The much awaited Dynamics 365 Business Central officially released on 2 April 2018. We are often used to creating virtual machines and setting up Microsoft Dynamics NAV but D365 Business Central doesn’t require a VM, we can set it up on Azure and use it locally.
You set up a container sandbox by running the SANDBOX ENVIRONMENT (CONTAINER) page from Dynamics 365 Business Central. You will have to decide whether you want an Azure-hosted or locally hosted container sandbox.
Choosing an Azure-hosted or local-hosted container sandbox
When you set up the container sandbox, you can choose to host the sandbox on Microsoft Azure or on a local computer. Both environments offer the same capabilites and use Docker to provide the infrastructure for the container-based applicationn. The difference is:
- With Azure hosting, Docker is installed and configured for you. However, Azure hosting requires that you sign-up for an Azure subscription, and additional costs may be incurred for each container sandbox.
- Local hosting requires that your computer is running Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016, and you install and configure Docker before setting up the container sandbox.
Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a container-based image environment that enables access to both the AL development environment and the C/SIDE development environment.
For development you need to set up Visual Studio Code with the AL Language extension. For more information, you can visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/