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Deploying Your First Bundle

Welcome to Massdriver! This guide will walk you through your first experience with the platform by publishing, configuring, and deploying a simple bundle. By the end of this guide, you'll understand the core workflow of working with Massdriver bundles.

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, make sure you have completed the prerequisites to install the Massdriver CLI and authenticate with the platform.

Step 1: Download the Getting Started Repository​

In order to follow along with these guides, be sure to download Massdriver's getting-started repository which has all the materials you'll need.

  1. Clone the getting-started repository:

    git clone https://github.com/massdriver-cloud/getting-started.git
    cd getting-started

  2. This repository contains materials for all of the guides in this "Getting Started" series. For this guide, we'll be working in the 01-deploying directory.

    cd 01-deploying

  3. Take a moment to explore the bundle structure:

    ls -la

    You should see:

    • massdriver.yaml - Bundle definition and parameters
    • src/ - Directory containing infrastructure code
    • operator.md - Documentation explaining the bundle, presented in the Massdriver UI
tip

If you inspect the src/main.tf file, you'll see that this bundle is a terraform module which creates a few random resources. Nothing in these Getting Started guides will required connectivity to any of your cloud accounts.

Step 2: Publish the Bundle​

Now you'll publish this bundle to your Massdriver organization, making it available for deployment.

  1. From the bundle directory, publish the bundle:

    mass bundle publish

  2. The CLI will package the bundle and upload it to Massdriver. You should see output similar to:

    Publishing getting-started to organization yourorg...
    Packaging bundle getting-started...
    Package getting-started created with digest: sha256:39ce534f78fadb5fba4c7734c5dd2fb429e3000e53b1eabc909656ac65e7e258
    Pushing getting-started to package manager
    Bundle getting-started successfully published to organization yourorg!

Step 3: Deploy the Bundle​

Now that you've published your bundle, its available to deploy into Massdriver organization.

Access the Platform​

  1. Log into Massdriver Cloud
  2. Navigate to (or create) a project where you want to deploy the bundle
  3. Select or create an environment (such as "development" or "staging")

Add the Bundle to Your Canvas​

  1. Look for your getting-started bundle in the sidebar under "Your Bundles"
  2. Drag the bundle from the sidebar onto the canvas

Drag bundle onto canvas

  1. Give your bundle instance a meaningful name (like "My First Bundle")

Configure the Bundle​

This is where you'll see Massdriver's parameter system in action!

  1. Click on your bundle instance on the canvas
  2. Navigate to the Config tab
  3. You'll see a form with several configuration options:

Bundle Presets​

Notice the preset dropdown at the top - this demonstrates how bundles can include pre-configured parameter sets. These come from the top-level example field in the params section of the massdriver.yaml file. In this case there are two presets:

  • Production
  • Staging

Try selecting different presets and watch how the form fields automatically populate. This allows you to create and customize multiple presets to guide users toward common or recommended configurations, such as dev, staging and production, or single instance and highly available.

Parameter Types​

The form demonstrates how the JSON schema definition in the params section of the massdriver.yaml is presented as a form in the Massdriver UI:

  • Pet Configuration: Shows an enum field of integers (dropdown with specific values)
  • Password Configuration: Demonstrates integer fields with validation (minimum/maximum values)
  • Shuffle Configuration: Shows array fields where you can add/remove items

Refer to the JSON Schema documentation for more information the different types, and validations available.

Key Features to Notice​

Immutable Fields: Fields can be marked immutable in the massdriver.yaml file. This prevents changes to the field after deployment, preventing accidental, destructive changes.

Validation: Try entering invalid values (like a password length of 5) - you'll see real-time validation that prevents misconfiguration.

Field Descriptions: If params have the description field populated, it will be displayed in the UI to provide useful information about the field.

Deploy Your Bundle​

  1. After configuring your parameters, click the Deploy button
  2. Massdriver will open a side terminal showing the deployment logs

Deploy bundle

  1. Watch the deployment progress in real-time through the platform

Understanding What You Just Did​

Congratulations! You've just experienced the core Massdriver workflow:

📨 Bundle Publishing​

You took infrastructure code and published it as a reusable bundle that others in your organization can deploy.

🔧 Parameter Configuration​

You saw how JSON Schema in the bundle automatically creates user-friendly forms with validation, presets, and safety features.

🚀 Platform Deployment​

You deployed infrastructure through a visual interface while maintaining all the power and flexibility of Infrastructure-as-Code.

🔒 Safety Features​

You experienced validation, immutable fields, and other safety features that prevent common infrastructure mistakes.

What's Next?​

Now that you understand the basics, you can:

  1. Experiment: Try changing parameters and redeploying to see how the infrastructure updates
  2. Learn More: Explore the bundle's README.md for detailed explanations of each concept
  3. Create Custom Bundles: Use this as a template to create your own infrastructure bundles
  4. Connect Bundles: Learn about artifacts and connections to build more complex architectures

Key Takeaways​

✅ Bundles are reusable - Write once, deploy many times with different configurations
✅ Parameters drive UI - JSON Schema automatically creates user-friendly forms
✅ Safety first - Built-in validation and immutable fields prevent accidents
✅ Visual deployment - Complex infrastructure becomes as easy as drag-and-drop

In the next guide, we'll look at connecting this bundle to another bundle to pass information. Get started now!

Need Help?​