Configure Microsoft Dev Box

The following graphic shows the steps required to configure Microsoft Dev Box in the Azure portal.First, you create a dev center to organize your dev box resources. 

Next, you configure network components to enable dev boxes to connect to your organizational resources. 

Then, you create a dev box definition that is used to create dev boxes. 

After that, you create a project and a dev box pool. Users who have access to a project can create dev boxes from the pools associated with that project. 

1. Jump to

   Prerequisites

• An Azure account with an active subscription. 
• Owner or Contributor role on an Azure subscription or resource group.
• User licenses. To use Dev Box , each user must be licensed for Windows 11 Enterprise or Windows 10 Enterprise, Microsoft Intune, and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) P1.
• Azure Hybrid Benefit, which allows you to use your Windows licenses on Azure with Dev Box.

 Create a dev center

Sign in to the Azure portal.

In the search box, enter dev centers. In the list of results, select Dev centers.

On the Dev centers page, click on Create.

On the Create a dev center pane, on the Basics tab, enter the following values:

(Optional) On the Tags tab, enter a name/value pair that you want to assign.

Select Review + Create.

1. On theReview tab, select Create.
2. Track the progress of the dev center creation from any page in the Azure portal by opening theNotifications pane.

When the deployment is complete, select Go to resource. Confirm that the dev center page appears.

2. Configure a network connection

Network connections determine the region in which dev boxes are deployed. They also allow dev boxes to be connected to your existing virtual networks. The following steps show you how to create and configure a network connection in Microsoft Dev Box . 

Create a virtual network and subnet

You must have a virtual network and subnet available for your network connection. To create them:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. In the search box, enter virtual network. In the list of results, select Virtual Network.
3. On the Virtual Network page, select Create.
4. On the Create virtual network pane, on the Basics tab, enter the following values:

On the IP Addresses tab, note the default IP address assignment and subnet. You can accept the defaults unless they conflict with your existing configuration.

Select Review + create tab. Review the virtual network and subnet configuration.

Select Create.

• Create the network connection

You now need a network connection to associate the virtual network and subnet with the dev center. A network connection specifies the type of join dev boxes use to join your Azure AD domain, either an Azure AD join or a hybrid Active Directory join. 

To create the network connection, complete the steps on the relevant tab. 

On the Create a network connection pane, on the Basics tab, enter the following values:

Attach a network connection to a dev center

To provide network configuration information for dev boxes, associate a network connection with a dev center:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. In the search box, enter dev centers. In the list of results, select Dev centers.
3. Select the dev center that you created, and then select Networking.
4. Select + Add.
5. On the Add network connection pane, select the network connection that you created, and then select Add.

After you attach a network connection, the Azure portal runs several health checks on the network. You can view the status of the checks on the resource overview page. You can add network connections that pass all health checks to a dev center and use them to create dev box pools. Dev boxes that are in dev box pools are created and domain joined in the location  of the virtual network that’s assigned to the network connection.

• Create a dev box definition

Dev box definitions define the image and SKU (compute + storage) that’s used in the creation of the dev boxes. To create and configure a dev box definition:

1. Open the dev center in which you want to create the dev box definition.
2. Select Dev box definitions.
3. On the Dev box definitions page, select Create.
4. On the Create dev box definition page, enter the following values:

Select Create.

4. Create a project

Dev box projects enable you to manage team-level settings. These settings include providing access to development teams so that developers can create dev boxes.

To create and configure a project in a dev box:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. In the search box, enter projects. In the list of results, select Projects.
3. On the Projects page, select Create.
4. On the Create a project pane, on the Basics tab, enter the following values:

(Optional) On the Tags tab, enter a name/value pair that you want to assign.

Select Review + Create.

On the Review tab, select Create.

Confirm that the project is created successfully by checking the notifications. Select Go to resource.

Verify that the project appears on the Projects page.

5. Create a dev box pool

A dev box pool is a collection of dev boxes that have similar settings. Dev box pools specify the dev box definitions and network connections that dev boxes use. You must associate at least one pool with your project before users can create a dev box.

To create a dev box pool that’s associated with a project:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
2. In the search box, enter projects. In the list of results, select Projects.
3. Open the project in which you want to create the dev box pool.

Select Dev box pools, and then select Create.

On the Create a dev box pool pane, enter the following values:

Select Create.

Verify that the new dev box pool appears in the list. You might need to refresh the screen.

The Azure portal deploys the dev box pool and runs health checks to ensure that the image and network pass the validation criteria for dev boxes. The following screenshot shows four dev box pools, each with a different status.

6. Provide access to a dev box project

Before users can create dev boxes based on the dev box pools in a project, you must provide access for them through a role assignment. 

The Dev Box User role enables dev box users to create, manage, and delete their own dev boxes. You must have sufficient permissions to a project before you can add users to it.

To assign roles:

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
   
2. In the search box, enter projects. In the list of results, select Projects.
   
3. Select the project that you want to give team members access to.
4. On the left menu, select Access control (IAM).
5. On the command bar, select Add > Add role assignment.
6. Assign the following role. For detailed steps, see Assign Azure roles using the Azure portal.

The user can now view the project and all the pools within it. The user can create dev boxes from any of the pools and manage those dev boxes from the developer portal. 

Project Admins

Microsoft Dev Box makes it possible for you to delegate administration of projects to a member of the project team. Project administrators can assist with the day-to-day management of projects for their teams, like creating and managing dev box pools. To give users permissions to manage projects, assign the DevCenter Project Admin role to them.

You can assign the DevCenter Project Admin role by using the steps described earlier in 6. Provide access to a dev box project and select the Project Admin role instead of the Dev Box User role. 

Note:  A user who is assigned the Dev Box User role or the Project Admin role can create a dev box.