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Deployment instructions

Last update: September 11, 2026

CREATED FOR:

  • Developer
  • User
NOTE
This is only required if you’re working through the labs at your own pace. If you’re in a live training course or event, your sandbox has already been deployed for you.

The AEP Foundations lab pack is deployed to your sandbox using the DEP CLI, a command-line tool that creates the schemas, datasets, dataflows, and sample data you’ll use throughout the labs.

What gets deployed

  • 4 identity namespaces
  • 1 schema class, 13 field groups, 10 schemas
  • 12 identity descriptors, 6 relationship/reference descriptors, 3 friendly name descriptors
  • 10 catalog datasets
  • 1 HTTP API source connection and 10 dataflows
  • Profile data: a single Depeche Mode profile (3 trait datasets, 7 event datasets) plus 3 lookup datasets
  • 2 profile merge policies and 1 audience (Any Event Streaming, within the hour)
NOTE
End-to-end deployment takes about 2 hours 24 minutes, most of which is unattended wait time between steps. The CLI enforces these waits automatically, so you don’t need to time anything yourself.

Prerequisites

  • License Entitlements. Administrative privileges for an IMS Org with Real-Time CDP (w/streaming segmentation)
  • Access Rights. An Adobe Experience Platform role with all permissions on the target sandbox including the API credential you created from Developer Console Setup.
  • Developer Console credentials. A project that includes Adobe Experience Platform APIs. If you don’t have these yet, follow Developer Console Setup first
  • A sandbox. Empty, of type dev and in a “Ready” state for at least 60 minutes before you start deployment
  • Node.js. Any recent LTS version, on Windows or Mac

1. Install the CLI

  1. Clone or download the dep-cli repository
  2. From the dep-cli directory, run npm install
  3. Start the CLI with npm start
NOTE
Node.js is required before you run the commands above. If you don’t have Node.js installed yet, see the wiki’s Node.js Setuppage first. For full install details, including screenshots and how to update an existing install, see the Installationwiki page

2. Configure your environment file

The CLI deploys to whichever sandbox your environment file points at, so this has to be set up correctly before you run anything.

  1. Copy envFiles/sample-env.json and give it a new name, e.g. my-env.json

  2. Open the file and fill in the following fields using the values from Developer Console Setup:

    table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2 5-row-2
    Field Value
    API_KEY Client ID
    CLIENT_SECRET Client Secret
    IMS_ORG Organization ID
    SCOPES Must include Experience Platform API scopes (openid, session, AdobeID, read_organizations, additional_info.projectedProductContext)
    SANDBOX_NAME The sandbox you’re targeting — must be empty and of type dev

  3. Save and close the file

NOTE
You’re prompted for this file’s name each time you run a CLI command, so you can reuse it across every step below.

3. Run the AEP foundations menu

From the main menu, select AEP foundations. There are three steps, and they have to run in order.

WARNING
The sandbox must have been in a “Ready” state for at least 60 minutes before you run Step 1.
Step
What it does
Before you run it
1. Create profile base
Deploys identity namespaces, schemas, datasets, merge policies, and audiences
Sandbox “Ready” for 60+ minutes
2. Load profile data
Creates dataflows and streams profile and lookup data
Wait 60+ minutes after Step 1
3. Check profile health
Validates that all data loaded correctly
Wait 15+ minutes after Step 2

Step 1 takes about 2 minutes to run, Step 2 about 6 minutes, and Step 3 is a quick validation with no wait of its own. The 60- and 15-minute gaps between steps are for AEP to finish propagating data behind the scenes — that’s most of your 2-hour timeline.

NOTE
The CLI checks these wait times automatically. If you run a step too early, it blocks and tells you how many minutes remain — you don’t need to track the clock yourself.
NOTE
Step 2 is safe to re-run if something goes wrong. It overwrites existing trait records and skips duplicate events.

Troubleshooting

WARNING
Health check fails with missing events. Some profile data hasn’t finished propagating yet. Wait another 15 minutes and re-run Check profile health. If it still fails, re-run Load profile data, wait 15 minutes, and check again.

Something else looks wrong. As a last resort, you can reset the sandbox from the CLI’s Sandbox management menu and redeploy from Step 1.

CAUTION
Resetting a sandbox is destructive. The CLI asks you to type the sandbox name to confirm before proceeding.
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