Introduction

The Sync from Production feature lets you copy package metadata from your production organization to your sandbox environment. This creates empty package shells in your sandbox that match your production packages, letting you experiment with existing package structures.

What Gets Synced

When you sync from production, only package metadata is copied:

  • Package name
  • Package description
  • Package type (Bicep, Terraform, etc.)
  • License information
  • Visibility settings
  • Project URL

What Doesn’t Get Synced

  • Package versions
  • Package content/files
  • Version history
  • Download statistics
  • Tracked workspaces

The synced packages are created empty - you can then publish versions to them in your sandbox environment.

Requirements

To use Sync from Production, you need:

  • Reader role or higher on the production organization
  • Contributor role or higher on the sandbox organization
  • An active sandbox organization for your production org

Using Sync from Production

Step-by-Step Process

  1. Navigate to your sandbox organization in the portal

  2. Go to the package overview page

    Package Overview

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  3. Click the “Sync from Prod” button

  4. Select the packages you want to sync

    Sync from Prod

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  5. Confirm if you want to change the package visibility settings to private

    Select Packages

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  6. Click “Start Sync”

  7. Wait for the sync process to complete, click Reload packages to see the synced packages.

    Start Sync

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The system creates the selected packages in your sandbox with their metadata intact but no versions.

Selective Sync

You can choose which packages to sync:

  • Select specific packages from the list
  • Sync all packages at once
  • Re-sync individual packages as needed

Overwrite Visibility Settings

When syncing packages, you can choose to overwrite the visibility settings:

  • If enabled, the synced packages will be set to private.
  • If disabled, the synced packages will inherit their existing visibility settings in the sandbox.

After Syncing

Once packages are synced:

  1. They appear in your sandbox organization with no versions
  2. You can publish versions using ipm publish
  3. Package metadata matches the production version
  4. You can modify settings in sandbox without affecting production

Workflow Examples

Example 1: Update Testing 

# 1. Sync package metadata from production to sandbox (in portal)
# 2. In your sandbox workspace
ipm init
ipm add --package mycompany-sandbox/my-package

# 3. Make changes to the package
# (edit files)

# 4. Publish test version
ipm publish --package mycompany-sandbox/my-package --version 2.0.0 --folder ./

# 5. Test the changes
# (validate functionality)

# 6. If successful, publish to production
ipm publish --package mycompany/my-package --version 2.0.0 --folder ./

Example 2: Training Environment 

# 1. Organization admin syncs production packages (in portal)
# 2. Trainees practice publishing
ipm login
ipm publish --package mycompany-sandbox/training-package --version 1.0.0 --folder ./my-module

# 3. Practice adding packages
ipm add --package mycompany-sandbox/training-package

# 4. No risk to production packages

Best Practices

Regular Syncing

  • Keep sandbox structures aligned with current production
  • Re-sync after major production package reorganizations

Troubleshooting

Sync Not Available

If you can’t see the sync option:

  • Verify you have Reader role or higher on production
  • Confirm you have Contributor role or higher on sandbox
  • Check that you are in the package overview of the Sandbox organization
  • Validate that both organizations have a valid subscription