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Quick Start

This tutorial walks you through the complete ntkDeploy workflow from a blank slate to a verified deployment in approximately 15 minutes. You will create a configuration profile, set up a device group with a UNC target path, assign device ownership, run a preflight check, execute a deployment, and confirm the result in the audit log.

Prerequisites

  • ntkDeploy installed and configured — see First Launch.
  • Policy Server connectivity showing connected in the header badge.
  • At least one UNC path that is reachable and writable from this machine (for example \\fileserver\ntkdrive-configs\dev).
  • The person record for the device owner already exists in the People registry, or permission to create one.

Overview

The end-to-end workflow has six stages:

  1. Create a profile
  2. Create a device group and add a UNC target path
  3. Assign device ownership
  4. Open the Deployment Wizard and run preflight checks
  5. Deploy
  6. Verify in the audit log

Stage 1 — Create a profile

A profile is the central artifact in ntkDeploy: a named, versioned ntkDrive configuration with a specific schema.

1.1 Navigate to Profiles

Select Profiles in the left sidebar. The profile list shows all profiles in the currently selected environment. Confirm the environment switcher at the top of the sidebar shows Development (or your intended target environment).

1.2 Create a new profile

  1. Click New Profile (or use the keyboard shortcut shown in the header).
  2. In the creation dialog:
  3. Enter a descriptive Name — for example Dev Baseline Config.
  4. Select a Schema from the dropdown. The schema determines which fields appear in the form.
  5. Select the target Environment if it differs from the sidebar selection.
  6. Click Create. The profile detail editor opens.

1.3 Fill in the profile form

The schema-driven form shows all fields defined by the selected schema. Each field includes inline validation.

  1. Fill in the required fields. As you type, the Live JSON preview panel updates in real time to show the configuration payload that will be written to endpoints.
  2. Review the JSON preview to confirm the output looks correct.
  3. The profile is saved automatically on each valid change — there is no explicit Save button.

Tip: For your first deployment, keep the configuration minimal and test it against a non-production share. You can add complexity after verifying the pipeline end-to-end.

Stage 2 — Create a device group and add a UNC target path

A device group is a named collection of UNC paths that receive the same deployed configuration.

2.1 Navigate to Device Groups

Select Device Groups in the left sidebar.

2.2 Create a new device group

  1. Click Create Group.
  2. Enter a Name — for example Dev Lab Machines.
  3. Select the same Environment you used for the profile.
  4. Click Create. The group detail view opens.

2.3 Add a UNC target path

  1. In the device group detail view, locate the Paths section.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Enter the UNC path — for example \\fileserver\ntkdrive-configs\dev.
  4. Optionally add a Label to identify this target — for example Dev File Server.
  5. Confirm the addition. The path row appears in the list.

Click Check path on the path row. ntkDeploy tests whether the share is reachable and writable. The row updates to show a reachable or unreachable badge.

Important: Deployment to an unreachable path will fail. Resolve any connectivity issues before proceeding. See Connectivity Issues for help.

Stage 3 — Assign device ownership

The deployment gate requires every target path (device key) in a group to have an assigned owner in the People registry before preflight can proceed. Paths without an owner show a Deploy blocked badge.

3.1 Check ownership status

In the device group detail view, scan the path rows for Unassigned or Deploy blocked indicators.

3.2 Assign an owner inline

  1. Click Assign person… next to the unassigned path row.
  2. Use the person picker to search for and select the responsible person record.
  3. The row updates to show the assigned person's name and the Deploy blocked badge disappears.

For multiple paths, use Assign People (bulk) in the group toolbar to assign owners to many paths at once or import an ownership CSV.

Tip: If the person record does not exist yet, navigate to Policies → People, create it, then return to Device Groups to complete the assignment.

Stage 4 — Open the Deployment Wizard and run preflight checks

The Deployment Wizard is a multi-step guided flow that validates every prerequisite before allowing a deployment to proceed.

4.1 Open the wizard

Select Deployment in the left sidebar. This opens the Deployment Wizard directly.

4.2 Select the profile and target group

  1. On the Profile step, choose the profile you created in Stage 1 (Dev Baseline Config).
  2. On the Target step, choose the device group you created in Stage 2 (Dev Lab Machines).

4.3 Review the assignment summary

The wizard displays a summary of the selected profile, target group, and paths. Confirm the details are correct.

4.4 Run preflight checks

Click Run Preflight (or advance to the preflight step). ntkDeploy runs the following checks automatically:

Check What is verified
Connectivity gate Policy Server /capabilities and /readyz are reachable and passing
Device ownership Every selected path has an assigned person in the People registry
Preflight bulk verify The Policy Manager confirms all plans and finds no blocking issues
UNC path reachability Target shares are accessible with write permission

If all checks pass, the wizard shows a green confirmation and enables the Deploy button.

If checks fail:

  • device_owner_unassigned — Return to Device Groups (Stage 3) to assign missing owners, then return and re-run preflight.
  • preflight_blocking_findings — The Policy Manager found blocking issues for one or more paths. Review the findings displayed by the wizard. If missing-plan creation is required, click Confirm when prompted, then click Re-verify to re-run the preflight.
  • policy_connectivity_gate_closed — Check the header badge and your Settings configuration.

See Deployment Failures for a full error-code reference.

Stage 5 — Deploy

With all preflight checks passing, click Deploy.

ntkDeploy:

  1. Builds the deployment artifact (a signed configuration JSON incorporating the policy snapshot).
  2. Writes the artifact to each target UNC path.
  3. Backs up any existing configuration at each target (using the backup strategy configured in Settings).
  4. Updates the rollout status panel in real time — one row per target path.

Monitor the Status column:

Status Meaning
pending Queued, not yet started
in_progress Currently writing to this target
success Written and verified
failed An error occurred — hover for details

Warning: Do not close the wizard while a deployment is in progress. Closing early does not cancel in-flight writes and may leave some targets in an inconsistent state.

Once all rows show success, the deployment is complete.

Stage 6 — Verify in the audit log

Every deployment is recorded in the audit log with a full trace of what was deployed, to which targets, by whom, and when.

  1. Select Audit Log in the left sidebar.
  2. The most recent entry at the top of the list should be your deployment. The entry shows:
  3. Profile name and version
  4. Device group name and number of targets
  5. Timestamp and operator identity
  6. Outcome (success / partial failure / failure)
  7. Click the entry to expand it and view per-path results and the embedded policy snapshot reference.

A successful audit entry confirms the deployment completed as expected.

What you accomplished

In this quick start you:

  • Created a profile using the schema-driven editor and observed the live JSON preview.
  • Created a device group with a UNC target path and verified connectivity.
  • Assigned device ownership to satisfy the deployment gate.
  • Ran the Deployment Wizard, resolved any preflight issues, and executed a deployment.
  • Confirmed the outcome in the audit log.

This is the core lifecycle you will repeat for every configuration rollout. The tutorials in the next section go deeper into each individual feature.

Next Steps

  • Creating a Profile — Detailed walkthrough of schema selection, form fields, live preview, history, and import/export.
  • Managing Device Groups — Group lifecycle, path labelling, connectivity validation, and bulk ownership assignment.
  • Deploying Configurations — Full deployment wizard reference including rollback, partial failures, and retry strategies.
  • Audit Log — Filtering, searching, and exporting audit records.