---
title: Set up Fleet Control
source: https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/new-relic-control/fleet-control/setup
---

> #### ⚠️ FEATURE AVAILABILITY
>
> Fleet Control for Kubernetes clusters is generally available (GA). Support for managing agents on Linux and Windows hosts is currently in public preview.
>
> For a complete list of supported agents and their environments, see our [agent type compatibility documentation](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/new-relic-control/agent-control/agent-types).
>
> The public preview feature is provided pursuant to our [pre-release policies](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/licenses/license-information/referenced-policies/new-relic-pre-release-policy).

This guide provides the fastest path to getting started with Fleet Control. We'll walk you through the essential "happy path" workflow to create your first fleet and run a basic deployment.

## Workflow overview

The setup process for Fleet Control has a specific order. You must create a fleet _before_ you can install Agent Control, because the installation process requires a fleet to associate with. Once Agent Control is installed, the entity is automatically assigned to that fleet. Therefore, the workflow is:

1.  **Create a fleet** in the New Relic platform.
2.  **Install Agent Control** on your entities. The installation wizard uses your fleet's details to assign each entity, making it an "Assigned Managed Entity."
3.  **Run a deployment** to install and configure agents on the entities that are now part of your fleet.

## Prerequisites

You will need the **Organization Manager** role or a custom role with the equivalent fleet management permissions to perform these actions.

## Step 1: Create your first fleet

The first step is to create a fleet. In Fleet Control, a **fleet** is a homogeneous collection of managed entities (such as Kubernetes clusters or hosts) that share identical instrumentation configurations. Fleets act as logical groupings, allowing you to manage agent versions and configurations consistently across your environment at scale, preventing configuration drift and observability gaps.

1.  Log in to the New Relic platform under the appropriate account.
2.  Navigate to  **All capabilities → New Relic Control**.
    -   **Tip:** You can pin **New Relic Control** to the left-hand navigation bar for easy access by clicking the pin icon.
3.  From the **New Relic Control** menu, select **Fleets** under the **Fleet Control** section.
4.  On the main Fleets page, click **Create a fleet**.
5.  In the modal:
    -   Give your fleet a meaningful name (for example, `aws-eks-app-prod-us-east1`) and an optional **Description**.
    -   Select the **Type of Fleet**. For this guide, we'll select **Kubernetes Cluster**, which is generally available. **Linux Host** and **Windows Host** support is currently in public preview.
    -   Leave **Access management** as the default. This is an optional setting for FGA (fine-grained access control).
6.  Click **Create Fleet**.

![The Create a fleet modal with input fields for fleet name and description, Type of Fleet selection, Access management options, and Create Fleet button.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-create-fleet-modal.webp "Create fleet modal")

With the fleet created, you now have the necessary component to proceed with installing Agent Control.

## Step 2: Install Agent Control

Now that your fleet exists, install Agent Control on the entities you want to associate with it.

Follow the instructions in the [Agent Control setup documentation](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/new-relic-control/agent-control/setup). The wizard provides a `values.yaml` file and Helm command that installs Agent Control and assigns the managed entity to the fleet you just created. Once complete, your entities will appear as **Assigned Managed Entities** within your fleet.

## Step 3: Create an agent configuration

Before you deploy the New Relic Infrastructure agent, you need to create a configuration for it. Any configurations you create are saved globally and become available for use across your New Relic account.

1.  In the New Relic Control left-hand menu, click **Configurations**.
2.  Click **Create configuration**.
3.  In the modal:
    -   For Managed entity type, select **Kubernetes Cluster**.
    -   For agent type, select **New Relic Infrastructure** from the dropdown menu.
    -   Give the configuration a meaningful, unique name. Since configurations are global, a clear name is important. For example: `aws-eks-app-infra`.
4.  Click **Continue**.
5.  You'll see two panels. The right panel contains a default template. Click **Copy** to copy the entire template.
6.  Paste the copied text into the left configuration panel.
7.  Click **Save**. Your configuration is now saved globally.

![The configuration editor showing two side-by-side panes: the left pane for authoring YAML configuration and the right pane displaying a template with default settings and examples to copy from.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-config-editor.webp "Configuration editor")

## Step 4: Create and run your first deployment

A deployment is a controlled set of actions that can install, delete, or configure agents on the managed entities in your fleet. Now you'll create one to deploy the New Relic Infrastructure agent.

1.  Navigate back to the **Fleets** tab and select the fleet you created earlier.
2.  On the fleet's summary page, click **Create a deployment**. (If the fleet has existing deployments, go to the **Deployments** tab and click **Create deployment**).
3.  Give your deployment a mandatory **Name**. A meaningful name provides historical context and helps with troubleshooting. Consider a pattern that includes the change, a version, or a ticket ID. For example: `v1.0-initial-infra-deploy` or `add-logging-JIRA-123`.
4.  Click **Add an agent**.
5.  Select the agent type you created the configuration for: **New Relic Infrastructure**.
6.  **Select an agent version** from the dropdown. The latest version is selected by default, but you can choose from other available versions. You may see additional metadata such as release notes or security updates for the selected version.
7.  Click **Next**.
8.  From the list of available configurations, select the `aws-eks-app-infra` configuration you just created. The version will default to `v1`.

![The Select configuration and version modal showing a table of available configurations filtered by agent type, with configuration details and a preview pane displaying the YAML content of the selected configuration.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-select-configuration.webp "Select configuration modal")

9.  Click **Add to deployment**. The agent and its associated configuration will now appear in a table called **Agents**.
10. Click **Save draft**.
11. When you're ready, click **Start deployment**. A confirmation modal will appear.

![The deployment confirmation modal with an 'Are you ready to deploy?' heading, a checklist of pre-deployment items to verify, and Cancel and Start deployment buttons.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-deployment-confirm.webp "Deployment confirmation")

12. In the modal, click **Start deployment** to launch.

![The deployment creation pane with Name and Description fields, an Add an agent button, and a Managed entities table showing clusters with their health status and canary designation. Save draft and Start deployment buttons are shown.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-deployment-pane.webp "Deployment creation pane")

An "IN PROGRESS" screen will show the status, the number of managed entities and agents affected, and a deployment ID.

![The deployment progress screen showing IN PROGRESS status with progress bars for Agents and Managed entities, failure count, and a table displaying real-time deployment status for each cluster.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-deployment-progress.webp "Deployment progress")

When complete, the page will update with a "Completed" status and summary tables detailing the deployment, the agents, and the specific managed entities that were instrumented.

![The completed deployment summary showing COMPLETED status, final statistics for agents and managed entities, Details and Deployment Events tabs, and tables showing deployment results.](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/fleet-control-deployment-complete.webp "Deployment complete")

This summary view is organized into two tabs:

-   **Details tab:** Shows the deployment metadata and summary tables described above.
-   **Deployment Events tab:** Provides granular event-level data for troubleshooting or verifying the deployment was successful.

## Next steps

Congratulations on deploying your first fleet! You've learned the core workflow for managing your instrumentation at scale.

To build on what you've learned, explore our page on [Managing fleets](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/new-relic-control/fleet-control/manage-fleets). It provides additional details on the more nuanced, day-to-day features of Fleet Control, including how to:

-   Author and version your agent configurations.
-   Manage your fleet's details and settings.
-   Use the top-level **Managed Entities** tab to see all your infrastructure with Agent Control installed, including both assigned and unassigned entities.
-   Dive into a specific fleet to view the **effective configuration** on its **Agents** tab and understand the different deployment and instrumentation statuses.