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description: Learn definitions of some basic DevTest Labs concepts related to labs, virtual machines (VMs), and environments.
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description: Learn about some basic Azure DevTest Labs concepts related to labs, virtual machines (VMs), and environments.
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ms.topic: conceptual
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ms.author: rosemalcolm
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author: RoseHJM
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ms.date: 09/30/2023
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ms.date: 03/14/2025
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ms.custom: UpdateFrequency2
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---
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# DevTest Labs concepts
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This article lists key [Azure DevTest Labs](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/devtest-lab) concepts and definitions. DevTest Labs is a service for easily creating, using, and managing Azure VMs and other resources.
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This article describes key [Azure DevTest Labs](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/devtest-lab) concepts and definitions. DevTest Labs is a service for easily creating, using, and managing Azure virtual machines (VMs) and other resources.
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## Roles
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[Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC)](/azure/role-based-access-control/overview) defines DevTest Labs access and roles. DevTest Labs has three roles that define lab member permissions: **Owner**, **Contributor**, and **DevTest Labs User**. For more information about managing access and roles, see [Add lab owners, contributors, and users](devtest-lab-add-devtest-user.md).
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- Lab **Owners** can do all lab tasks, including creating labs and managing users.
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A lab Owner must have at least Contributor rights in the Azure subscription the lab is in. Azure subscription Owners have access to all resources and user assignments in their subscriptions, so automatically inherit the Owner role for labs.
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Lab Owners can also create and assign custom DevTest Labs roles. For more information, see [Grant user permissions to specific lab policies](devtest-lab-grant-user-permissions-to-specific-lab-policies.md).
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- Lab **Contributors** can do everything that Owners can, except manage users and roles.
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-**DevTest Labs Users** can view all lab resources and policies and can create and modify their own VMs and environments, within policy restrictions.
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DevTest Labs Users can't modify lab policies, or change any other users' VMs. DevTest Labs Users automatically have Owner permissions on their own VMs.
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## Labs
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A lab is the infrastructure that encompasses a group of resources such as virtual machines (VMs). In a lab, you can:
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A DevTest Labs lab is the infrastructure that encompasses a group of resources such as VMs. Lab administrators can:
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- Add and configure users.
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- Create ready-made VMs for lab users to claim and use.
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- Let users create and configure their own lab VMs and environments.
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- Connect artifact and template repositories to the lab.
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- Specify allowed VM limits, sizes, and configurations.
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- Set auto-shutdown and auto-startup policies.
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- Let users create and configure their own lab VMs and environments.
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- Specify allowed virtual machine (VM) limits, sizes, and configurations.
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- Set autoshutdown and autostartup policies.
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- Track and manage lab costs.
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### Policies
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### Lab policies
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Policies help control lab costs and reduce waste. For example, policies can automatically shut down lab VMs based on a defined schedule, or limit the number or sizes of VMs per user or lab. For more information, see [Manage lab policies to control costs](devtest-lab-set-lab-policy.md).
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Lab policies help control costs and reduce waste. For example, policies can automatically shut down lab VMs based on a defined schedule, or limit the number or sizes of VMs per user or lab. For more information, see [Manage lab policies to control costs](devtest-lab-set-lab-policy.md).
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### Repositories
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Lab users can use artifacts and templates from public and private Git repositories to create lab VMs and environments. The [DevTest Labs public GitHub repositories](https://github.com/Azure/azure-devtestlab) offer many ready-to-use artifacts and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.
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## Templates
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Lab owners can also create custom artifacts and ARM templates, store them in private Git repositories, and connect the repositories to their labs. Lab users and automated processes can then use the templates and artifacts. You can add the same repositories to multiple labs in your organization, promoting consistency, reuse, and sharing.
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[!INCLUDE [About Azure Resource Manager](~/reusable-content/ce-skilling/azure/includes/resource-manager-quickstart-introduction.md)] For more information about ARM template structure and properties, see [Template format](/azure/azure-resource-manager/templates/syntax#template-format).
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For more information, see [Add an artifact repository to a lab](add-artifact-repository.md) and [Add template repositories to labs](devtest-lab-use-resource-manager-template.md#add-template-repositories-to-labs).
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You can use ARM templates to create and update DevTest Labs labs, environments, VMs, and artifacts, or for automation. For more information, see:
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### Roles
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-[Create labs from ARM templates](create-lab-windows-vm-template.md)
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-[Create environments from ARM templates](devtest-lab-create-environment-from-arm.md)
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-[Create ARM templates for VMs](devtest-lab-use-resource-manager-template.md)
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[Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC)](../role-based-access-control/overview.md) defines DevTest Labs access and roles. DevTest Labs has three roles that define lab member permissions: Owner, Contributor, and DevTest Labs User.
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### Repositories
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- Lab Owners can do all lab tasks, such as reading or writing to lab resources, managing users, setting policies and configurations, and adding repositories and base images.
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- Because Azure subscription owners have access to all resources in a subscription, which include labs, virtual networks, and VMs, a subscription owner automatically inherits the lab Owner role.
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- Lab Owners can also create custom DevTest Labs roles. For more information, see [Grant user permissions to specific lab policies](devtest-lab-grant-user-permissions-to-specific-lab-policies.md).
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Lab users can use templates and artifacts from public and private Git source control repositories to create lab VMs and environments. The [DevTest Labs public GitHub repositories](https://github.com/Azure/azure-devtestlab) offer many ready-to-use artifacts and ARM templates.
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- Contributors can do everything that owners can, except manage users.
