Shared DevBox

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Shared DevBox

kilian goëtz 146

Greetings,

I'm currently using on-premise VMs for team project development and testing. On-premise VMs are shared per environment. I would like to explore Microsoft Dev Box as a cloud alternative. However, since it was recently released, I have found only limited information about it. I would like to know if it's possible for a Dev Box to be shared and used by multiple people simultaneously.

Another question I have is whether other cloud providers like AWS and GCP offer similar services. As per my knowledge, others do not provide the same services. I hope someone could provide more insights.

Kind regards,

Kilian GOËTZ.

kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-25T21:12:51.06+00:00
Hello, @kilian goëtz !

Depending on the VM's OS/image, multiple concurrent users are supported however Dev Box does this a bit differently (see answer below):

Windows (RDP): A maximum of two concurrent connections are supported, unless the server is configured as a Remote Desktop Services session host.

Linux (SSH): By default, SSH allows a maximum of 10 concurrent connections. You can increase this number by editing the configuration file.

I've reached out to the Dev Box team. Edit: See answer below.
kilian goëtz 146 Reputation points

2023-07-26T13:50:50.2833333+00:00

Hello @kobulloc-MSFT

Many thanks for your prompt and high-quality response. I would like to know the advantages of Azure DevBox compared to a simple Azure VM, or an AWS EC2/Lightsail instance. Does it offer easier management or is it less expensive? I am currently having some difficulties estimating the benefits of this solution. I have not yet tried it, but I believe conducting some tests may help me answer my questions.

Kind regards, Kilian GOËTZ.
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-27T00:46:40.23+00:00
No worries, @kilian goëtz !

Azure Dev Box provides a VM but also offers many additional features that specifically targets development teams:

Preconfigured project or task based dev boxes can be deployed on demand by the developer based on their needs. This addresses organizational bottlenecks that are introduced when trying to spin up specific VM environments for teams of developers.

Windows-based dev boxes support all the tools and resources needed for desktop, mobile, web apps, and game development. There is also Visual Studio and Git integration that streamlines sign-in and credential management. This removes another set of hurdles to get developers to a point where they can be productive faster.

Comprehensive access controls and a centralized view of all dev boxes across the organization help maximize security. This helps to address organizational security requirements.

Config-as-code definitions for Dev Box (Private Preview) allows you to deploy more than one workstation at a time, each with a different configuration for a different project or task.

Pricing for Dev Box takes a hybrid approach between pure consumption and administrators that wanted predictable standardized monthly costs which is outlined here in the documentation:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/dev-box/
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-28T06:10:50.93+00:00
Hello, @kilian goëtz !

The Dev Box team is interested in learning more about your use case for multiple simultaneous users. If you are up for it, they'd love to speak with you over email. Send an email to AzCommunity@microsoft.com and I'll put you in touch with them. Just be sure to use the following subject:

Subject: "Attn: kobulloc - Dev Box team use cases"

Thank you!
kilian goëtz 146 Reputation points

2023-07-28T06:47:01.8+00:00

Hello, @kobulloc-MSFT !

I really appreciate your excellent answers. I will email the DevBox team, explaining how I plan to use Microsoft DevBox, maybe it will be helpful for next update :). Thank you for your support and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards, Kilian GOËTZ.
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-28T06:57:51.8066667+00:00

Happy to help, @kilian goëtz ! We look forward to your email!
Richard Hauer 1 Reputation point

2023-11-02T04:09:35.4533333+00:00

@kobulloc-MSFT this basically means that, no you can't.

Unfortunately this misses one of the most valuable use cases of using developer VMs in the cloud! If someone goes on holiday or is ill, another dev can jump onto the box and make corrections or check in for them.

With machines completely isolated to users (and MFA to boot) this scenario becomes impossible.

If there's still an opportunity to communicate with the DevBox team, I'd be keen to engage. This is actually more common that might be expected.

There's another limitation too - it's really hard to tell who has a box and how many there are. People get added to projects pre-emptively and some are never removed. We don't want them having a dev box forever - they may have only worked on the project briefly. We need to know who has boxes in what project, and we need to be able to delete people's boxes.

Another limitation is the image.

To streamline development we normally have a Tech Lead prep the first machine on a project, adding all the tools and components that will be needed as best they can. Then we snapshot the disk and create VMs from that. It's pretty fast and very efficient.

If it were possible to "snapshot" a DevBox and turn it into an image, or convert a VM snapshot into a DevBox image, and convert a regular VM into a DevBox... these would make image preparation much easier. Maybe I missed something but it doesn't seem like that's how the images work.

ImageBuilder and scripting via PowerShell are ridiculously cumbersome, fragile and error prone once setup exceeds simple windows features being on/off. Many tools cannot be installed by script and installing all the tools for every box is very time-consuming. Imagine one of the tools you'll need is Docker with a 16GB image and compose cluster. Just do it once and save it, then clone it.

