Zuora Testing Environments
Zuora environments represent private tenant access to the Zuora application, APIs, and supported integrations and payments gateways. This article describes the following information for Zuora Billing, Zuora Payments, Zuora CPQ, and Zuora Central Platform. For details about testing environments for Zuora Revenue, see Test Zuora Revenue in different environments.
- Testing Environments Currently Offered
- API Sandbox
Intended for integration testing and release preview testing. Does not come with any data. Zuora application version is one week ahead of the main production environment.
- Developer Sandbox
Developer Sandbox will allow developers to work on a sandbox with the same configuration as production. It will allow them to copy/refresh only configuration/settings data and no transactional/dynamic data. For more information, see Getting started with Zuora Developer Sandbox.
- Central Sandbox
Provides additional capabilities on top of API Sandbox. Zuora Central Sandbox copies production data securely and supports production-like performance. Zuora Central Sandbox can be utilized for integration testing, end-to-end production testing, user acceptance testing, and performance testing with guidelines. For more information, see Getting started with Zuora Central Sandbox.
- API Sandbox
- Contrasts Between API Sandbox, Developer Sandbox, and Zuora Central Sandbox
Sandbox Comparisons
See the following contrasts between API Sandbox, Developer Sandbox, and Central Sandbox:
General Information
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Does this sound like you? |
|
|
|
|
Suitable for |
Previewing and functional testing new Zuora features before they are released to Production. |
Unit testing and Integration development and Testing |
Functional testing with cloned configuration and data. Heavy-load performance and stress testing ([with guidelines]) |
|
Not Suitable for |
Performance and load testing |
Performance and load testing |
Testing beyond Zuora’s standard concurrent request limits and application limits. |
|
Data Migration Testing |
Yes Suitable for less than 5,000 records |
Yes Suitable for less than 250,000 records |
Yes |
|
An example of 5,000 records would be 2500 accounts + 2500 subscriptions. |
|
|
|
|
Infrastructure Mimics Production |
No |
No |
Yes, fully hosted on AWS. |
|
Includes Environment Monitoring |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Rollback Policy |
Rollbacks are not supported on any environment. Zuora recommends that you revert changes yourself – if possible. Reverting changes are possible before posting transactions on a bill run. |
||
|
Hardware |
AWS cloud |
AWS cloud |
AWS cloud |
|
Location |
https://apisandbox.zuora.com https://sandbox.na.zuora.com https://sandbox.eu.zuora.com |
https://test.zuora.com https://test.eu.zuora.com |
https://test.zuora.com https://test.eu.zuora.com |
|
Supported API Authentication Schemes |
OAuth 2.0 (recommended), username and password, authorization cookie, single-use tokens for CORS-enabled operations |
OAuth 2.0 (recommended), username and password, authorization cookie, single-use tokens for CORS-enabled operations |
OAuth 2.0 (recommended), username and password, authorization cookie, single-use tokens for CORS-enabled operations |
| Data Retention | Invoice pdf files will be archived after three months for all sandboxes. For more information, see Zuora Data Retention Policy. | ||
Refresh Policy
Zuora performs two types of refreshes: A refresh for a new Zuora version and a data snapshot refresh.
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code base Refresh with Latest Zuora Version |
Yes Automatically refreshed approximately one week before the production release. Production releases are deployed on a weekly basis unless the scheduled date is close to the month-end. API Sandbox is also automatically refreshed for maintenance releases. |
Yes Automatically refreshed. Maintenance releases also occur in this environment, following the same production release schedule. Note that release for Zuora Developer Sandbox may occur a few days prior to, or following the production release. |
Yes Automatically refreshed. Refreshes follow the API Sandbox release schedule. Maintenance releases also occur in this environment, following the same production release schedule. Note that release for Zuora Central Sandbox may occur a few days prior to, or following the production release. |
| Data Snapshot Refresh (Includes Scrubbed Data Copied from Production) | No
You are responsible for loading your data, including creating user logins and global tenant settings. |
On-demand. Refresh is limited to twice per month. Scrubbed data includes user logins, emails, and global settings |
On-demand. Refresh is limited to once per month. Scrubbed data includes user logins, emails, and global settings. |
| Historical PDF-generated Invoices |
No You must generate PDF invoices from scratch. |
No You must generate PDF invoices from scratch. |
No You must generate PDF invoices from scratch. |
Scrubbed Data
The following table provides a summary of the data that is scrubbed.
