Your first deployment

This tutorial takes you from an empty Workflow Library to a published workflow that your devices can run, and shows you where the results arrive.

What you'll do

Build a workflow with one step, publish it, and watch the Deployments view for the run.

How the pieces fit together

Two halves of Coldsea Deploy do different jobs, and it saves confusion to know which is which before you start.

The web app is where you build workflows and watch what happens. The desktop agent, installed on each Windows machine, is what actually runs them. Publishing a workflow makes it available to your agents. The agent picks it up and runs it on the device.

So there is no "run now" button in the web app, and you are not looking for one. You publish here, and the work happens out there.

Before you start

You need:

  • An organization and an active subscription. Workflows do not appear in the sidebar without both. See Joining an organization.
  • A role that can create workflows, which means User, Admin, or Owner. Viewers can read workflows but not build them. See Roles and permissions.

You do not need a connected device to finish this tutorial. You will have a published workflow at the end either way. You need one only to see a run come back, and registering a device requires the Admin or Owner role.

Build and publish it

  1. 1

    Open the Workflow Library

    Select Workflows in the sidebar. The page is titled Workflow Library.

    On a new organization it is empty and offers Create Workflow.

  2. 2

    Start a workflow

    Select Create Workflow. The editor opens.

  3. 3

    Name it

    Fill in Name. Add a Description if you want one, describing what the workflow does.

    The button that saves your work stays disabled until the workflow has both a name and at least one step, so nothing happens yet.

  4. 4

    Add a step

    The Task Templates panel on the left lists the components you can use. Search or filter to find one, then drag it into the sequence, or use its add control.

    One step is enough for a first workflow.

    The workflow editor with the Task Templates panel on the left and one step in the sequence
  5. 5

    Create the workflow

    Select Create Workflow at the bottom right. It is now saved as a draft, and the editor switches from creating to editing.

    A draft is yours alone. Nothing reaches your devices until you publish.

  6. 6

    Publish it

    Select Publish. The dialog confirms that this will make the workflow available to your organization's agents, and offers an optional Version tag such as stable or pre-audit to label this version.

    Select Publish to confirm.

If publishing is refused, the app lists the steps holding it up, numbered and named, with a count of issues on each. Steps usually fail because a required parameter has not been filled in. Fix them and publish again.

Watch it run

Select Deployments in the sidebar. Runs from your devices appear here as the agents report them.

The Deployments view listing runs with their status, filtered to the last 24 hours

The view is live by default and refreshes as runs progress. Use the filters to narrow it:

  • Search host to find a specific machine.
  • A status filter covering Running, Rebooting, Blocked, Success, Failed, and Cancelled.
  • A time window of Today, 24h, 7d, or All.

Selecting a run opens a panel with its step timeline, activity, and any files the run produced.

Rebooting and Blocked are normal states for Windows deployment, not errors. A run that reboots a machine pauses and resumes on its own.

What you have

A published workflow that any of your enrolled devices can run, and a live view of the results.

Next steps

  • Add more steps and use the version tag to keep track of what you published.
  • Browse the Task Library and the Marketplace for more components.
  • Read Roles and permissions before inviting colleagues to build alongside you.