---
title: "Add a Connection Manager group"
description: "Group Connection Managers of the same type that share a role."
product: "Guardian"
edition: "Classic"
type: "workflow"
url: "https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/inventory/monitored/connection-manager-group/add-connection-manager-group/"
---
# Add a Connection Manager group

Group Connection Managers of the same type that share a role. For example, you could group your Connection Managers according to network topologies, time zones, or any other organisational property. Connection Managers within the same group share the load for any requests that are received by the assigned node set. However, that load is not distributed between each group within Guardian and so Connection Manager groups can be especially useful to segregate your network and ensure load management.

Applies to: `Guardian Classic`

!!! note

    Connection Manager groups are unique to each organisation. Make sure that you add the Connection Manager group to the correct organisation, as it won't be accessible from any organisation other than the one it was created in. For more information on organisations, see [Organisation Accounts](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/account/organizations/organizations/index.md).

To add a new Connection Manager group to your Guardian organisation, complete the following steps:

1. In the Guardian web application, navigate to the **Connection Managers** tab (**Inventory** > **Connection Managers**).

    ![Cm tab](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/assets/images/guardian/inventory/connection-managers/cm-tab.png)

2. Click the **Add Group** button, in the **Groups** drop-down menu. The **Connection Managers - New Group** page is displayed.

    ![Cm tab add group button](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/assets/images/guardian/inventory/connection-managers/cm-tab-add-group-button.png)

3. Enter a name for the new group in the **Group Name** field.

    ![New group](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/assets/images/guardian/inventory/connection-managers/new-group.png)

4. Then, click the **Add Group** button. The **Group API Key** page is displayed.
5. The **Group API Key** field is required to add Connection Managers to the new group. Once you've saved this key, you can exit the page.

    !!! tip

        You can store the Group API Key in a safe location for ease of access, or access it at any time from within the Connection Manager group itself. See [Group API Key](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/inventory/connection-managers/connection-managers/actions/group-api-key/index.md) for more information.

    ![Api key new](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/assets/images/guardian/inventory/connection-managers/api-key-new.png)

The Connection Manager group is then created and displayed in the **Groups** drop-down menu on the **Connection Managers** tab and within the [Connection Manager Groups](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/inventory/monitored/connection-manager-group/connection-manager-groups/index.md) drop-down menu on the **Monitored** tab. Next, you can begin adding Connection Managers to the group.

!!! tip

    Typically, this is done when registering the Connection Manager to the Guardian appliance. However, depending on the Connection Manager type, you could also add a new [Group API Key](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/classic/inventory/connection-managers/connection-managers/actions/group-api-key/index.md) to an existing Connection Manager's configuration file to change the assigned group.