Sandbox FAQs
Updated
Find below the answers to frequently asked questions about Sandbox Manager:
Q1: Are Dynamic Properties (DP) transferred with Refresh from Production to Sandbox? Yes, all the DPs are automatically copied during the Refresh?
A1: Yes, all the DPs are automatically copied during the Refresh.
Q2: Does Refresh happen automatically on a regular basis or do I need to submit a request?
A2: Sandbox Refresh does not happen on a regular basis. Going forward, the initial refresh happens automatically. Later on, users will be able to refresh the sandbox environment manually.
Q3: Do I need to purchase separate licenses for my users in a sandbox environment?
A3: Sandbox is a direct copy of your production environment, so all the users who have access to the production environment will have access to the sandbox environment. However, if you wish to add more users in the sandbox, then the user needs to be added first in the production and then push a Change Set to the sandbox.
Q4: How will the management of user authentication in the sandbox work? Will the same users be copied to the sandbox? Does the new one need to be created?
A4: The users will be copied over! The email IDs of the users in the sandbox will have an additional suffix added but that will not trigger any invitation email to the users. Passwords will remain the same as Production at the time of refresh.
Q5: How are Sprinklr workspaces managed?
A5: Sprinklr clients can often have multiple workspaces. When a Sandbox environment is created, all the workspaces will be copied over.
Q6: How can the customer do testings in the sandbox? Will they need to add specific social accounts to get data in/out?
A6: Customers can add the test accounts in the Sandbox and use the account mapping feature. For listening data, customers can either choose to import it from production (only available for premium sandbox) or they can turn on the topics.
Q7: What is the process to have the sandbox created? Is it self-service from the customer's point of view?
A7: Please check with your Success Manager/Account Executive for getting a sandbox created.
Q8: What will happen if I send the same object that already exists in Production from Sandbox?
A8: The object will get updated. Sprinklr system works on the basis of IDs of the objects and that ensures no duplicates are created when the same object is sent over multiple times.
Q9: Will we be able to choose which partner environment, Production pushes to? For example, if a customer had 1 dev and 2 QA environments, can the push be selective and/or 1 to many?
A9: While creating a changeset, you have to determine the destination for the changeset (which could be a QA, Dev, or Production).
Q10: Will Bots testing be a part of the Sandbox?
A10: Yes, Conversational and FAQ Bots are covered in the Sandbox.
Q11: What all is excluded from the Code freeze?
A11: The following entities are not included in the code freeze:
Daily engagement,
Planning and Publishing activities
Note: the Code freeze is for any configurational changes only.
Q12: Is it possible to send an account from a sandbox environment to other environments?
A12: A sandbox account (that is added manually to a Sandbox environment) or a live account cannot be sent from a Sandbox environment to any other environment via changesets.
Q13: Is there a reason Integrations isn’t a part of the Sandbox?
A13: Integrations are connections to external systems. Sprinklr doesn't have control over an external system. However, the configurations that are running the integrations, like Case rules for SFDC Integration, are copied over.
Q14: Do we update the entity if that already exists while importing?
A14: Yes! If an object exists while deploying, that gets updated automatically.
Q15: How about listening mentions? Will that be counted towards my contract?
A15: When a refresh is completed, the topics are copied over to the sandbox and the topics are in a disabled state. If a user wishes to, s/he can turn on topics or create new topics in the sandbox, and then it will be counted towards their listening consumption. However, in the case of Premium Sandboxes, if the user wishes to copy the mentions from production to sandbox, those mentions will not be counted again.
Q16: Can I rollback a refresh?
A16: Rollback of Refresh is not supported and the Refresh changes are irreversible.
Q17: When refreshing a Premium sandbox, do the listening data get automatically copied from Production?
A17: No! Only the configuration is copied over during refresh. However, you can push the data from Production to Premium Sandbox after the refresh is completed.
Q18: Even if we can't push data to a standard sandbox, can we add data manually in the sandbox? (adding assets, send messages, etc.)
A18: Yes! A user can manually add the assets and use test accounts in a sandbox.
Q19: Since users are imported automatically during refresh, how can we ensure governance in the sandbox environments?
A19: Roles and permissions for the users also get copied over during the refresh of the sandbox which ensures the users have the same access as production.
Q20: Is it possible for a changeset to partially deploy?
A20: No. It's either a complete changeset or nothing.
