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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

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Posted on by YS-01011151-0

As we deployed an update to our extensions to our production instance we deleted the dev sandbox we use. And then we ran copy to clone the latest production database for dev.

This task is now stuck in Preparing for over 2.5 hours. Normally the complete task is done in 30-45 minutes.

What we tried already:

- Cancel all sessions (easy as New Year)

- Restart Environment (can't due to running process - Most likely copy)

Operation Details: Running.

Anyone having any ideas? We tried to create a ticket, but can't as we seem to not have the contract etc. we only get the AI based support. However this for me seems to not fall into Premium Support, as it is a issue we can't sort.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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AL-17021451-0 9 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Tnx ZHU

We are running on the 21,5 hour now ... so fingers a X'ed for a fail in a few hours 😂

have spinned up a Docker in the mean time as the 3 sandboxes on the SaaS env. are in use one way or another

Br ALA

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YUN ZHU 89,835 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

I have encountered this problem several times. . . . It was all solved by time. .
For example, it becomes Active or Failed the next day, which can be deleted and recreated.

However, if you want to investigate the cause or solve it quickly, you can only submit a SR to Microsoft. There are too few things that partners can handle in the Admin Center. . .

Thanks

ZHU

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AL-17021451-0 9 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Hi Yves

Was wondering ...Did you ever get this solved ?

I guess ....we are facing the exaxt same issue (Just not a production issue, but from a Test sandbox to a Dev sandbox)
the Test box have status copying and the Dev box have status creating, it have been like this for around 4 hours now (it a small db (size is 2,66Gb))

we could drop all session ....

we can't restart environment as it is in use ...
we can't delete env. as it is in use ....

and im almost out of coffie ...🙄

a support request is created ... but after reading this post i was hoping for a wonder ....

Br. Anders


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YS-01011151-0 12 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Hi Khushbu,

thank you for your input, we try to escalate already, but seems like no one really cares. We only have a few hours left, then we will have to pull the plug and delay service migration for 20+ users by at least a year (if not this leads to a different solution).

And yes it is a paid for support incident, not free support!

This was working fine for months, it was again and again used multiple times daily. Stopped 01-Jan and we now face a support which tries to find reasons everywhere else (and asks questions already answered multiple times) and suggests to just retry which we tell them we can't as it will lock the system again for 24 hours. Which they say can't be cancelled.

Just an example, we provided screenshots on the copy process from the Admin Center. What we then get is: "Can you try to run it in Admin Center and not via commandline?" Or "We see this issue was on your system 4 weeks ago in the logs", we answer interesting, where... Next: "Can you export the logs so we can check". This clearly shows it's just a game to generate time on the ticket, but not to solve the issue sadly. Not sure why we buy incidents for this BS.

Nevertheless, thank you, nothing you can do.

Yves

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Khushbu Rajvi. 18,797 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

I have seen 4 5 posts and all are facing issue with support. You escalate your case through Microsoft's escalation process using your case reference and emphasizing the business impact. Contact your Microsoft Account Manager or utilize Premier Support if available.

https://serviceshub.microsoft.com/home

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YS-01011151-0 12 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Hi Khushbu,

There is no option to cancel the task, as it is tuck in preparing, hence it does also not time out after a few hours, but takes 24 hours. Retry did not help, hangs same issue. No there was no conflicting task, restart also didn't help.

We raised a support ticket already, but support is rather useless, just asks questions we already answered in the original submit to just answer something... Sadly...

We are stuck and short ahead the part where we have to cancel critical system migrations which need to complete by tomorrow and then next time window is in a year from now. But support is also not escalating, although asked.

Yves

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Khushbu Rajvi. 18,797 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

If your "Copy Production to Sandbox" is stuck in Preparing in Cloud Business Central, check the Admin Center for operation status. If stuck, cancel the task from the Admin Center and retry the copy process. Ensure no conflicting tasks (like backups or upgrades) are running. If unresolved, contact Microsoft via your CSP or Partner support for assistance.

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YS-01011151-0 12 on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Hi GR,

sadly not, we opened a support ticket in the mean time, but except that they repeat what we tested and tried already (Cancel all sesssions, try to restart instance). It stopped after 24h in Preparing stage. We have now restarted it based on support request only to wait again 24h, as now the answer is "now we have to wait again until it cancels".

Sadly without this we can't make necessary checks and tests to ensure the switch over of critical tasks is working, meaning we will have to delay the implementation by another year.

We have done these copies nearly daily the last few months, no issue whatsoever, but Support is not helpful nor responsive.

Yves

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Gerardo Rentería Ga... 22,524 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Copy Production to Sandbox stuck in Preparing

Hi

Were you able to copy the environment in the end?

Best

GR

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