How to Refresh a Sandbox in Salesforce: A Deep Dive

Refreshing a Salesforce sandbox is the process of creating a new copy of your production org or another sandbox, overwriting the existing sandbox with that copy. It’s crucial for development, testing, and training, providing a safe environment to experiment without impacting your live production data. The process primarily involves navigating to the Sandbox Management page in Setup, selecting the sandbox you want to refresh, choosing a source org (usually Production), selecting a copy type, and initiating the refresh. Remember that all data and metadata in the sandbox will be replaced, so careful planning and backup strategies are essential.

Understanding the Sandbox Landscape

Why Refresh Your Sandbox?

Before diving into the “how,” let’s understand the “why.” Sandboxes, mirroring your Salesforce org, become outdated over time. Data drifts, customizations diverge, and they lose their value as accurate testing grounds. Here’s why refreshing is essential:

• Testing New Features: Evaluate upcoming Salesforce releases and your own custom development in a realistic environment.
• Developing and Debugging: Isolate and resolve issues without risking production stability.
• Training Users: Provide a safe space for users to learn new features and processes.
• Data Integrity: Ensure your sandbox reflects the current production data for accurate testing and training.
• Keeping up with Metadata Changes: Align your development environment with the latest customizations in production.

Preparing for a Refresh: The Pre-Refresh Checklist

A successful refresh isn’t just about clicking a button. It’s about meticulous planning. Consider these steps:

1. Data Masking Strategy: Identify sensitive data and implement a masking strategy to protect it in the sandbox environment. This might involve data scrambling, anonymization, or deletion.
2. Data Backup: Although the refresh process creates a copy, always back up critical data before refreshing. Use Data Loader, a third-party backup solution, or Salesforce’s native data export tools. Remember that Salesforce’s standard backup service is not designed for single record restoration but more for a complete organization recovery in case of critical failure.
3. Sandbox Type Selection: Understand the different sandbox types and choose the one that best fits your needs. The four main types are:
   • Developer: Ideal for coding and unit testing. Small data limit.
   • Developer Pro: Similar to Developer but with a larger data limit.
   • Partial Copy: Contains a sample of your production data and metadata. Good for integration testing.
   • Full Copy: A complete replica of your production org, including all data and metadata.
4. Post-Refresh Scripts: Plan and prepare scripts to run after the refresh to configure the sandbox, update settings, and load any necessary data.
5. Communication Plan: Inform users about the refresh schedule and potential downtime. Clear communication minimizes disruption.
6. Document Configurations: Record any specific configurations or settings that need to be reapplied after the refresh.
7. Understand Data Storage Limits: Before refreshing your sandbox, consider the available data storage limits based on the type of sandbox. Plan accordingly and potentially archive unnecessary data from the production org to avoid exceeding the limits.
8. Disable Email Deliverability: To prevent unintentional emails from being sent from the sandbox environment, it is a best practice to disable email deliverability settings in the sandbox org.

The Refresh Process: Step-by-Step

1. Navigate to Setup: From your Salesforce Production org, click the gear icon and select Setup.
2. Search for Sandboxes: In the Quick Find box, type “Sandboxes” and select Sandboxes.
3. Identify the Sandbox: Locate the sandbox you want to refresh in the list.
4. Initiate the Refresh: If the sandbox is ready for a refresh, you’ll see a Refresh link next to its name. Click it. If it says “Activate”, the refresh has already completed, but it has not been Activated.
5. Select a Source: Choose the Source Org to copy data from. Usually, this is your production environment, but you can refresh from another sandbox if needed.
6. Choose a Copy Type: Select the appropriate Sandbox Type (Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, or Full Copy). This selection cannot be changed once the refresh process starts.
7. Name and Description: Give your refreshed sandbox a meaningful name and description. This is particularly important if you manage multiple sandboxes.
8. Configure Data Copy: For Partial Copy and Full Copy sandboxes, you can specify which object data to include using Sandbox Templates. Templates allow you to define the objects and related records to copy, significantly reducing the size of the sandbox.
9. Run Post-Refresh Script (Optional): Specify an Apex class to run after the refresh is complete. This is where you can automate configurations, load data, or perform other post-refresh tasks.
10. Save and Start: Review your settings and click Create. Note that the button will say “Save” if you are using an existing sandbox template, and it will say “Create” if you are creating a new sandbox. The refresh process will begin. You’ll receive an email notification when it’s complete. Note that refreshing a Full Sandbox takes significantly longer than refreshing a Developer Sandbox.
11. Activate the Sandbox: Once the refresh process is completed, the sandbox will show a status of “Completed.” Then, you must “Activate” the sandbox before you can log in.
12. Post-Refresh Tasks: Once the refresh is complete, perform your post-refresh tasks, such as updating connection settings, re-integrating with external systems, and configuring user permissions.

