Salesforce Sandbox: What It Is, Types and How-To Create

In the ever-evolving world of business, having a tool to test, develop, and experiment in a risk-free environment is invaluable. This is where Salesforce Sandbox comes into play. 

In this article, we will discuss the indispensable tool for businesses in this rapidly evolving landscape – the Salesforce Sandbox. We will delve into its various aspects, such as its types, creation, its management, and more. Let’s get started!

What Is a Salesforce Sandbox?

Salesforce Sandbox is a replica of your production environment which provides developers and administrators with a safe space to test new features, configurations, and codes without affecting the actual Salesforce org. Isn’t it a relief to know that you can try something new without worrying about messing up your actual data?

It also facilitates safe exploration, innovation, and learning. It aids in improving the quality of your application by allowing you to detect and fix errors during the testing phase well before deploying changes into your production environment.

Types of Salesforce Sandboxes

Salesforce caters to diverse testing and development requirements by offering four unique Sandbox types: Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, and Full Copy. Each type of sandbox has its unique functionalities, benefits, and constraints. Let’s uncover more about each type:

1. Developer Sandbox 

Developer Sandboxes are the lightest form of Salesforce sandboxes, specifically designed for coding and testing by individual developers. They include all the metadata from your production environment but don’t contain any actual data records, which gives developers a safe environment to innovate and test without the risk of disrupting live data. 

The Developer Sandbox has a data and file storage limit of 200MB each, which is usually sufficient for individual development and testing tasks. These sandboxes can be refreshed every 24 hours, ensuring developers always have an updated environment for testing.

2. Developer Pro Sandbox

The Developer Pro Sandbox provides a more comprehensive platform for validating code and facilitating development. While they also contain all of your metadata but no actual records, they provide larger storage space – 1GB for both data and file storage. This extra storage makes Developer Pro Sandboxes suitable for handling larger and more complex developments and tests. Like the Developer Sandbox, the Developer Pro Sandbox can be refreshed every 24 hours.

3. Partial Copy Sandbox

Partial Copy Sandboxes are a step up, offering a mix of real data along with all the metadata. They allow for data storage of up to 5GB and are particularly useful when you need real data for user acceptance testing, integration testing, or training. These sandboxes can be refreshed every 5 days, allowing for a more realistic testing environment compared to the developer sandboxes.

4. Full Copy Sandbox

The Full Copy Sandbox, the most extensive of all, encapsulates all data and metadata from your production org, acting as a precise duplicate of your live environment. This sandbox is invaluable for performance testing, load testing, and pre-deployment staging. It’s like having a full-scale model of your production environment for the most accurate testing and fine-tuning. Because of its comprehensive nature, this sandbox can be refreshed every 29 days.

By understanding the specific features of each type of Salesforce Sandbox, you can choose the most suitable one for your unique development and testing needs. Just like selecting the right tool from a toolbox, picking the right sandbox can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your work.

How to Create a Salesforce Sandbox

Creating a new Salesforce Sandbox is a relatively simple process. The Sandbox serves as a safe testing environment, enabling you to experiment and make changes without impacting your live Salesforce org. Follow the steps below to create a new Sandbox:

1. Log in to your Salesforce Production Org: To create a new Sandbox, first, log into your Salesforce Production Org. Sandbox creation and management are conducted from here.
2. Navigate to the Sandbox page: Once logged in, click on the ‘Setup’ gear icon in the top-right corner. In the Quick Find box, type in ‘Sandboxes’ and select it from the dropdown menu. This will navigate you to a page where all your existing Sandboxes are displayed.
3. Click on ‘New Sandbox’: On the Sandboxes page, you’ll find a ‘New Sandbox’ button. Click on it to initiate the creation of a new Sandbox.
4. Fill in the necessary details: You’ll need to provide a few details about your new Sandbox..(Please provide a name (maximum of 10 characters) and a description for the sandbox.) You’re also required to select the category of Sandbox you wish to establish: Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, or Full Copy.
5. Select a Sandbox template (optional): If you’re creating a Full Copy or Partial Copy Sandbox, you can select a Sandbox template. This template will determine which data is copied into your new Sandbox.
6. Create the Sandbox: After filling in all the details and choosing the appropriate options, click on the ‘Create’ button. Depending on the size and type of Sandbox you’re creating, this process may take some time.
7. Access and login to the sandbox: To access the sandbox, click the link provided in the notification email. Users can log in to the sandbox at https://test.salesforce.com by appending “.sandbox_name” to their Salesforce usernames. If a sandbox username already exists, a 7-digit alphanumeric value is added to ensure uniqueness.
8. Alternative login for My Domain settings: If user logins are prevented from https://login.salesforce.com in production through My Domain settings, instruct users to log in to the sandbox using the My Domain login URL in the format https://MyDomainName–SandboxName.sandbox.my.salesforce.com. The org’s My Domain login URL can be found on the My Domain Setup page.

You’ll receive an email once your new Sandbox is ready. You can then use it as a safe and secure environment for development, testing, or training without any risks to your production org. This process is akin to building a new laboratory where you can carry out your experiments without worrying about potential risks or damage.

Remember, it’s important to create and manage your Sandboxes wisely, keeping your specific needs and usage in mind. After all, they’re a crucial part of maintaining and enhancing your Salesforce org’s functionality and performance.

Also Read – Branded Custom Domain for Community in Sandbox

How to Refresh a Salesforce Sandbox

To ensure your sandbox accurately reflects the current status of your production environment, you’ll need to implement a refresh.

