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We’re thrilled to announce that Jumpstart HCIBox has been rebranded to Jumpstart LocalBox, aligning with the broader Azure Local rebranding introduced at Microsoft Ignite 2024.

🎁 Why the Rebrand?

The transition from HCIBox to LocalBox reflects our evolving mission: to support a broader spectrum of edge and on-premises deployments. While HCIBox was originally focused on Azure Stack HCI, Jumpstart LocalBox embraces the expanding needs of hybrid and edge solutions under the Azure Local umbrella.

LocalBox delivers a streamlined, one-click sandbox experience for exploring the full power of Azure Arc in localized environments. It’s tailored for IT pros, DevOps engineers, solution architects, and anyone that is looking to get hands-on with Azure Local and Arc-enabled infrastructure and services, whether in a datacenter, remote branch office, or at the edge.

🛠️ Use cases

LocalBox is a turnkey solution that provides a complete sandbox for exploring Azure Local capabilities and hybrid cloud integration in a virtualized environment. It is designed to be completely self-contained within a single Azure subscription and resource group, which will make it easy for a user to get hands-on with Azure Local and Azure Arc without the need for physical hardware.

We have seen our users using LocalBox in several ways:

• Sandbox environment for getting hands-on with Azure Local and Azure Arc technologies


• Accelerator for Proof-of-concepts or pilots


• Training tool for skills development


• Demo environment for customer presentations or events


• Rapid integration testing platform

🤝 Most Deployed, Most Engaged

Jumpstart LocalBox holds a special place in our community. It’s our most deployed solution across Jumpstart, with hundreds of automated deployments every month and the highest engagement levels across our GitHub repositories. It’s trusted by users worldwide to explore and validate hybrid cloud and edge architectures in a real-world-like environment.

 What’s 🆕?

• Updated Documentation and Assets: All references to HCIBox have been updated to LocalBox across our documentation, ensuring consistency and clarity.


• Autologon by default: LocalBox Deployments now initialize without the need for user to log into the VM.


• Support for Standard E32s v6 VM Size (Default): We’ve added support for the Standard_E32s_v6 VM size and set it as the new default for LocalBox deployments – offering improved performance and value. For those who prefer it, Standard_E32s_v5 remains fully supported.


• Enhanced User Experience: We’ve refreshed the user interface and experience to align with the new branding, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.

🛣️ Roadmap

Looking ahead, LocalBox roadmap looks promising with some exciting features and capabilities: 

• Support for LocalBox Client VM and Azure Local cluster in separate regions 🌏


• Azure Spot VM support 💵 ⬇️


• Remove service principal dependency and transition to Managed Identity (coming soon!) 🔑


• netsh NAT mappings for easier access to nested VMs on Azure Local cluster 🛜


• Graceful shutdown 🛑


• Dedicated PowerShell modules 💾

As always, enjoy Jumpstart and let us know if you have a question or an issue, we will get right on it!