diff --git a/automation/Makefile b/automation/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3aa83a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+.PHONY: help
+help:
+	@echo "image     - create docker image for the MAAS deploy flow utility"
+	@echo "save      - save the docker image for the MAAS deployment flow utility to a local tar file"
+	@echo "clean     - remove any generated files"
+	@echo "help      - this message"
+
+.PHONY: image
+image:
+	docker build -t cord/maas-automation:0.1-prerelease .
+
+save: image
+	docker save -o cord_maas-automation.1-prerelease.tar cord/maas-automation:0.1-prerelease
+
+.PHONT: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f cord_maas-automation.1-prerelease.tar