diff --git a/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/BasicSmokeE2ESpec.groovy b/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/BasicSmokeE2ESpec.groovy
index f771182..4ac3da4 100644
--- a/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/BasicSmokeE2ESpec.groovy
+++ b/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/BasicSmokeE2ESpec.groovy
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ package io.codearte.gradle.nexus.functional.e2e
 
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.functional.BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec
 import nebula.test.functional.ExecutionResult
+import spock.lang.Ignore
 import spock.lang.Stepwise
 
 @Stepwise
+@Ignore("Temporary to verify staging repository uplaod from travis in exploratory e2e tests")
 class BasicSmokeE2ESpec extends BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec implements E2ESpecHelperTrait {
 
     def "should get staging profile"() {
diff --git a/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/ExploratoryE2ESpec.groovy b/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/ExploratoryE2ESpec.groovy
index 3bd0ee0..7d3e679 100644
--- a/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/ExploratoryE2ESpec.groovy
+++ b/src/funcTest/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/functional/e2e/ExploratoryE2ESpec.groovy
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.functional.BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.infra.SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.OperationRetrier
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.RepositoryCloser
+import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.RepositoryCreator
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.RepositoryDropper
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.RepositoryFetcher
 import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic.RepositoryReleaser
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ class ExploratoryE2ESpec extends BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec implements E2ESp
     @NotYetImplemented
     def "remove all staging repositories if exist as clean up"() {}
 
+    //TODO: Remove "should" prefix, it's default by convention
     def "should get staging profile id from server e2e"() {
         given:
             StagingProfileFetcher fetcher = new StagingProfileFetcher(client, E2E_SERVER_BASE_PATH)
@@ -45,15 +47,31 @@ class ExploratoryE2ESpec extends BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec implements E2ESp
             stagingProfileId == E2E_STAGING_PROFILE_ID
     }
 
-    def "should upload artifacts to server"() {
+    def "should create staging repository explicitly e2e"() {
         given:
+            RepositoryCreator creator = new RepositoryCreator(client, E2E_SERVER_BASE_PATH)
+        when:
+            String stagingRepositoryId = creator.createStagingRepositoryAndReturnId(E2E_STAGING_PROFILE_ID)
+        then:
+            println stagingRepositoryId
+            stagingRepositoryId.startsWith("iogitlabnexus-at")
+        and:
+            propagateStagingRepositoryIdToAnotherTest(stagingRepositoryId)
+    }
+
+    def "should upload artifacts to server e2e"() {
+        given:
+            assert resolvedStagingRepositoryId
+        and:
             copyResources("sampleProjects//nexus-at-minimal", "")
         when:
-            ExecutionResult result = runTasksSuccessfully('uploadArchives')
+            ExecutionResult result = runTasksSuccessfully('uploadArchives',
+                "-Pe2eRepositoryUrl=${E2E_SERVER_BASE_PATH}staging/deployByRepositoryId/${resolvedStagingRepositoryId}")
         then:
             result.standardOutput.contains('Uploading: io/gitlab/nexus-at/minimal/nexus-at-minimal/')
     }
 
+    //TODO: Adjust to (optionally) just get repository ID in getNonTransitioningRepositoryStateById()
     def "should get open repository id from server e2e"() {
         given:
             RepositoryFetcher fetcher = new RepositoryFetcher(client, E2E_SERVER_BASE_PATH)
@@ -61,9 +79,7 @@ class ExploratoryE2ESpec extends BaseNexusStagingFunctionalSpec implements E2ESp
             String stagingRepositoryId = fetcher.getOpenRepositoryIdForStagingProfileId(E2E_STAGING_PROFILE_ID)
         then:
             println stagingRepositoryId
-            stagingRepositoryId.startsWith("iogitlabnexus-at")
-        and:
-            propagateStagingRepositoryIdToAnotherTest(stagingRepositoryId)
+            stagingRepositoryId == resolvedStagingRepositoryId
     }
 
     def "should get not in transition open repository state by repository id from server e2e"() {
diff --git a/src/funcTest/resources/sampleProjects/nexus-at-minimal b/src/funcTest/resources/sampleProjects/nexus-at-minimal
index c6abaac..2ab7999 160000
--- a/src/funcTest/resources/sampleProjects/nexus-at-minimal
+++ b/src/funcTest/resources/sampleProjects/nexus-at-minimal
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit c6abaace9801e9d8617cc810fe90d033385d423d
+Subproject commit 2ab79997978554b9d4b933b23a860e9a005de795
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/infra/SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient.groovy b/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/infra/SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient.groovy
index f94d994..8e6572b 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/infra/SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/infra/SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient.groovy
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ class SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient {
         return (Map) sendRequestHandlingErrors(uri, null, restClient.&get, RequestType.GET).data
     }
 
-    void post(String uri, Map content) {
-        sendRequestHandlingErrors(uri, content, restClient.&post, RequestType.POST)
+    Map post(String uri, Map content) {
+        return (Map) sendRequestHandlingErrors(uri, content, restClient.&post, RequestType.POST).data
     }
 
     private HttpResponseDecorator sendRequestHandlingErrors(String uri, Map content, Closure<Object> clientMethodHandler, RequestType requestTypeName) {
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/logic/RepositoryCreator.groovy b/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/logic/RepositoryCreator.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04d07ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/groovy/io/codearte/gradle/nexus/logic/RepositoryCreator.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package io.codearte.gradle.nexus.logic
+
+import groovy.transform.InheritConstructors
+import groovy.util.logging.Slf4j
+import io.codearte.gradle.nexus.infra.SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient
+
+//@InheritConstructors  //TODO: Why broken???
+@Slf4j
+class RepositoryCreator extends BaseOperationExecutor {
+
+    RepositoryCreator(SimplifiedHttpJsonRestClient client, String nexusUrl) {
+        super(client, nexusUrl)
+    }
+
+    String createStagingRepositoryAndReturnId(String stagingProfileId) {
+        log.info("Creating staging repository for staging profile '$stagingProfileId'")
+        Map responseAsMap = client.post(nexusUrl + "/staging/profiles/${stagingProfileId}/start",
+            [data: [description: "Explicitly created by gradle-nexus-staging-plugin"]])
+
+        log.info("Raw response as map: $responseAsMap")
+        String repositoryId = responseAsMap.data.stagedRepositoryId
+        log.info("Created staging repository with id: $repositoryId")
+        return repositoryId
+    }
+}