This article describes how to use and manage a premium sandbox. For more information about premium sandboxes, see About Zendesk sandbox environments.
This article contains the following topics:
Working in your premium sandbox
After you create your premium sandbox and it's active, you can start working in it.
To switch to a sandbox from the production instance of Zendesk Support
- In Admin Center, click
Account in the sidebar, then select Sandbox > Sandboxes. - Click the options menu icon (
) next to one of your sandboxes, then select Open Sandbox to launch the sandbox instance in a new browser tab. You can also bookmark the sandbox and access it from your browser.
- Log in to the sandbox with your normal administrator credentials.
- Make changes, test, and fine tune.
Sandbox changes are not copied to the production instance. If you create or update automations or triggers in your sandbox, you can deploy them directly to production when you're ready. All other changes must be manually recreated in your production instance.
After a sandbox is created, it's possible to update the product and add-on data to reflect subscription changes in your production account. See Syncing product and add-on data to sandboxes.
Deleting and replacing your sandbox
After you're done with a round of testing and updates, you can create a new sandbox for a fresh round of development and testing. Creating a new sandbox is also useful if you mess up and want to start from scratch. A typical procedure would be to delete the existing sandbox and create a new one based on the settings of your current production instance of Zendesk Support.
- The sandbox URL changes
- All object IDs in the sandbox will change, for example, ticket field IDs will be different
- Any custom Guide themes will be lost, though they can be exported
- All apps will be removed
- Any sharing agreements will be removed
To replace your premium sandbox
- In Admin Center, click Account in the sidebar, then select Sandbox > Sandboxes.
- Click the options menu (), then select Delete Sandbox.
-
Create a new premium sandbox.
A new sandbox is created with a new URL.
Managing premium sandboxes through account changes
When you change your production account's subscription, including plans, seats, and add-ons, your sandbox environment remains unchanged until you sync or delete the sandbox. After syncing a premium sandbox, the sandbox environment reflects the account changes. After deleting a premium sandbox, your options for creating new premium sandboxes depend on your current plan and add-ons.
For example, upgrading from Support Enterprise with a metadata premium sandbox to Zendesk Suite Enterprise or Enterprise Plus gives you access to more realistic premium sandbox test environments by including ticket data from your production Zendesk Support environment.
Similarly, if downgrading from a Zendesk Suite plan to a lower Suite plan or standalone Support plan without access to premium sandboxes, after you delete any existing premium sandboxes you have, you won't be able to create a new one.