Provision a Dynamics 365 Commerce sandbox environment

Article
03/08/2024

This article explains how to provision a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce sandbox environment for demo usage with built-in demo data. The process for setting up a production environment is similar but more elaborate since many of the sandbox environment prerequisites are already provided in the demo data.

Before you begin, we recommend that you take a quick scan through this article to get an idea of what the process requires.

To successfully provision a Commerce sandbox environment, you must specify some parameters for the environment and Commerce Scale Unit (CSU) that will be used when you provision Commerce later. The instructions in this article describe all the steps that are required to complete provisioning and the parameters that you must use.

After you successfully provision your Commerce environment, you must complete a few post-provisioning steps to prepare it for use. Some steps are optional, depending on the aspects of the system that you want to use. You can always complete the optional steps later.

For information about how to configure your Commerce environment after you provision it, see Configure a Commerce sandbox environment. For information about how to configure optional features for your Commerce environment, see Configure optional features for a Commerce sandbox environment.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be in place before you can provision your Commerce environment:

You have access to the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services (LCS) portal.
You are an existing Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner or customer and have an implementation project already created and available to use in LCS.
You have created a Microsoft Entra security group that can be used as a Commerce system administrator group, and you have its ID available.
You have created a Microsoft Entra security group that can be used as a ratings and reviews moderator group, and you have its ID available. (This security group can be the same as the Commerce system administrator group.)
You have deployed a headquarters instance within LCS. For more information, see Deploy a new environment.

Note that this list isn't exhaustive. If you experience any issues, reach out to your Microsoft partner contact for assistance.

Provision your Commerce environment

The following procedures explain how to provision a Commerce environment. After you successfully complete the steps, your Commerce environment will be ready for configuration. All of the steps described below take place in the LCS portal.

Initialize the Commerce Scale Unit (cloud)

To initialize the CSU, follow these steps.

In LCS, select your environment from the list.
In the ENVIRONMENTS view on the right, select Full details. The environment details view appears.
In the Manage environment section under ENVIRONMENT FEATURES, select Manage.
On the Commerce Scale Units tab, select Initialize. The Add scale unit view appears.
In the REGION field, select the region that is the same or close to the region that you deployed the environment to.
In the Version drop-down list, select the latest version available.
Select Initialize.
In the warning dialog box that asks you to confirm the Commerce Scale Unit initialization, select Yes. The CSU has now been queued for provisioning.
Before you continue, ensure that the status of your CSU is SUCCESS. Initialization takes approximately two to five hours.

If you can't find the Manage link in the environment details view, reach out to your Microsoft contact for assistance.

Initialize e-Commerce

To initialize Commerce, follow these steps.

On the e-Commerce tab, select Setup.
In the e-Commerce environment name field, enter a name. Be aware that this name will appear in some of the URLs that point to your e-Commerce instance.
In the Commerce Scale Unit name field, select your CSU in the list. (The list should have only one option.)

The e-Commerce geography field is set automatically.
Select Next to continue.
In the Supported host names field, enter any valid domain, such as www.fabrikam.com.
In the Microsoft Entra security group for system admin field, enter the first few letters of the name of the security group that you want to use, and then select the magnifying glass symbol to view the search results. Select the correct security group in the list.
In the Microsoft Entra security group for ratings and review moderator field, enter the first few letters of the name of the security group that you want to use, and then select the magnifying glass symbol to view the search results. Select the correct security group in the list.
Leave the Enable ratings and review service option set to Yes.
Select Initialize. The Commerce management view displays again, where the e-Commerce tab is selected. E-Commerce initialization has started.
Before you continue, wait until the status of Commerce initialization is INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL.
Under Links in the lower right, make a note of the URLs for the following links:
- e-Commerce site – The link to the root of your e-Commerce site.
- Commerce site builder – The link to the site management tool.