Post-Refresh Activities: The Key to Success

The work doesn’t end when the refresh completes. Post-refresh activities are critical to ensuring your sandbox is ready for use.

• Update Connection Settings: Modify API endpoints and connection strings to point to the new sandbox environment. This is crucial for integrations with external systems.
• Reconfigure User Permissions: Review and adjust user permissions to match your testing or development requirements. Consider creating dedicated test users with specific profiles and permission sets.
• Verify Data Integrity: Perform spot checks to ensure the data copied correctly and that no critical information is missing.
• Execute Post-Refresh Scripts: Run any predefined scripts to automate configuration or data loading.
• Notify Users: Inform users that the sandbox is ready and provide any necessary instructions or credentials.
• Test! Test! Test!: Rigorously test all critical functionality to ensure it’s working as expected in the refreshed sandbox.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 12 common questions about refreshing Salesforce sandboxes:

1. How long does a sandbox refresh take?

Refresh times vary depending on the sandbox type, the size of your production org, and Salesforce’s server load. Developer sandboxes are typically the quickest, taking just a few hours. Full copy sandboxes can take several days. You’ll receive an email notification upon completion.

2. Can I cancel a sandbox refresh once it’s started?

Unfortunately, you cannot cancel a sandbox refresh once it has begun. The process must run to completion.

3. What happens to customizations I made in the sandbox before the refresh?

All data and metadata in the sandbox are overwritten during the refresh. Any customizations you made previously will be lost unless you’ve deployed them to your production org or backed them up separately.

4. What is a Sandbox Template, and how do I use it?

A Sandbox Template defines the subset of data and metadata copied to a Partial Copy or Full Copy sandbox. This can significantly reduce refresh times and sandbox storage requirements. You create and manage templates in the Sandbox Templates section in Setup. To use it, select the desired template during the sandbox refresh process.

5. How often should I refresh my sandbox?

The frequency depends on your development and testing cycles. A good rule of thumb is to refresh at least every few weeks for active development and testing environments. Full Copy sandboxes might be refreshed less frequently due to the longer refresh times.

6. What happens to scheduled jobs and Apex classes in the refreshed sandbox?

Scheduled jobs are generally deactivated during the refresh process to prevent them from running in the sandbox. Post-refresh, you’ll need to review and reactivate them as needed. Apex classes remain, but their scheduled instances are typically disabled.

7. How do I update the Salesforce license after a sandbox refresh?

You don’t typically need to update the Salesforce license itself. The sandbox inherits the licensing from your production org. However, ensure that all users have the appropriate user licenses assigned in the sandbox.

8. Can I refresh a sandbox from another sandbox?

Yes, you can refresh a sandbox from another sandbox. This can be useful for cascading changes through different environments. Select the other sandbox as the Source Org during the refresh process.

9. What are the limitations of a Developer sandbox?

Developer sandboxes have a limited data storage capacity (200MB) and file storage capacity (200MB). They are best suited for individual development and unit testing, not for large-scale data testing.

10. What are the best practices for managing sandbox users?

• Create dedicated test users instead of using your production user accounts.
• Assign appropriate profiles and permission sets to control access.
• Disable email deliverability to prevent accidental emails from being sent from the sandbox.

11. How do I handle integrations with external systems after a refresh?

You’ll need to update the connection settings (API endpoints, authentication credentials) to point to the sandbox environment. You may also need to reconfigure data mappings and other integration settings.

12. What should I do if my sandbox refresh fails?

Check the Sandbox History in Setup for error messages. Common causes include insufficient storage, invalid data, or issues with Apex code. Contact Salesforce Support if you’re unable to resolve the issue yourself.

By mastering the sandbox refresh process, you’ll ensure your Salesforce development and testing environments are always up-to-date, reliable, and ready to support your organization’s evolving needs. Remember, careful planning, meticulous execution, and thorough post-refresh activities are the keys to sandbox success.