# Getting Started with Jaws Deploy

Source: https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/getting-started

The shortest path from a fresh account to a working deployment, in under fifteen minutes.

This guide walks through the first deployment end-to-end. The goal is to have a real package deployed to a real target by the end of the read - not a hello-world, but something close to the structure of a production setup.

## Five minutes of prep

- A Jaws Deploy Cloud workspace (sign up free, no card required).
- One target: a Windows or Linux machine you can install the agent on, or an Azure Web App.
- A build artefact - any zip, tarball, or NuGet package will do.

## 1. Create a workspace

A workspace is the root container. It holds projects, environments, lifecycles, feeds, targets, variables, and the team. After signup you land in an empty workspace with the default lifecycle `Dev -> Staging -> Production` already wired up.

## 2. Add an environment and a target

Go to **Infrastructure -> Environments**, open `Dev`, and click **Add target**. Two choices:

**Install the agent**

On a Windows or Linux machine you control. Run the installer, paste the registration command, the agent connects outbound. The target appears in the environment within seconds.

**Add a cloud target**

For Azure Web Apps, register the App Service through the Azure connection wizard. No agent install needed - the platform talks to the Azure management API directly.

## 3. Create a project

**Projects -> New project**. Give it a name. The project starts with an empty deployment process. Add one step - pick **Deploy a package** from the template list, point it at a package in the built-in feed (you can drag-and-drop a zip into the feed UI), and save.

## 4. Create and deploy a release

On the project page, click **Create release**. Jaws Deploy snapshots the deployment process, the package version, and the variable definitions into a release - a numbered, immutable record. Then click **Deploy** and pick `Dev`.

The live log opens. You'll watch the agent receive the work, extract the package, run any post-deploy hooks, and report success.

> **// What just happened - You modelled an environment, registered a target, defined a deployment process, created a release, and ran a deployment.**
> 
> From here, every additional environment is incremental - register more targets, scope variables to them, and promote the same release. The setup work is largely done.

## Next steps

With the basics working, the natural follow-ups are: connect your CI tool to create releases automatically, add a second environment and promote releases through the lifecycle, and replace inline values with scoped variables so the same process serves multiple environments cleanly.