Q21: Say a customer environment has 5 workspaces. Workspace 1 gets a standard Ads implementation. If the customer had a sandbox, could they then copy that workspace 1 ads configuration into the sandbox, then deploy it into Workspaces 2-5?
A21: Sandbox will be a mirror copy of your production. So when a sandbox is turned on, it will have one workspace with Ads implementation and the rest 4 without it. However, you can build and do the Ads config in the other 4 workspaces in a sandbox, test, and then send it back to production.
Q22: We're looking for the best method (maybe sandbox) to essentially copy/paste an ads config from 1 Workspace to another essentially push in a template to other workspaces from Sandbox.
A22: Refresh your dev (exact clone of prod) & perform changes there Refresh staging and push config from dev to staging (see the changes it would essentially have on prod), but in a sandbox. then push to prod (once you are 99.99% confident that your push to prod is going to have no impact on all other workflows (including ads)).
Q23: Should we create users in Sandbox?
A23: No, It is highly recommended to add users only to your production first. Whenever you build your test users or make changes to users do it in prod and then push it into your sandbox. Do not build anything in your sandbox or organically when it comes to users or updating user information as that will greatly affect when you push to staging or production.
Q24: Can I create users in Sandbox?
A24: You can't create users in sandboxes. However, you can modify your users. Going forward, we recommend you add a new user in production, then push the user into the sandbox.
Q25: Can we pull product insights data into the sandbox?
A25: We can pull Listening mentions data from Production into a Premium Sandbox using Change Sets.
Q26: Can a customer get a sandbox for our newly launched Communities product?
A26: Communities can be set up in Sandbox. You can build and test communities in Sandbox but for moving the configuration automatically from sandbox to production, we have it on the roadmap.
Q27: What does a "queued" status on an inbound change set indicate? And how would one get it from queued to deploy?
A27: Changesets are deployed one at a time. If there is another change-set that's in processing then the remaining change-sets will be queued till the first one is deployed. It's first in first out.
Q28: Do test accounts mapped to production accounts retain the same properties and account group memberships as the production accounts? Important for testing rules which leverage account groups or account properties in the conditions.
A28: As your test account is mapped to the production account, when you message the test account, it acts as if it was the production account, so it will run rules that the prod account is being sourced in (as well as account groups).
Q29: As you cannot authenticate a social account that is in production in a sandbox environment. Does that mean if I have a test account in production, I cannot use it in the sandbox?
A29: When a sandbox is a setup, Sprinklr doesn't copy overproduction accounts into the sandbox (as they are live sensitive accounts that you don't want to use in the sandbox for testing). However, you are free to authenticate any new test account in the sandbox and use it for testing. The prod accounts are brought over as DUMMY accounts though meaning, you can do a bulk import for updating account properties in the sandbox, then push your accounts to prod, and the new account properties will be there. You can use account mapping to check workflow using test accounts running over these dummy ones. Similarly, advocacy/community/live-chat accounts are non-dummy.
Q30: Is there a 1 to 1 mapping of seats, or can there be different users in each environment?
A30: Seat mapping is 1 to 1. We disabled the ability to add users in sandbox directly, so any new net users that are added to prod after a refresh, then you would need to do a one-off changeset from prod to sandbox to get that user in there.
Q31: Can I rollback a refresh? What would you say to someone who says, "I shouldn't have to pay for Sandbox, it should already be included in our platform".
A31: “It's no different than before SaaS systems existed, software companies charge for a development/Sandbox environment, except companies would have to also purchase their hardware. We charge because there’s not only just an upfront cost that Sprinklr accrues (server cost, data cost) but we also have dedicated developers that focus on ensuring the metadata dependencies, user profile access, etc. works.” Anything free...you get what you paid for. There’s so much value to sell with sandbox.
Q32: How many previous version rollbacks are allowed? Do Rollbacks get complicated if changesets layer on each other?
A32: There is no previous version of rollbacks. 1 deployed change set equals 1 rollback opportunity. So, changesets will definitely layer on top of each other, you would need to keep track of what changeset caused any workflows to break. it might be that you need to rollback 3 or 5 or 7 changesets at once to revert back to the previous state that was working. For best practices, if you sent three changesets as 1,2,3 then you must rollback in the order 3,2,1. To keep track you also have Audit Trail.
Q33: Can I test in a sandbox doing a case-sensitive search with no exclusion keywords to see what the results are like without blowing through their mentions? Or does what do we do in the sandbox count against their listening consumption?
A33: If you turn on fetching in the sandbox, that will count towards their mentions/consumption.
