors in the target scope. Replace `` with your API key. For details on creating one, go to [Add and manage API keys](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/automation/api/add-and-manage-api-keys.md).
* **`connector.name`**: The connector display name shown in the Harness UI.
* **`connector.identifier`**: A unique identifier for the connector. You cannot change the identifier after creation. For the identifier format, go to the [Entity Identifier reference](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/references/entity-identifier-reference.md).
* **`connector.description`**: An optional description for the connector.
* **`connector.orgIdentifier`**: The identifier of the organization that owns the connector. Omit this field to create the connector at the account scope.
* **`connector.projectIdentifier`**: The identifier of the project that owns the connector. Omit this field to create the connector at the account or organization scope. A project-scoped connector requires `orgIdentifier` as well.
* **`connector.type`**: The connector type. Use `Pdc` for a Physical Data Center connector.
* **`connector.spec.hosts`**: The list of target hosts for the connector. Each entry sets `hostname` to the target host's domain name or IP address. To add hosts using a JSON hosts file instead of a static list, go to [Specify target hosts](#specify-target-hosts).
***
## Specify target hosts
Add target hosts to the connector manually or by uploading a JSON hosts file.
### Manually enter host names
To manually enter hosts in the connector, select **Manually enter host names**, and then add each host's domain name or IP address on a new line in the **Hosts** field.
### JSON hosts file
The following JSON hosts file defines two hosts, each with a set of host attributes.
```json
[
{
"hostname": "ec2-54-87-11-191.compute-1.amazonaws.com:5986",
"hostAttributes": {
"type": "node",
"region": "east",
"name": "node1",
"ip": "54.87.11.191"
}
},
{
"hostname": "ec2-3-83-219-167.compute-1.amazonaws.com:5986",
"hostAttributes": {
"type": "db",
"region": "east",
"name": "node2",
"ip": "3.83.219.167"
}
}
]
```
The `hostname` and `hostAttributes` properties are mandatory, and `hostAttributes` can have as many key-value pairs as you need.
When you select this PDC connector in an infrastructure definition, you can select **Filter by host name** or **Filter by host attributes** to select the hosts for deployment. Specify the host attributes as a comma-separated list of `attribute:value` pairs, for example, `region:west,type:node`.
***
## YAML examples
The following YAML defines an account-scoped PDC connector with two target hosts, each with a set of host attributes.
PDC connector YAML
```yaml
connector:
name: PDC-Connector # Connector display name shown in the Harness UI
identifier: PDCConnector # Unique connector identifier, cannot be changed after creation
description: "" # Optional description for the connector
accountIdentifier: # Harness account identifier that owns the connector
type: Pdc
spec:
ignoreTestConnection: false # Set to true to skip the connection test for hosts that are unreachable when the connector is saved
hosts:
- hostname: ec2-54-88-193-136.compute-1.amazonaws.com:5986 # Target host domain name or IP address, plus port if required
hostAttributes: # Optional key-value pairs used to filter hosts during deployment
type: node
region: east
name: node1
ip: 54.88.193.136
- hostname: ec2-54-225-189-86.compute-1.amazonaws.com:5986
hostAttributes:
type: db
region: east
name: node2
ip: 54.225.189.86
```
The `accountIdentifier` field scopes the connector to the account level. Omit `accountIdentifier` and add `orgIdentifier` and, optionally, `projectIdentifier` instead to scope the connector to an organization or project. By default, `ignoreTestConnection` is `false`, and Harness tests the connection to each host when you save the connector.
***
## Troubleshooting
Test Connection fails with a socket connectivity error for every host
The **Test Connection** step fails with an error similar to the following, and the delegate task logs show an `UnknownHostException` for each line of the host list, including JSON syntax such as `{`, `}`, and property names:
```
Invalid request: Socket connectivity checks failed for host(s)
```
This happens when the contents of a JSON hosts file are pasted directly into the **Hosts** field on the **Details** step instead of being uploaded as a file. Harness treats each line of the pasted text as a separate hostname.
To fix this, go back to the **Details** step, clear the **Hosts** field, select **Upload JSON file**, and upload the JSON hosts file instead of pasting its contents.
If this error occurs for a host you entered correctly, the delegate cannot establish a socket connection to the host. If you do not specify a port with the host, Harness defaults to port 22.
* Verify the port is open on the host, and check the firewall rules between the delegate and the host.
* Test connectivity from the delegate to the host using `telnet `.
***
## Next steps
* [SSH deployments](https://developer.harness.io/continuous-delivery/use-continuous-delivery/deploy-services-on-different-platforms/traditional/ssh-ng): Deploy artifacts to hosts using SSH.
* [WinRM deployments](https://developer.harness.io/continuous-delivery/use-continuous-delivery/deploy-services-on-different-platforms/traditional/win-rm-tutorial): Deploy artifacts to Windows hosts using WinRM.
{% @harness-feedback/feedback module="harness-ai" pagePath="harness-ai/use-harness-platform/connectors/cloud-providers/pdc-connector" %}