Thinking out aloud - Dave Hunter's SharePoint Blog

1. Content Deployment keeps the same GUIDs for the objects so you cannot deploy to the same web application (due to the uniqueness of the objects in the same database) unless the site has its own content database.  For more information please see http://www.davehunter.co.uk/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=55.
2. The deployment destination must have a site collection created using the blank template.

After discussing the key points, here are the possible scenarios for content deployment.

Deployment scenarios not possible

Steps to deploy content:

1. In Central Administration, select the Operations tab
2. Under Content Deployment section choose "Content deployment settings". 
3. Click on "Accept incoming content deployment jobs".
4. Choose the Import Server (Destination).  For this example I have used the local server.
5. Choose the Export Server (Source).  For this example I have used the local server.
6. Select "Do not require encryption".
7. Click OK.
8. On the Operations tab, select "Content deployment paths and jobs".
9. We are now going to define a new path
1. Click on "New Path".
2. Type a Name and Description.  This walkthrough is deploying content from Staging to Live, so I have named the path "Staging to Live".
3. Select the Source Web Application and the Source Site Collection.  In this example I am deploying content from http://intranet-staging.
4. Enter the URL of the destination Central Administration.  This walkthrough is moving content within the same farm so the URL will be this central administration.
5. Leave the selection for connecting by using the application pool account.  If this path is deploying to different SharePoint farms you should use a domain account with rights in both environments.
6. Click "Connect".
7. Wait until you receive the message "Connection succeeded".
8. Select the Destination Web Application and the Destination Site Collection.  In this example I am deploying content to http://intranet-live.
9. Select to Deploy user names and ALL security information. 
10. Click "OK".
11. The Path has now been created.
10. Now we have a path connecting the source and the destination, we need to create a job.  A job is defining what content you wish to deploy and when (scheduled or a one off job).
1. Hover next to the path and click on "Create Job".
2. Type in a descriptive name.  I am going to call this "All content".
3. Make sure the path is selected.
4. In this example we are deploying the entire site collection, so keep this checked.
5. The job will be run by the administrator, so we don't need to define schedule.
6. Select "Deploy all content, including content that has been deployed before".
7. You can enter an email address in the box provided and receieve emails if the job succeeds or fails by selecting the options.
8. Click "OK".
9. You now have a job defined.  This won't run authomatically it needs to be kicked off by a user.
11. On the Manage Content Deployment Paths and Jobs, click "Run Now" on the job.
12. Wait a few seconds and refresh the page.
13. Once you have a status of "Running" you can click on this status to take you to the report page. 
    This displays the current progress of the job (items exported, items imported, current status, lifetime of the job and any errors or warnings).
14. Wait on this page until the job reaches an end point, either succeeded or failed.