In Apstra, Deploy mode is the state in which a device is intended to fully participate in the fabric. For a three-stage eBGP IP Clos (typical EVPN-VXLAN underlay), “fully functioning” means the switch receives the complete, intent-derived configuration required for production operation—underlay interface addressing, BGP peering, routing policy constructs, and any overlay-related prerequisites appropriate for its role (leaf, spine, border leaf). In Apstra’s device configuration lifecycle, Deploy is the mode that causes Apstra to render and apply the full set of intended services for that node so it becomes an active member of the IP fabric and contributes to ECMP pathing and control-plane adjacency.

By contrast, Ready is commonly used when you want the device discovered and prepared (for example, basic identity and interface readiness), but not actively routing in the fabric. Drain is a maintenance state used to gracefully withdraw an already-deployed device from forwarding to minimize impact (for example, for upgrades or repairs). Not Set indicates the deploy mode has not been chosen and therefore does not represent an operationally complete participation state.

Therefore, when your objective is an operational IP fabric where the assigned devices are actively routing and forwarding according to blueprint intent on Junos v24.4, the correct choice is Deploy.