FAQ for Data Cloud Sandbox (GA)
A sandbox is a copy of your Salesforce org that you can use for development, testing, and training, without compromising the data and applications in your production org. Data Cloud can soon be provisioned in your core sandbox to build and test your instance before deployment.
To help you prepare, here’s a list of frequently asked questions.
All Data Cloud metadata and configurations from the production org are replicated in the sandbox org.
Changes to Data Cloud configurations or new implementations can be made within the sandbox.
Data and authentication information aren’t replicated; connections must be reconfigured.
Purchase the new Data Cloud Sandbox SKUs.
Create a new sandbox or refresh an existing one, then enable Data Cloud in the sandbox and reauthenticate the connections.
No, Data Cloud must first be enabled in production.
No, a full Data Cloud metadata instance is provisioned in existing sandbox types as part of the Salesforce Platform sandbox functionality. A sandbox is an independent instance from the production environment. Previously, Data Cloud wasn’t supported and was hidden in sandboxes. Now that Data Cloud in Sandbox is generally available, Data Cloud works as part of the sandboxes you can create today.
Data Cloud is supported in all sandbox types: Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, and Full Copy.
No, you must refresh existing sandboxes to get Data Cloud working in Sandbox. Newly created sandboxes after purchasing DC Sandbox SKUs will get Data Cloud in Sandbox automatically.
After you create a new sandbox, navigate to Data Cloud Setup and click Get Started to provision Data Cloud in the sandbox. Your configurations from the production org are automatically replicated to the sandbox org. After you provision Data Cloud in the sandbox, navigate to Data Cloud Setup and click Connectors to re-authenticate the connections and bring data in.
Data Cloud customers have the ability to deploy changes from sandbox to production now through Data Kit and Change Sets, CLI, or DevOps Center.
Data Cloud in sandbox works the same as Data Cloud in production. The sandbox org may have its own limits based on the type, but Data Cloud will be functional with the same limits as in production.
Yes. Data Cloud usage in sandboxes will consume sandbox-level credits and multipliers which will match your production-level SKUs. These will cover the same categories: Data Service, Storage, and Segmentation and Activation. For clarity, Data Cloud will be accessible in platform sandboxes, so customers can also buy additional sandboxes (full, partial, dev pro) for dedicated Data Cloud testing.
Yes, beta customers can continue to use Data Cloud in sandboxes, but they won’t be able to create new ones until they acquire Data Cloud in sandbox.
Beta instances will remain on for 8 weeks. Starting January 1st, we will begin de-provisioning Data Cloud in those sandboxes if the customer doesn’t purchase the Data Cloud Sandbox SKUs.
Yes, the same number of data spaces will be replicated. if a customer has 3 data spaces in production, they will get 3 in sandboxes.
Yes, each sandbox gets a new Data Cloud datalake/instance, and they are always 1 to 1 and independent from others.
No, once we go GA, you cannot create new sandboxes with Data Cloud. Customers must purchase the DC Sandbox SKUs to enable Data Cloud provisioning in sandboxes post-GA.
You can find the supported feature table in the Data Cloud Sandbox help documentation.
Data Mask will not work on Data Cloud data as of now, but will continue to mask core data. However, the masked data from core will continue to be masked in Data Cloud if ingested. As a reminder, Data Cloud will not copy any actual data from Production to Sandbox, customers will need to re-authenticate those connections to ingest data into Data Cloud.
Yes, the new DC Sandbox Cards will show up in the Digital Wallet.
Now that Data Cloud Sandbox is GA, you must have the Data Cloud Sandbox GA license to provision/refresh Sandboxes with Data Cloud. Existing Data Cloud in Sandboxes will continue to function for time being, and will pull from production-level credits, but if you refresh the sandbox with beta without GA SKU the Data Cloud will no longer be available.
Data Cloud provisioned in Sandboxes as part of Beta will continue to function until March 1st, 2025, after which we will begin to deprovision the DC in sandboxes for customers who didn’t purchase the DC Sandbox SKUs.
Once you purchase DC sandbox GA SKU, make sure to use license match feature to ensure the beta sandboxes has DC Sandbox Licenses
If your customer purchase the DC sandbox SKU and has a Sandbox org created after August 1st 2024, they can use the license match feature to enabled DC in that sandbox.
When you refresh a sandbox, Salesforce deletes the sandbox and create a new one in its place. If you provisioned DC as part of Beta in a sandbox and refreshed the sandbox without purchasing the Data Cloud Sandbox SKU, the data cloud will no longer be available.
1. Log in to sandbox
2. Go to Setup
3. Go to Company Information
4. Click on Match Production Licenses.
5. Licenses
– SandboxGenieDataPlatformServicesCard
– SandboxGenieDataStorage
– SandboxCdpSegmentsActivationsCard – if applicable
– SandboxDataCloudSubSecondRealTime – if applicable
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Written by
William Yeh
William Yeh is a Senior Director of Product Management at Salesforce on the Data Cloud team, where he leads platform integration and extensibility initiatives. He is passionate about building SaaS and data platforms, and empowering admins and developers.
Hello,
I am currently working on a PoC in the Beta DC Sandbox. I now read in your post that these sandboxes will remain functional until March 1, 2025. However, I had previously understood from the Salesforce Winter ’25 release notes that these sandboxes would be de-provisioned starting January 1, 2025.
Could you confirm whether there was an error in your post, or if the sandboxes will indeed be available until March 1?
I am not trying to correct you, I would just like to understand how urgently I need to save my metadata. 🙂
Thank you!
Best regards,
Best,
Vincent