Anyway I've got LOTS of ideas about this having run about 60 Azure VM dev boxes for about 5 years now.
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-11-03T18:06:22.8433333+00:00
Hello, @RichardHauer ! Yes, please email your feedback to AzCommunity@microsoft.com and we'll get you in touch with the Dev Box team:

Subject: "Attn: kobulloc - Dev Box feedback"

Email body: Your name or company name

Email body: A link to this thread so we can validate and expedite the request

Accepted answer

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kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-25T21:12:51.06+00:00

Hello, @kilian goëtz !

Depending on the VM's OS/image, multiple concurrent users are supported however Dev Box does this a bit differently (see answer below):

Windows (RDP): A maximum of two concurrent connections are supported, unless the server is configured as a Remote Desktop Services session host.

Linux (SSH): By default, SSH allows a maximum of 10 concurrent connections. You can increase this number by editing the configuration file.

I've reached out to the Dev Box team. Edit: See answer below.
kilian goëtz 146 Reputation points

2023-07-26T13:50:50.2833333+00:00

Hello @kobulloc-MSFT

Many thanks for your prompt and high-quality response. I would like to know the advantages of Azure DevBox compared to a simple Azure VM, or an AWS EC2/Lightsail instance. Does it offer easier management or is it less expensive? I am currently having some difficulties estimating the benefits of this solution. I have not yet tried it, but I believe conducting some tests may help me answer my questions.

Kind regards, Kilian GOËTZ.
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-27T00:46:40.23+00:00

No worries, @kilian goëtz !

Azure Dev Box provides a VM but also offers many additional features that specifically targets development teams:

Preconfigured project or task based dev boxes can be deployed on demand by the developer based on their needs. This addresses organizational bottlenecks that are introduced when trying to spin up specific VM environments for teams of developers.

Windows-based dev boxes support all the tools and resources needed for desktop, mobile, web apps, and game development. There is also Visual Studio and Git integration that streamlines sign-in and credential management. This removes another set of hurdles to get developers to a point where they can be productive faster.

Comprehensive access controls and a centralized view of all dev boxes across the organization help maximize security. This helps to address organizational security requirements.

Config-as-code definitions for Dev Box (Private Preview) allows you to deploy more than one workstation at a time, each with a different configuration for a different project or task.

Pricing for Dev Box takes a hybrid approach between pure consumption and administrators that wanted predictable standardized monthly costs which is outlined here in the documentation:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/dev-box/
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-28T06:10:50.93+00:00

Hello, @kilian goëtz !

The Dev Box team is interested in learning more about your use case for multiple simultaneous users. If you are up for it, they'd love to speak with you over email. Send an email to AzCommunity@microsoft.com and I'll put you in touch with them. Just be sure to use the following subject:

Subject: "Attn: kobulloc - Dev Box team use cases"

Thank you!
kilian goëtz 146 Reputation points

2023-07-28T06:47:01.8+00:00

Hello, @kobulloc-MSFT !

I really appreciate your excellent answers. I will email the DevBox team, explaining how I plan to use Microsoft DevBox, maybe it will be helpful for next update :). Thank you for your support and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards, Kilian GOËTZ.
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-07-28T06:57:51.8066667+00:00

Happy to help, @kilian goëtz ! We look forward to your email!
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-11-03T18:06:22.8433333+00:00

Hello, @RichardHauer ! Yes, please email your feedback to AzCommunity@microsoft.com and we'll get you in touch with the Dev Box team:

Subject: "Attn: kobulloc - Dev Box feedback"

Email body: Your name or company name

Email body: A link to this thread so we can validate and expedite the request

Answer 1

Hello, @kilian goëtz !

Are concurrent users allowed on Azure Dev Box? What are the features of Azure Dev Box compared to normal VMs?

I reached out to the Azure Dev Box team and was told this about simultaneous users:

Dev Box enables multiple users' scenario in a different way by providing them two separate dev boxes but enabling them to use/stop/pay for them as needed, using hibernation feature. This enables similar usage cost as a single box being used by two team members but enables better user experience by both users being able to customize these boxes for their use & maintain individual personalized state.

This means that Dev Box works slightly differently than normal VMs and allows for users to customize boxes and maintain an individual personalized state.

As far as Azure Dev Box features are concerned, they offer many additional features compared to a standard VM that specifically targets development teams:

Preconfigured project or task based dev boxes can be deployed on demand by the developer based on their needs. This addresses organizational bottlenecks that are introduced when trying to spin up specific VM environments for teams of developers.
Windows-based dev boxes support all the tools and resources needed for desktop, mobile, web apps, and game development. There is also Visual Studio and Git integration that streamlines sign-in and credential management. This removes another set of hurdles to get developers to a point where they can be productive faster.
Comprehensive access controls and a centralized view of all dev boxes across the organization help maximize security. This helps to address organizational security requirements.
Config-as-code definitions for Dev Box (Private Preview) allows you to deploy more than one workstation at a time, each with a different configuration for a different project or task.
Pricing for Dev Box takes a hybrid approach between pure consumption and administrators that wanted predictable standardized monthly costs which is outlined here in the documentation:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/dev-box/

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If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

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