Generally, a typical workflow to set up direct light sources is as follows:
See Plan light sources.
You can create various types of light sources for your scene and set attributes (options) that further define their characteristics. You can adjust the qualities of the lights you’ve added by changing the settings in the Attribute Editor and the Channel Box.
To add a light source to a scene, see Create a Maya light source.
To adjust the attributes of a light source, see Adjust a light source’s attributes.
To move a light source from one place to another, see Move a light source to another location.
To control lights with precision, see Show, hide, or resize a light manipulator.
By default, lights do not cast shadows in Maya. You can specify which lights cast shadows and choose which method Maya uses to generate them: raytracing or depth maps.
To cast shadows, see Control which objects cast shadows.
To create light effects, see Create a light optical effect.