Refresh is like a hard reset. It eradicates all existing data and metadata from your sandbox and supplants it with the newest settings from your live system. Bear in mind, a refresh should only be conducted if you are prepared for all alterations in your sandbox to be superseded!

Here’s how to set about it:

1. Get Into Salesforce Setup: Log into your Salesforce production org and steer towards the ‘Setup’ area.
2. Seek Out Your Sandboxes: Within ‘Setup’, utilize the Quick Find tool to hunt for ‘Sandboxes’. The sandbox list will be your target.
3. Initiate the Refresh: Adjacent to the sandbox you want to update, you’ll find a ‘Refresh’ option. Click on it to trigger the refresh process, and then navigate through the steps provided by the wizard.

Keep in mind that you’ll only be able to carry out a refresh if your sandbox is eligible for it. Once the refresh has been completed, unless you’ve opted for “auto-activate”, you’ll receive a notification email when your sandbox is primed and ready.

This process ensures your sandbox continues to serve as an accurate mirror of your live system, allowing for more effective and relevant testing and development activities.

Salesforce Sandbox Templates

Salesforce Sandbox Templates offers greater control over what data is copied during the creation or refresh of a Full or Partial Copy Sandbox. They allow you to customize the data that is cloned into your Sandbox, providing a more relevant and streamlined testing environment.

Here’s how Sandbox Templates work:

1. Deciding What to Include: Sandbox Templates let you decide what objects and data you want to include in your Sandbox. This could range from all objects to a select few, depending on your specific requirements.
2. Reducing Sandbox Size: By choosing only the data that is required for your testing, you can reduce the size of your Sandbox. This not only saves storage space but also makes the Sandbox creation or refresh process quicker.
3. Selective Data Copying: Sandbox Templates allow for selective copying of data, including both standard and custom objects. You can include or exclude specific data in your Sandbox based on object type or reference type.
4. Reusing Templates: Once a Sandbox Template is created, it can be reused for future Sandbox creation or refresh processes. This saves time and ensures a consistent testing environment across multiple Sandboxes.

Sandbox Templates act as blueprints or patterns for your Sandboxes. They give you the ability to dictate what your Sandbox should look like, ensuring that it fits your specific needs and scenario. Like a chef deciding what ingredients to include in a recipe, Sandbox Templates let you decide what data should be included in your Sandbox. This makes your testing environment more efficient and relevant, enhancing your overall Salesforce experience.

How to Manage Your Sandboxes in Salesforce

• Access the Sandbox Setup page: In the Setup menu, enter “Sandboxes” in the Quick Find box and select “Sandboxes” from the results. This will take you to the Sandbox Setup page.
• Check the list of available and in-use sandboxes: On the Sandbox Setup page, you will see a list of the sandboxes you have purchased and the sandboxes currently in use. This provides an overview of your sandbox environment.
• Ensure the required user permissions: To view a sandbox, you need the “View Setup and Configuration” permission. To create, refresh, activate, and delete a sandbox, you need the “Manage Sandbox” permission. Make sure you have the necessary permissions to perform sandbox-related actions.
• Understand sandbox actions and status: Each sandbox entry in the list will display its status and the available actions you can take. The status indicates whether the sandbox is active, being refreshed, or undergoing any other operation. The actions include options like creating, refreshing, activating, and deleting the sandbox.
• Unlock a sandbox: It’s important to note that sandboxes are licensed separately from the Salesforce service and are subject to restrictions. When your sandbox licenses expire, Salesforce decreases the count of available sandbox licenses for the selected sandbox type. To unlock a sandbox, you may need to renew or update your sandbox licenses.

By managing your sandboxes effectively, you can ensure smooth operations and utilize the available sandbox resources efficiently.

Summing Up

Salesforce Sandbox is an invaluable tool that can help your team develop, test, and train safely without affecting your live org. It’s your experimental space, where trial, error, and knowledge acquisition happen freely, without any negative impact. And with the different types of sandboxes, you can create a tailored environment to suit your unique needs.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the different types of Sandboxes in Salesforce?

Salesforce provides various sandbox types for diverse development and testing requirements:

1. Developer Sandbox: For individual developers, offering a small environment for code testing and development.
2. Developer Pro Sandbox: Similar to Developer Sandbox but with increased storage, ideal for extensive development and testing.
3. Partial Sandbox: A medium-sized sandbox with a portion of production data used for functional and integration testing.
4. Full Sandbox: Mirrors the entire production organization, including all data and metadata, used for comprehensive testing and staging before production deployment.

2. How many sandboxes can be created in Salesforce?

The number of sandboxes you can create in Salesforce depends on your edition and license type. For example:

• Enterprise Edition: 25 Developer Sandboxes, 1 Developer Pro Sandbox, 1 Partial Sandbox, and 1 Full Sandbox.
• Unlimited Edition: 25 Developer Sandboxes, 1 Developer Pro Sandbox, 1 Partial Sandbox, and 5 Full Sandboxes.
• Performance and Developer Editions: Similar to Unlimited Edition regarding sandbox limits.

3. How to connect sandboxes to Salesforce?

You can set up sandbox connections through the Salesforce Setup menu by configuring Change Sets, Salesforce DX, or third-party tools like Copado or Gearset. The specific method depends on your development and deployment processes.

4. Is Salesforce Sandbox Free?

Salesforce provides sandboxes as part of its subscription service, but they are not free. The cost of a Full Copy sandbox is 30% of your total expenditure on your Salesforce license.