Q34: If a customer has 10,000 listening mentions in their contract and in the sandbox they pull 500 from production. So 500 in production and the "same 500 " pulled in the sandbox so does that total up to 1000 mentions from their 10k contract or it remains 500 mentions only?
A34: 500 only- If the mentions were copied from production to premium sandbox through changeset. However, if listening was turned on and 500 mentions were pulled into sandbox directly (either standard or premium) then it will be counted as separate 500, and the total will become 1000. At the partner level - mentions from a particular topic will not be double-counted because it's the same message.
Q35: Listening mentions consumed in the sandbox does that data transfer to production?
A35: No
Q36: Is there a way for a team to only have access to a sandbox to build things but never have access to production?
A36: You could set up the prod user account, create and deploy a changeset in the sandbox, and then deactivate their user in production. That will allow 1:1 mapping, which is required, but deactivating them in prod will also meet your requirement.
Q37: Are there any specific guidelines/changes specific to Retrofit for Sandbox.
A37: No, Ideally the protocol is the same with no changes as such.
Q38: Can I upload Blueprint in Sandbox directly?
A38: Yes.
Q39: What Sandbox(es) are included in a Workspace Consolidation/Retrofit implementation?
A39: Sandboxes are not automatically included Sandbox product has to be purchased for a client to use it on an ongoing basis. The services team might use a sandbox for retrofit but that's for internal usage only and will be deprecated once the project is completed.
Q40: Can we push real batch order notice?
A40: No, this is a limitation right now. We are checking how that can be added.
Q41: If I have a premium sandbox all the data examples: cases, messages will be copied right?
A41: Only Assets & Listening Mentions will be copied. Messages, profiles, cases, etc will not be copied.
Q42: Is there a way to push Keyword lists from prod to Dev if something was accidentally built in prod, that should have gone in the Dev sandbox?
A42: You can create a changeset of the keyword lists that you had built in prod and want to send it to Dev sandbox.
Q43: Can we push the Account Migration from one workspace to another in a changeset?
A43: No, users can't push the Account Migrations via the changeset. If they have performed Account Migration in Production, then that needs to be done in Sandbox Separately to align both environments.
Q44: If a workspace is deleted from Production, will the change reflect in Sandbox after a Changeset or refresh is pushed?
A44: No, theses changes are not migrated with a changeset or Refresh. Users must do the same in Sandbox to align the sandbox and production environments.
Q45: If a new product is enabled in Production, will the change reflect in Sandbox after a Changeset or refresh is pushed?
A45: No, theses changes are not migrated with a changeset or Refresh. Users need to get the same enabled in Sandbox to align the sandbox and production environments.
Q46: Are Rules Batches supported as dependent entities when moving rules in a changeset?
A46: No, Rule batches are not supported as dependent entities since a user can add a new rule or delete an exisiting one and this can create confusion while sending the changesets.
Q47: What is the asset transfer flow from Sandbox to Production environment and Vice versa?
A47:
In case of Refresh:
For Premium Sandbox: The assets are not wiped out from the environment. Dependent assets from prod will overwrite existing assets in premium sandbox
For Standard Sandbox: Assets are wiped out from the environment and only dependent assets will remain there
In Case of Changeset:
Production to Premium Sandbox - Asset can be moved as an entity
Production to Premium Sandbox - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Production to Standard Sandbox - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Premium Sandbox to Production - Asset can be moved as an entity
Premium Sandbox to Production - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Premium Sandbox to Standard Sandbox - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Standard Sandbox to Premium Sandbox - Asset can be moved as an entity
Standard Sandbox to Production - Asset can be moved as an entity
Standard Sandbox to Premium Sandbox - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Standard Sandbox to Production - Asset can be moved as dependent entity
Note: Singles assets can't be selected when creating the changesets. User can filter the assets when selecting them as entities.
Q48: What is the API Extension transfer flow from Sandbox to Production environment and Vice versa?
A48:
In case of Refresh:
Never Update the extension if it’s present in the Sandbox
If the extension is not present in the Sandbox then create a new one.
Extension flow when its moving as a Dependent Entity:
1. If the extension is present in destination then skip it and if it’s not present in the production then create one.
In case of Changsesets:
1. Never Update the extension if it’s present in the Destination Environment
2. If the extension is not present in the Destination environment then create a new one.
3. Extensions going as dependent entity should also follow the same behaviour i.e. if the extension is present in destination then skip it and if it’s not present in the production then create one.