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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / Business Central Trials
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
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Business Central Trials

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Posted on by Sahib Dino 208

I have created a Business Central trial instance and now I want to connect it with Visual Studio Code for development. However, in my trial account I cannot see the Admin Center or the Environment details.

Can anyone please guide me on how to connect a Business Central trial account with VS Code and start coding/extensions development?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
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  • Suggested answer
    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    OussamaSabbouh 17,327 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hello,
    You don’t need the Admin Center just to start AL development; install Visual Studio Code, install the AL Language extension, create a new AL project, and in launch.json use a cloud sandbox configuration with environmentType = "Sandbox" and usually environmentName = "Sandbox"; then download symbols and sign in with the same trial user. If your trial opened only the demo company and no sandbox/admin center is visible, use Microsoft’s Business Central sandbox signup link or ask the tenant admin to create/give access to a sandbox, because development from VS Code should target a sandbox, not the demo production environment.
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh
  • Suggested answer
    Mansi Soni Profile Picture
    Mansi Soni 10,002 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hello @Sahib Dino,

    In a Business Central trial (SaaS) environment, it is expected that the Admin Center and detailed environment information may not be visible. However, you can still connect Visual Studio Code for development purposes.

    To do this, install the AL Language extension in VS Code, then use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run AL: Go! or AL: Download Symbols. You will be prompted to sign in using the same account associated with your trial. After authentication, select the available environment (typically the default Production environment in a trial), and VS Code will automatically generate the required configuration (launch.json).

    Once connected, you can begin developing and publishing extensions directly to your trial environment without needing access to the Admin Center.

    Hope this answer helps you!

    If this answer helps you, kindly mark it as a verified answer.

    Regards,
    Mansi Soni

  • Suggested answer
    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    Teagen Boll 3,078 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    You'll want to start work in VS Code as others have mentioned. I'd just add you should get a few extensions in VS Code to help including:
    • AL Language Extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    • Waldos CRS AL Extension
    Once those are installed you can then connect to your database and download the AL symbols and get started on development.
     
    Best,
    Teagen Boll
    Social: LinkedIn
  • Sahib Dino Profile Picture
    Sahib Dino 208 on at
    @Mansi Soni
    @OussamaSabbouh
    @Teagen Boll but i can't download the symbol im getting the error 
     
    If you are targeting a cloud instance, supply these IDs if contacting Microsoft support.
    [2026-06-05 13:13:44.13] The request for path /v2.0/sandbox/dev/packages?publisher=Microsoft&appName=System&versionText=28.0.0.0&appId=8874ed3a-0643-4247-9ced-7a7002f7135d failed with code NotFound. Reason: Not Found
    [2026-06-05 13:13:44.17] Error: Not Found
    [2026-06-05 13:13:44.17] Error: Error: An error occured while processing the request.
    Request ID: 2e23382b-1c85-47aa-a665-59727f5cdb3b
    Session ID: 1a257933-d4ea-46ca-91e6-55896ecd58be
    If you are targeting a cloud instance, supply these IDs if contacting Microsoft support.
    [2026-06-05 13:13:44.17] The request for path /v2.0/sandbox/dev/packages?publisher=Microsoft&appName=Application&versionText=28.0.0.0 failed with code NotFound. Reason: Not Found
    [2026-06-05 13:13:44.17] Could not download reference symbols. Please ensure that:
    1. The correct server name and instance are specified in the launch.json file.
    2. The correct application version is specified in the app.json file.
    3. The dependencies are correctly specified in the app.json file.



    the below is my app json file 

     
    {
      "id": "1dfff4b4-8a49-4c31-a634-cd3c54f1ee3b",
      "name": "ALProject1",
      "publisher": "Default Publisher",
      "version": "1.0.0.0",
      "brief": "",
      "description": "",
      "privacyStatement": "",
      "EULA": "",
      "help": "",
      "url": "",
      "logo": "",
      "dependencies": [],
      "screenshots": [],
      "platform": "1.0.0.0",
      "application": "28.0.0.0",
      "idRanges": [
        {
          "from": 50100,
          "to": 50149
        }
      ],
      "resourceExposurePolicy": {
        "allowDebugging": true,
        "allowDownloadingSource": true,
        "includeSourceInSymbolFile": true
      },
      "runtime": "17.0",
      "features": [
        "NoImplicitWith"
      ]
    }


    and this is my launch file 

    {
        "version": "0.2.0",
        "configurations": [
            {
                "name": "Microsoft cloud sandbox",
                "request": "launch",
                "type": "al",
                "environmentType": "Sandbox",
                "environmentName": "Sandbox",
                "startupObjectId": 22,
                "startupObjectType": "Page",
                "breakOnError": "All",
                "launchBrowser": true,
                "enableLongRunningSqlStatements": true,
                "enableSqlInformationDebugger": true
            }
        ]
    }

     
  • Suggested answer
    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    Teagen Boll 3,078 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    You can check your platform and application version in Business Central under Help by clicking on the ? symbol in the top right and then selecting Help and Support:
     
    In your app.json enter the platform and application the same as you see in the support page (e.g. 28.0.0.0).
     
     
    In your launch.json file enter the following information from the help and support page:
    {
        "version": "0.2.0",
        "configurations": [
            {
                "name": "BC Cloud Sandbox",
                "request": "launch",
                "type": "al",
                "environmentType": "REPLACE_WITH_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE", in my screenshot above this is Sandbox
                "environmentName": "REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_SANDBOX_NAME", in my screenshot above this is SandboxDemos
                "tenant": "REPLACE_WITH_TENANT_ID", in my screenshot above this is the Tenant ID
                "startupObjectId": 50101,
                "startupObjectType": "Page",
                "schemaUpdateMode": "Synchronize",
                "breakOnError": true,
                "launchBrowser": true,
                "enableLongRunningSqlStatements": true,
                "enableSqlInformationDebugger": true
            }
        ]
    }
     
  • Sahib Dino Profile Picture
    Sahib Dino 208 on at
    @Teagen Boll    but in my case have trial account and there is only environment is coming that production.

  • Suggested answer
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 2,320 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi Sahib,
    for the dev part you do not really need the Admin Center to start. Install the AL Language extension in VS Code, then run AL: Go! from the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), pick Microsoft cloud sandbox, and it scaffold a project and sign you in with your trial account. That is enough to download symbols and publish.
    The thing is, better develop against a Sandbox environment, not the production trial. In launch.json you set environmentType Sandbox and the environmentName. If you only have the trial company you may need to create a sandbox first.

    For the Admin Center the URL is admin.businesscentral.dynamics.com - if you cannot see it, your trial user probably miss an admin role (Global admin or D365 admin), so you can not see environments there. The AL: Go! flow does not need it though, it talk to the sandbox directly. Which environment name you see in the company URL?
     
    Hope this help.
     
    ✅ Tick the checkbox below to mark the answer as verified, if it helped resolve your question.
     
    Regards
    Gregory Mavrogeorgis
     
  • Suggested answer
    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    Teagen Boll 3,078 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    If it's being treated as a production environment then you need to package your extension. Make sure your app.json has platform and app 28.0.0.0 and then you can package your .app file (Ctrl+Shift+B) in AL.
     
    Once you have the .app file you can load it into business central under Extension Management and Manage > Upload Extension:
     
     
    Hopefully that works for you in a trial environment.
     
    Best,
    Teagen Boll
    Social: LinkedIn
     
  • Suggested answer
    Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture
    Khushbu Rajvi. 22,625 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Click on ?. select help & support and the left side you can see the environment name and details. 
    Please check and configure correct details and try to download symbol.

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