--- sourceDocument: australia Combined Product Files sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/delta-xanadu-australia Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - australia Combined Product Files ft:clusterId : - delta3ax bundleId : - delta3ax --- # Combined Developer Sandboxes release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Australia # Combined Developer Sandboxes release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Australia {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated October 8, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 6 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Combined Developer Sandboxes release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Australia This consolidated release note provides a comprehensive update designed to help ServiceNow customers prepare for upgrading Developer Sandboxes from the Xanadu release family through to Australia. It summarizes new features, changes, deprecations, and important upgrade tasks, ensuring customers understand what to expect and how to manage their sandbox environments effectively during and after the upgrade. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Sandbox Management Dashboard (Zurich):** Enables visibility into total, available, and allocated sandboxes, including status, data usage, ownership, last access, and allocation details. * **Sandbox Templates and Data Generation Profiles (Zurich):** Allow delegated developers to reuse test data efficiently without manual input. Data generation profiles facilitate statistical sampling of data for sandbox population, supporting application building. * **Sandbox Lifecycle Management:** Customers can allocate sandboxes to development teams and retire outdated sandboxes to optimize resource utilization. * **Automatic Backups of Update Sets:** Since Zurich Patch 5, update sets are automatically backed up during upgrades, supporting safer sandbox maintenance. * **Granular Roles (Australia):** New roles enable developers to perform administrative and configuration tasks without full admin privileges, enhancing security and delegation. * **AI Search Support (Australia):** Separate AI Search indices per sandbox environment improve accuracy and reliability of AI-powered development features in non-production environments. * **SSO Support for Vanity URLs (Australia):** Enhances authentication flexibility for instances using vanity URLs. * **Vibe Coding Documentation (Australia):** Introduces natural language-based application development guidance to help developers get started and integrate AI-based tools. ## Changes and Enhancements * **Upgrade Enhancements:** Automatic backups during upgrades now function correctly (related to PRB2017438), and sandboxes are recreated post-upgrade with update sets backed up automatically. * **Schema Isolation:** Schema changes to shared tables on a sandbox isolate the table for that sandbox, maintaining configuration consistency. * **Queuing for Sandbox Creation:** Queuing mechanisms improve performance by managing successive sandbox creation requests efficiently. * **Clarified Status Messages:** Error messages during sandbox initialization now appear clearly on the instance homepage to aid troubleshooting. * **Home Page Visibility:** Developer Sandboxes home page is hidden when the product is inactive on an instance to prevent confusion. ## Deprecations * The **data generation plugin** and all related metadata are deprecated and automatically deleted, with sandbox initialization now operating independently from data generation logic. References to data generation have been removed from sandbox templates as of Zurich and Australia releases. ## Activation and Support * Developer Sandboxes must be installed via your ServiceNow account manager and are available through the ServiceNow Store. * Build Agent support is available in sandboxes, providing isolated development environments on the same development instance to enhance parallel development and isolation. * Upgrading an instance with Developer Sandboxes recreates sandboxes and backs up update sets, with a new plugin supporting clone preservation when cloning instances that include sandboxes. ## Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers Upgrading to Australia enhances sandbox management through improved dashboards, role-based administration, and AI Search support, while ensuring smooth upgrade processes with automated backup and recreation of sandboxes. Customers benefit from better data reuse capabilities, clearer sandbox status communication, and improved security controls. The deprecation of the data generation plugin requires adjustment in sandbox initialization workflows. Overall, these updates aim to streamline sandbox lifecycle management, improve developer productivity, and maintain system integrity during upgrades. Consolidated page of all release notes for Developer Sandboxes from Xanadu to Australia. ## How to use this page To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Developer Sandboxes release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Xanadu to Australia. Tip: If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release." ## Important information for upgrading Developer Sandboxes to Australia Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__2} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## New features Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Developer Sandboxes. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__12} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | [Explore](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=exploring-sandboxes&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : View the total, available, and allocated sandboxes in your instance by using the Sandbox Management home dashboard. The dashboard also displays information about each sandbox, including the status, data utilization, owner, when the sandbox was last accessed, and when the sandbox was allocated. [Using sandbox templates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-sandbox-template&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Enable your delegated developers to reuse the data so that they can test their changes without manually inputting the data every time. [Create a Data Generation Profile](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-data-generation-profile&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Enable your customers to generate the data for testing within the context of developer sandboxes, but also independently of sandboxes. Note: Developer Sandboxes can't copy all the instance data. Data generation profiles enable a statistical sampling of data from selected tables with curated mappings to populate the sandbox with the data needed for building an application. [Allocate a sandbox](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=allocating-sandboxes&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Allocate the sandboxes that were created to your development teams. [Retire sandboxes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=retire-sandboxes&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Retire outdated sandboxes to make room for the new sandboxes in your instance. [Automatically backed up update sets](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-clone-upgrade-info&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : If you install Developer Sandboxes on an instance after Zurich Patch 5, update sets are automatically backed up when the instance is upgraded. | | Australia | [New granular roles for administration](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dsb-installed-with&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Several new granular roles enable developers to complete administrative and configuration tasks without requiring the full admin role. [Support for separate indices for AI Search](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=exploring-sandboxes&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : AI Search (AIS) now maintains separate indices for each sandbox environment, ensuring development activities that rely on AIS are correctly supported. Note: The AIS integration with Developer Sandboxes is supported only on non-production environments. | [ ] ## Changes Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Developer Sandboxes features. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__22} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | [Upgrade enhancements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-clone-upgrade-info&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Automatic backups for upgrades are now working correctly. This issue is related to PRB2017438. | | Australia | [Upgrade enhancements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-clone-upgrade-info&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Automatic backups for upgrades are now working correctly. This issue is related to PRB2017438. [Schema change for shared tables isolates the table](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dsb-installed-with&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : To ensure configuration consistency, if you make a schema change, such as adding a column, to a shared table, the table now becomes an isolated table on the sandbox that initiated the schema change. [Upgrade enhancements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-clone-upgrade-info&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : After an upgrade, Developer Sandboxes now recreates the sandboxes on an instance and automatically backs up update sets to the base instance. [Queuing for successive sandbox creation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=allocating-sandboxes&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : To improve performance, Developer Sandboxes has implemented queuing when multiple sandboxes are created in succession. [SSO support for vanity URLs](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-general-guidelines&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Instances with vanity URLs can now support Single Sign-On (SSO). [New vibe coding documentation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vibe-coding-landing&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Documentation is now available that introduces vibe coding, which is a natural language approach to application development in ServiceNow, including how to get started, when to use it, and how it fits within the broader suite of AI-powered development tools. [Clarified sandbox initialization status](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=allocating-sandboxes&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : An error status message now appears on the instance home page when there's an initialization error when allocating a sandbox. [Developer Sandboxes home page hidden when product is inactive](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dev-sbx-entitlements&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : The Developer Sandboxes home page is unavailable when Developer Sandboxes is inactive on an instance. | [ ] ## Removed Between your current release family and Australia, some Developer Sandboxes features or functionality were removed. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__32} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Deprecations Between your current release family and Australia, some Developer Sandboxes features or functionality were deprecated. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__42} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | * All data generation metadata and non-metadata records are automatically deleted. * The data generation plugin is no longer discoverable. * All references to data generation will be removed from sandbox templates. * Sandbox initialization will operate independently of data generation logic. | | Australia | * All data generation metadata and non-metadata records are automatically deleted. * The data generation plugin is no longer discoverable. * All references to data generation will be removed from sandbox templates. * Sandbox initialization will operate independently of data generation logic. | [ ] ## Activation information Review information on how to activate Developer Sandboxes. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__52} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | Activation information : Contact your ServiceNow account manager to install Developer Sandboxes. Important: [Developer Sandboxes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sandboxes-landing&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes. | | Australia | Activation information : Contact your ServiceNow account manager to install Developer Sandboxes. | [ ] ## Additional requirements If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Developer Sandboxes we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__62} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Browser requirements If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Developer Sandboxes we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__72} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Accessibility information Review details on accessibility information for Developer Sandboxes, such as specific requirements or compliance levels. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__82} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Localization information If there are specific localization considerations for Developer Sandboxes we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__92} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Highlight information If there are specific highlight considerations for Developer Sandboxes we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-developersandboxes-summary__entry__102} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Xanadu | No updates for this release. | | Yokohama | No updates for this release. | | Zurich | * Support for Build Agent in sandboxes. * Enable your administrators and delegated developers to request, access, and manage the isolated development environments on top of the same underlying development instance. * Provide developer isolation and parallelism for customer development environments and instances. * View the total, available, and allocated sandboxes in your instance by using the Sandbox Management home dashboard. The dashboard also displays information about each sandbox, including the status, data utilization, owner, when it was last accessed, and when the sandbox was allocated. See [Developer Sandboxes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sandboxes-landing&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. | | Australia | * Support for Build Agent in sandboxes. * Upgrading an instance recreates sandboxes and backs up any update sets. * A new plugin supports clone preservation when cloning an instance with sandboxes. See [Developer Sandboxes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sandboxes-landing&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. | [ ]