Microsoft Dev Box is a new Azure cloud service for hybrid development teams that provides developers with secure, ready-to-code developer workstations. A new portal enables Dev Boxes to be preconfigured for specific projects and tasks so that individual developers can get to straight to work without the overhead of workstation configuration.

The idea is that a Dev Lead can specify the configuration for a Dev Box and then every developer on the project can simply open and use the Dev Box assigned to them, complete with all the tools required.

Dev Boxes are powered by Windows 365 and are enrolled in Intune and managed by Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Dev Boxes are Windows VMs but can support Windows Subsystem for Linux, for applications such as web applications that will be deployed to Linux, and Windows Subsystem for Android for mobile development. The remote desktop client runs on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, or in a web browser.

News of Dev Box came on Day 1 of Microsoft Build 2022, introduced by Anthony Cangialosi and demoed by Varan Gupta. As explained in the Build Session, Delivering developer velocity through the entire engineering system, Microsoft Dev Box ensures developers always have the right tools and resources based on project, task, and even role. When building Dev Boxes, dev teams select from a range of SKUs to define the right level of compute for each project and instantly scale up aging physical hardware. Thanks to Azure Active Directory integration, teams can rapidly onboard new team members by assigning them to Azure Active Directory groups that grant access to the Dev Boxes they need for their projects. 

Another advantage according to Anthony Cangialosi is the ability to minimize costs. While developers won't be using a Dev Box 24/7 they may not remember to hibernate them. A Dev Lead can specify an automated schedule for hibernating Dev Boxes in the evening and avoid getting charged for compute overnight.

The other innovation introduced in the same Build session is Azure Deployment Environments, self-service templated environments for any stage of development.

According to Cangialosi:

By providing developers with self-service, project based templates pre-built to deploy with all the services and resources they need for their app, deployment environments make it easy for devs to deploy environments where and when they need them for their current development task.
At the same time, cenral IT teams maintain control over security and compliance and costs with permissions management, context-aware access and full control over cloud resource configurations.

Dev Box and Azure Deployment Environments are both in private preview and you can sign up for them at  http://aka.ms/devbox-signup and https://aka.ms/environments-signup respectively.

More Information

Introducing Microsoft Dev Box

 Introducing Azure Deployment Environments

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