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce | |||
| Zuora for Salesforce - 360 Sync | N/A | Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Developer Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Central Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
| Commerce Portal | N/A |
|
|
| Customer Catalog | N/A | No information needs to be scrubbed. | No information needs to be scrubbed. |
| Promotion Codes | N/A | No information needs to be scrubbed. | No information needs to be scrubbed. |
| Billing & Payments | |||
| Customer Account | N/A | Bill To and Sold To Contact information:
|
Bill To and Sold To Contact information:
|
| Avalara Integration | N/A |
Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Developer Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Central Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
| Notifications and Callouts | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Payment Method | N/A | After a Zuora Developer Sandbox is provisioned, the previous payment methods are no longer available in the Developer Sandbox environment. You have to create new payment methods. | After a Zuora Central Sandbox is provisioned, the previous payment methods are no longer available in the Central Sandbox environment. You have to create new payment methods. |
| Payment Gateway Configurations | N/A |
Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Developer Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
Credentials are scrubbed on the first copy. Once credentials are updated in the Central Sandbox, it is retained on subsequent refreshes. |
| Finance | |||
| NetSuite | N/A |
NetSuite integration credentials |
NetSuite integration credentials |
| Additional Add Ons | |||
| Workflow | N/A |
|
|
| Collections (All Apps) | N/A |
|
|
| Appstore Connector | N/A | Account Name | Account Name |
| Tax Connector | N/A |
|
|
| OAuth | NA | OAuth credentials scrubbed | OAuth credentials scrubbed |
Support for Zuora Features, Add-ons, Integrations
Zuora features, add-ons, and integrations are generally supported except where noted in the following table:
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notifications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Callouts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Single Sign-on | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Two-factor Authentication | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| New Invoice File Generation Service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| New Quote File Generation Service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Orders UI, including creating Orders through the UI | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Settings API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data Query | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Objects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Events and Triggers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add-ons and Integrations | |||
| Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Zuora requires a 1-to-1 relationship with Salesforce for each Zuora environment. | |||
| Zuora 360 | Manual, on-demand and scheduled | Yes | Yes |
| Zuora 360+ | Real-Time Sync | Yes | Yes |
| Z-Suite | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Avalara Connector | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payment Gateways | Yes Includes any gateway that is supported in production |
Yes | Yes |
| Insights | No | No | No |
| Collections | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Performance guidelines
Zuora provides the following guidelines and recommends you to contact Zuora Global Support if you plan to test over the guideline volumes within a 24 hour period. Note that these guidelines are not the System's limits. Zuora draws up these guidelines to anticipate the increased load of the testing environments.
|
API Sandbox |
Zuora Developer Sandbox |
Zuora Central Sandbox ** |
|
|
API Testing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
> 10,000 API calls |
> 50,000 API calls |
> 500,000 API calls |
|
|
Total Data Store |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
5,000 records (upto 2,500 accounts + 2,500 subscriptions) |
250,000 records (Total accounts and subscriptions) |
Similar to Production (Production copy) |
|
Data Load Testing |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
>5,000 records |
> 500,000 records** |
||
|
**The guidelines for Zuora Central Sandbox should be followed for your Production environment. |
|||
Limits Policy
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concurrent Request Limits | Bounded by Policy | Bounded by Policy | Bounded by Policy |
For additional limits on API Sandbox and Developer Sandbox environments, see Limits policy for API Sandbox and Developer Sandbox environments.
When the storage limits for records are reached, you will be prevented from creating additional records that exceed the specified limits. If API calls exceed the set limits, any subsequent API calls made within the 24-hour window will be unsuccessful. The limits for API usage in API Sandbox and Developer Sandbox environments cannot be increased. However, you can purchase a Central Sandbox environment with higher data storage limits.
If Customer’s use of the Service exceeds the usage limits in the applicable contracts or as described in this Knowledge Center article for any products provided, Customer must either purchase additional usage, if applicable, or move to the next edition of the Service. If Customer does not choose either of the options, Customer shall be considered out of compliance with such Service.
Security
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCI-compliant | Yes | No | No |
| SOC 1 and SOC 2-compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA-compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IP Whitelist | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Two-factor Authentication | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Zuora is committed to safeguarding the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all physical and electronic information assets of the Company to ensure that regulatory, operational, and contractual requirements are fulfilled. Zuora's internal controls are benchmarked against industry standards such as ISO27001, ISO27018, PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 1, SOC 2 and HIPAA. Zuora Central Sandbox will be included in future ISO27001, ISO27018, PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 1, SOC 2 and HIPAA assessments starting in the fall of 2020.
Provisioning and Refreshing Your Data
Zuora provides the following guidelines for provisioning and data refresh turnaround times for Test Environments. We continuously strive to optimize performance and provide the best possible turnaround times for you.
When a Zuora Central Sandbox is provisioned, it will execute a data copy process that brings over a snapshot of your production data, with sensitive and PII data scrubbed. Subsequently, every data refresh request will take a new snapshot of your scrubbed production data. In both cases, the complete snapshot of your production data are as of the date and time when the request is submitted, as the data copy process will be triggered at a time after your request is made. Note that the scheduled runs, including Bill Run and Payment Run, are not copied from your production environment to Zuora Central Sandbox during the provisioning or refreshing process.
While the data copy for most tenants can be completed within less than 3 business days, it can take longer time to complete the data copy for large tenants. In addition, the process may also take longer during the first week of a month, a peak time of data refresh requests to get a full data snapshot of the previous month.
| API Sandbox | Zuora Developer Sandbox | Zuora Central Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provisioning Turnaround |
Immediate with logins |
2-3 business days Includes a copy of production configuration data. |
2-3 business days Includes a copy of production data. Turn around is the best effort, and it may be longer for large size tenants. |
| Snapshot of Production Configuration Data | None | Included | Included |
| Snapshot of Production Transactional Data | None | Not included | Included |
| Snapshot Refresh Frequency | None | Once every 14 Days | Once every 28 Days |
| Refresh Snapshot Requests |
None |
Refresh Central Sandbox in Production Refresh turn around time can approximately take 1-3 days, managed as best effort with larger tenants taking longer. |
Refresh Central Sandbox in Production Refresh turn around time can approximately take 1-3 days, managed as best effort with larger tenants taking longer. |