# Aliases in the Amazon GameLift Servers console
<a name="gamelift-console-aliases"></a>

The alias resource represents a pointer to a fleet or terminal destination. They are used to direct player traffic to specific hosting destinations. Use an alias to abstract a destination so that you can more easily redirect traffic when you update your hosting fleets.

View information about aliases in the Amazon GameLift Servers console or using the or AWS SDK for Amazon GameLift Servers.

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#### [ Console ]

The **Alias** page displays information about Amazon GameLift Servers aliases that direct traffic specific hosting destinations. To view aliases, choose **Hosting**, **Aliases** in the navigation pane. 

You can do the following on the aliases page:
+ Create a new alias. Choose **Create alias**.
+ Filter and sort the aliases table. Use the controls at the top of the table. You can adjust the table content as needed using the **Preferences** tool (see the ![\[Gear icon representing settings or configuration options.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/gameliftservers/latest/developerguide/images/settings.png) icon in the upper right corner of the table). Custom preferences are saved to your AWS account user and are automatically applied whenever you view this page.
+ View alias details. Choose an alias name to open the alias detail page.
+ Delete an alias. Choose an alias and then choose **Delete**.

**Alias details**  
The alias details page displays information about the alias. 

From this page you can: 
+ Edit an alias. Choose **Edit**.
+ View the fleets you associated with the alias.
+ Delete an alias. Choose **Delete**.

Alias detail information includes: 
+ **ID** – The unique number used to identify the alias.
+ **Description** – The description of the alias.
+ **ARN** – The Amazon Resource Name of the alias.
+ **Creation** – The date and time the alias was created.
+ **Last updated** – The date and time that the alias was last updated.
+ **Routing type** – The routing type for the alias, which can be one of these:
  + **Simple** – Routes player traffic to a specified fleet ID. You can update the fleet ID for an alias at any time.
  + **Terminal** – Passes a message back to the client. For example, you can direct players who are using an out-of-date client to a location where they can get an upgrade.
+ **Tags** – Key and value pairs used to identify the alias.

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#### [ AWS SDK ]

Use the following AWS CLI commands to retrieve information about this resource:
+ [ListAliases](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/gameliftservers/latest/apireference/API_ListAliases.html)
+ [DescribeAlias](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/gameliftservers/latest/apireference/API_DescribeAlias.html)

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# Edit an alias
<a name="aliases-editing"></a>

You can edit an alias using the Amazon GameLift Servers console or with the AWS CLI command [update-alias](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/gamelift/update-alias.html).

This topic describes how to edit an Amazon GameLift Servers alias for use with game session placement. You can make the following edits: 

**To edit an alias**

Use either the Amazon GameLift Servers console or the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) to edit an alias. 

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#### [ Console ]

In the [Amazon GameLift Servers console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/gamelift/), use the navigation pane to open the **Aliases** page.

1. Select the alias you want to edit and choose **Edit**. If you don't see the alias you want to edit, check your currently selected AWS Region.

1. On the **Edit alias** page, you can make the following edits:
   + Change the alias name.
   + Change the alias description.
   + Change the routing strategy from simple to terminal, or from terminal to simple.
   + For an alias with a simple routing strategy, change the fleet ID the alias is associated with.
   + For an alias with a terminal routing strategy, change the message text.

1. Choose **Save changes**. When updating the fleet ID for an alias with a simple routing strategy, it may take up to 2 minutes for the transition to complete. During this time, new game session placements might take place on the old fleet.

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#### [ AWS CLI ]

Use the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/gamelift/update-alias.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/gamelift/update-alias.html) command to make changes to an alias resource. You can update an alias resource in your current default AWS Region, or you can add a `--region` tag to specify a different AWS Region.

You can change the following properties: 
+ Alias name.
+ Alias description.
+ Routing strategy type. Be sure to provide a fleet ID or a message string for the new routing strategy.
+ Fleet ID for an existing simple routing strategy. The fleet ID must be in the same region as the alias.
+ Message string for an existing terminal routing strategy.

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