Sandbox Instances with CRM Online 2015 Update 1

Sandbox Instances with CRM Online 2015 Update 1

Microsoft published some new information about the sandbox instances usage after Update 1. They are worth to mention.

In case you do not know - What is a Sandbox instance?

This term is used in Microsoft CRM Online. A Sandbox instance is any non-production instance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Isolated from production, a Sandbox instance is the CRM instance which is used to safely develop and test application changes with low risk.

Many companies need to use the Sandbox instances when they want to test new functionality, such as a product update, a new add-on solution, changes to a form, or just any customization.

Sandbox instances can be scheduled to be updated prior to the production update, allowing you to test first.
With CRM Online 2015 Update 1 we have some more options now:

Switching an instance
 - enables administrators to easily change the CRM Online instance type - switch production to sandbox or sandbox to production

Delete a Sandbox instance
 - remove the instance which is not needed and to recover sandbox licenses and storage
Production instance cannot be deleted, so you need to switch to Sandbox first.

Reset a Sandbox instance
- while reseting, user is now able to change the instance base language and currency during the reset.


These features continue to complement existing capabilities, such as copy an instance (which provides the ability to take data and application information and copy it into a Sandbox instance) and reset an instance (which you can use to delete and redeploy a Sandbox instance).


Happy CRM day!
Michal