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Deprecated → MigratedCompute, Security & InfraAzure

Azure Lab Services Microsoft Dev Box & Azure Deployment Environments

Cloud-hosted developer workstation and templated environment provisioning services managed through unified Dev Center governance.

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Naming timeline

  1. Azure Lab Services

    · Initial Launch (Deprecated Jul 15, 2024 · Retires Jun 28, 2027)

    Launched out of Azure DevTest Labs to provide managed classroom, training, and hackathon virtual machine labs under 'Microsoft.LabServices'.

  2. Microsoft Dev Box & Azure Deployment EnvironmentsCurrent name

    · Azure Lab Services Migration Target (Dev Box GA Jul 2023)

    Azure Lab Services closed to new customers on July 15, 2024 ahead of June 28, 2027 retirement, directing workloads to Microsoft Dev Box and Azure Deployment Environments.

What replaced Azure Lab Services?

Azure Lab Services has been superseded by Microsoft Dev Box & Azure Deployment Environments, with the latest change on 15 July 2024 (Azure Lab Services Migration Target (Dev Box GA Jul 2023)). Cloud-hosted developer workstation and templated environment provisioning services managed through unified Dev Center governance. The underlying legacy API or CLI surface is deprecated, so a technical migration is required.

Also known as

  • Microsoft Dev Box
  • Azure Deployment Environments
  • Azure Lab Services Lab Plans

Technical identifiers

Legacy identifiers deprecated. The underlying API or CLI surface for the legacy name is officially deprecated, so this change requires a technical migration rather than a label update.

ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*)Microsoft.DevCenter/devCenters Microsoft.DevCenter/projects Microsoft.DevCenter/devCenterDefinitions Microsoft.LabServices/labs Microsoft.LabServices/labPlans
Azure CLI (az) / PowerShellaz devcenter az devcenter admin az devcenter dev az lab
Entra ID / Azure RBAC RolesDevCenter Dev Box User DevCenter Project Admin Deployment Environments User Lab Creator Lab Operator
Terraform Resources (azurerm_*)azurerm_dev_center azurerm_dev_center_project azurerm_dev_center_dev_box_definition azurerm_dev_center_environment_type azurerm_lab_service_lab azurerm_lab_service_plan

The 'Microsoft.LabServices/*' ARM provider and 'azurerm_lab_service_*' Terraform resources were blocked for new customers on July 15, 2024 and retire on June 28, 2027.

Notes & disambiguation

  • In July 2024, Microsoft announced the deprecation of Azure Lab Services ('Microsoft.LabServices/labs' and 'Microsoft.LabServices/labPlans'), blocking new customer sign-ups effective July 15, 2024 ahead of full service retirement on June 28, 2027.
  • Official retirement guidance directs developer, hackathon, and training environment workloads to Microsoft Dev Box (GA July 2023), Azure Deployment Environments (GA May 2023), Azure DevTest Labs, or Azure Virtual Desktop / Windows 365 for classroom scenarios.
  • Subsequently, Microsoft announced that Azure Deployment Environments will retire on February 22, 2027 and Microsoft Dev Box will transition its capabilities into Windows 365 (blocking new Dev Box sign-ups on November 1, 2025 ahead of full retirement on September 18, 2028).

Sources & official documentation

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