--- title: "Working with environments" date: "2024-02-14T06:18:38+00:00" summary: "Discover how to effectively manage and utilize environments in Acquia Cloud Platform. Learn about different environment types, their purposes, and how to perform key tasks like code deployment, database management, and configuration." image: type: "page" url: "/acquia-cloud-platform/working-environments" id: "db4bf0d0-9dd2-4780-8a44-7fb05c5d54c9" --- Table of contents will be added The **Environments** page for an application displays each of the application’s [environments](/acquia-cloud-platform/glossary). For each environment, it displays controls and information about the environment’s code, databases, and files, as displayed in the following screenshot: ![cloud-platform_viewing-environments.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/295d25b4-8d89-4ced-8fe7-ee75fcda1e0e/web/cloud-platform_viewing-environments.png) About environments ------------------ Cloud Platform uses separate environments in order to help you maintain a clear and orderly workflow as you develop, test, and publish your applications. An application is deployed on each of its environments, but each environment may be in a different state, with its own database and possibly a different code branch or tag deployed. Each environment has a URL at which its application can be viewed, but only the Production environment’s URL is designed to be visible to the application’s users (website visitors). How many environments your application has depends on the level of your Acquia subscription. Environment Cloud Platform Enterprise Cloud Platform Professional Development (Dev) **✓** **✓** Staging (Stage) **✓** **✓** Production (Prod) **✓** **✓** [Additional environments](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/more-envs) **✓** **𐄂** Cloud Platform displays environments in the following order: * Dev, Stage, and Prod * Custom environments * [Remote Administration environments](/acquia-cms/ra/environment) * [Cloud Platform CD environments](/acquia-cloud-platform/features/cd/env) If your environment is running on [Cloud Next](/acquia-cloud-platform#cloud-next-benefits) technologies, you will also see the following highlighted icon: ![Icon that shows that this is a Cloud Next application.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/03046ca0-6c63-40da-ba63-ef060752d891/web/cloud-platform_cloud-next.jpeg) Managing environments --------------------- To view the **Overview** page of an environment, click the triangle in the [breadcrumbs menu](/acquia-cloud-platform/cloud-ui#cloud-breadcrumbs) on any page in the Cloud Platform interface to identify the environment you want to view, or click the name of the environment on the application’s **Environments** page. From the **Overview** page of an environment, you can complete the following tasks: * [Manage your code](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/code), including switching the tag or branch deployed on the environment, or deploying a tag or branch from a different environment. * [Manage your databases](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/database), including backing up and restoring databases, and copying databases from a different environment. * [Manage your files](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/files), including copying files from a different environment. * [Configure the environment](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/configure), including PHP settings, production mode, and more. * [Clear the Varnish® cache](/acquia-cloud-platform/performance/varnish#cloud-clear-varnish) for the environment. * Make a [fresh Drupal installation](/acquia-cloud-platform/create-apps/install) in the environment, overwriting your existing application code and database. * Activate [Live Development](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/code/livedev) mode for an environment. * [Rename](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/environments/actions#cloud-rename-env) the environment. * Understand your **Site health** by using [application performance monitoring](/acquia-cloud-platform/monitor-apps/apm). For Site Factory subscribers The **Environments** page for a Site Factory subscription doesn’t display most of these features because sites on that platform are managed differently. Only Site Factory subscribers can see the following links to the Site Factory Management Console: * [Update code](/site-factory/workflow/staging#acsf-deploy-code) for an environment. * [Refresh environment](/site-factory/workflow/staging), by deploying a clean copy of a website to a non-production environment. Information ----------- Your **Environments overview** page also contains basic information about the infrastructure. The **Information** section contains the following items: ![cloud-platform_viewing-the-information-section-on-the environment-overview-page.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/eb9dac2e-5edd-4e20-bae3-d2371f2b3866/web/cloud-platform_viewing-the-information-section-on-the%20environment-overview-page.png) * **Git URL**: Infrastructure Git URL (with a **Copy** link to copy the URL to your computer’s clipboard). * **SSH URL**: Infrastructure SSH URL (with a **Copy** link to copy the URL to your computer’s clipboard). * **Region**: Region in which this infrastructure is located. * **Production mode**: Displays if the production mode is enabled for the environment. * **PHP version**: Infrastructure’s installed version of PHP. * **Live development mode**: Whether [Live Development](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/code/livedev) mode is enabled for the environment. * This feature is not available for environments running on Cloud Next technologies. The **DNS Information** section contains the following items: ![cloud-platform_viewing-dns-information.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/92834404-22f9-47e4-a703-f1a53d780740/web/cloud-platform_viewing-dns-information.png) * **Apex domain**: IP addresses (_A records_) for the bare domain name. * **Subdomains**: Canonical name (**CNAME**), or a domain name that maps to the IP addresses listed in the **Apex domain** section.