Have you ever experienced this: you want to test a new Power Platform feature or connector, but can't because it's forbidden by your organization's policies? Or maybe you just want to play around and try the system away from your production suite? If so, I have something for you. Microsoft offers a free M365 development tenant without any restrictions. In this post, we will show you how to create your own sandbox tenant where you can develop and explore as much as you want. To sum it up, we will answer the question "How can I create a M365 developer tenant?"
What is the Microsoft 365 Developer Program
Why should you care?
Do I have to pay for it?
Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program
Is Microsoft renewing my sandbox after 92 days?
Power Platform and limitations
Summary
What is the Microsoft 365 Developer Program
The Microsoft 365 Developer Program provides a sandbox environment , in which you are the administrator and receive 25 E5 developer licenses.
The E5 includes, among other things:
MS Teams
Office 365 Apps
Power Platform
One Note
Outlook
E.g. ….
2. Why should you care?
I don ́t know about you but I like to test and explore in my own kingdom, without any restriction. When it comes to the power platform you can develop your app or flow as a PoC, and show the capability of new features. For me it is the ultimate tool to expand my skills.
3. Do I have to pay for it?
No!
However, please note that this sandbox environment is only for development purposes. A developer tenant is valid for 90 days, and if you use it during this period, it will be automatically extended by 90 days at the end of the period.
4. Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program
Let´s get you set up!
If you don ́t have a Microsoft personal account, you need to create one. If you are not sure just follow the steps and if you don´t have one, you can create one in the process.
Open the Developer Program | Microsoft 365 Dev Center homepage.
Select Join now.
Sign in with your personal Microsoft account, an organizational account will not work, or create one.
Enter your Country, company and language.
Select your development focus.
Select your development technology interests.
Choose between 2 types of environments 'Instant sandbox' or 'Configurable sandbox' and select next. The real difference in these two options is that the instant sandbox does not allow you to choose your own domain name. If you want a custom domain name you should choose 'Configurable sandbox'. If you don´t know still go for this option. Otherwise your email could look like this: sandboxadmin@4vnfuf.onmicrosoft.com.
Define your user and domain name and enter the password of your choice. There is no possibility later to change the user or the domain name. The name is composed as follows.
username: rush
domain name: ilovepowerplatform
email: rush@ilovepowerplatform.onmicrosoft.com
In the last step you must provide a valid phone number and confirm the verification code.
Congratulations on your M365 developer sandbox!
5. Microsoft renewing my Sandbox after 92 Days?
As early mentioned, if you are working active in your sandbox MSFT will renew your subscription.
6. Power Platform and limitation
The Microsoft 365 Developer Program does not include any premium licenses, but you can use the trial license provided and extend it every 90 days, up to 3 times in total.
Once the trial period expires, you can simply create a new user and continue to use the sandbox environment.
Keep in mind that there is only one default environment available, and if you need more for purposes such as Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), you may need to purchase a per user license.
7. Summary
Explore the full capabilities of M365 and Power Platform development with the Microsoft 365 Developer Program. This sandbox environment provides 25 E5 developer licenses and is free for development purposes, allowing you to test new features and build mini proof-of-concepts. Keep in mind that this environment should not be used with company data. Gain valuable experience and insights into M365 and Power Platform development today!
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