How does the search head deployer know where the search heads are?

[thomasantoniusc]

I have a Splunk search head cluster set up with a search head deployer.

The search heads (SH) all know where the deployer is because you tell them as part of the SH Cluster Init, but I want to know how the deployer knows about the search heads. Do you need to specify the address to a search head every time you apply new config changes?

I also want to be able to elect a new search head captain from the deployer, if for some reason the Search Heads fail and need redeploying. Is this possible?

I cannot find anything in the documentation, but I feel like I am missing something, based on how it compares with the Index cluster and the master set up

[maraman_splunk]

Yes, you are specifying a search head when pushing config, so the deployer know where to push (or at least will figure it out with the search head you gave)
If the search head you give is down, then just change to a working one.
The captain choice and deployer are unrelated, The deployer is just for deploying apps.
You can tune the captain election process from the search heads