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Lab administrators can also store custom artifacts and ARM templates in private Git repositories and connect the repositories to their labs. Lab users and automated processes can then use the templates and artifacts. You can add the same repositories to multiple labs in your organization, promoting consistency, reuse, and sharing. For more information, see [Add template repositories to labs](devtest-lab-use-resource-manager-template.md#add-template-repositories-to-labs) and [Add an artifact repository to a lab](add-artifact-repository.md).
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- DevTest Labs Users can view all lab resources and policies, and create and modify their own VMs and environments.
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- Users automatically have Owner permissions on their own VMs.
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- Users can't modify lab policies, or change any VMs that other users own.
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## Virtual machines
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For more information about access and roles, see [Add lab owners, contributors, and users](devtest-lab-add-devtest-user.md).
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You can use templates, artifacts, custom images, and formulas to create and manage DevTest Labs VMs. Azure VMs are [on-demand, scalable computing resources](/azure/architecture/guide/technology-choices/compute-decision-tree) that give you the flexibility of virtualization without having to buy and maintain the physical hardware to run it. For more information about Azure VMs, see [Windows virtual machines in Azure](/azure/virtual-machines/windows/overview).
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##Virtual machines
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### Base images
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An Azure VM is one type of [on-demand, scalable computing resource](/azure/architecture/guide/technology-choices/compute-decision-tree) that Azure offers. Azure VMs give you the flexibility of virtualization without having to buy and maintain the physical hardware that runs it. For more information about VMs, see [Windows virtual machines in Azure](/azure/virtual-machines/windows/overview).
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A base image is a VM image that can have software and settings preinstalled and configured. Using base images reduces VM creation time and complexity. Lab administrators can choose which base images to make available for their lab users to use for VM creation. For more information, see [Create and add virtual machines to a lab](devtest-lab-add-vm.md).
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### Artifacts
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Artifacts are tools, actions, or software you can add to lab VMs during or after VM creation. For example, artifacts can be:
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- Tools to install on the VM, like agents, Fiddler, or Visual Studio.
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For more information, see [Add artifacts to DevTest Labs VMs](add-artifact-vm.md).
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Lab owners can specify mandatory artifacts to be installed on all lab VMs during VM creation. For more information, see [Specify mandatory artifacts for DevTest Labs VMs](devtest-lab-mandatory-artifacts.md).
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### Base images
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A base image is a VM image that can have software and settings preinstalled and configured. Base images reduce VM creation time and complexity. Lab owners can choose which base images to make available in their labs. Lab users can create VMs by choosing from the available bases. For more information, see [Create and add virtual machines to a lab](devtest-lab-add-vm.md).
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Lab administrators can specify mandatory artifacts to be installed on all lab VMs during VM creation. For more information, see [Specify mandatory artifacts for DevTest Labs VMs](devtest-lab-mandatory-artifacts.md).
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### Claimable VMs
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Lab owners or admins can prepare VMswith specific base images and artifacts, and save them to a shared pool. These claimable VMs appear in the lab's **Claimable virtual machines** list. Any lab user can claim a VM from the claimable pool when they need a VM with that configuration.
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Lab administrators can prepare VMswith specific configurations and save them to a shared pool, where they appear in the lab's **Claimable virtual machines** list. Any lab user can claim a VM from the claimable pool when they need a VM with that configuration.
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After a lab user claims a VM, the VM moves to that user's **My virtual machines** list, and the user becomes the owner of the VM. The VM is no longer claimable or configurable by other users. For more information, see [Create and manage claimable VMs](devtest-lab-add-claimable-vm.md).
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### Custom images and formulas
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In DevTest Labs, custom images and formulas are mechanisms for fast VM creation and provisioning.
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DevTest Labs custom images and formulas are mechanisms for fast VM creation and provisioning.
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- A custom image is a VM image created from an existing VM or virtual hard drive (VHD), which can have software and other artifacts installed. Lab users can create identical VMs from the custom image. For more information, see [Create a custom image from a VM](devtest-lab-create-custom-image-from-vm-using-portal.md).
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- A formula is a list of default property values for creating a lab VM, such as base image, VM size, virtual network, and artifacts. You can create VMs with the same properties without having to specify those properties each time. When you create a VM from a formula, you can use the default values as-is or modify them. For more information, see [Manage Azure DevTest Labs formulas](devtest-lab-manage-formulas.md).
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- A formula is a list of default property values for creating a lab VM, such as base image, VM size, virtual network, and artifacts. When you create a VM from a formula, you can use the default values as-is or modify them. For more information, see [Manage Azure DevTest Labs formulas](devtest-lab-manage-formulas.md).
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For more information about the differences between custom images and formulas, see [Compare custom images and formulas](devtest-lab-comparing-vm-base-image-types.md).
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For more information about custom images and formulas, see [Compare custom images and formulas](devtest-lab-comparing-vm-base-image-types.md).
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## Environments
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In DevTest Labs, an environment is a collection of Azure platform-as-a-service (PaaS) resources, such as an Azure Web App or a SharePoint farm. You can create environments in labs by using ARM templates. For more information, see [Use ARM templates to create DevTest Labs environments](devtest-lab-create-environment-from-arm.md). For more information about ARM template structure and properties, see [Template format](../azure-resource-manager/templates/syntax.md#template-format).
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A DevTest Labsenvironment is a collection of Azure platform-as-a-service (PaaS) resources, such as an Azure Web App or a SharePoint farm, defined by an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template. Lab administrators can add public or privately created environment tamplates to labs, and lab users can use them to quickly create environments. For more information, see [Use ARM templates to create DevTest Labs environments](devtest-lab-create-environment-from-arm.md).
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