Lab setup

Every challenge requires an Azure subscription and command-line tools. This page walks you through both setup options.

Option 1: GitHub Codespaces (Recommended)

The fastest way to get started | everything is pre-installed.

Your Codespace comes pre-configured with:

• Azure CLI (latest) with Bicep support
• Azure PowerShell (Az module)
• jq and yq for JSON/YAML manipulation
• Git and GitHub CLI

GitHub Free accounts get 60 hours/month of Codespaces | more than enough to complete all challenges.

After opening Codespaces, log in to Azure:

# Login to Azure (opens a browser window)
az login --use-device-code

# Verify your subscription
az account show --output table

# Set your default subscription (if you have multiple)
az account set --subscription "YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME"

Option 2: local setup

If you prefer to work locally, install these tools:

Tool	Install Command	Purpose
Azure CLI	Install guide	Primary CLI tool
Bicep	az bicep install	Infrastructure as Code
PowerShell 7+	Install guide	Alternative CLI
Az PowerShell Module	Install-Module -Name Az -Force	Azure PowerShell cmdlets
jq	Install guide	JSON processing

Verify your setup:

az --version
az bicep version
pwsh --version
jq --version

Azure Subscription

You need an Azure subscription for all challenges except Challenge 07 (ARM/Bicep can be validated locally).

Free options

Option	Credit	Duration	Credit Card Required?
Azure Free Account	$200	30 days	Yes (not charged)
Azure for Students	$100	12 months	No
Visual Studio Subscription	$50-150/mo	Monthly	Depends on tier

Cost Management

All challenges include cleanup scripts. Always run cleanup after each challenge to avoid unexpected charges. Total cost for all 28 challenges is estimated at ~$5 with proper cleanup.

Resource naming convention

We use a consistent naming convention across all challenges:

rg-az104-challenge-XX        # Resource group per challenge
staz104chXXxxxx               # Storage accounts (globally unique)
vm-az104-XX                   # Virtual machines
vnet-az104-XX                 # Virtual networks

Quick setup script

Run this once to set up common variables used across all challenges:

# Set your preferred region
export LOCATION="eastus"

# Create a base resource group for shared resources
az group create --name rg-az104-shared --location $LOCATION

# Verify
az group list --output table

PowerShell equivalent

$Location = "eastus"
New-AzResourceGroup -Name "rg-az104-shared" -Location $Location
Get-AzResourceGroup | Format-Table

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Setup complete? Start with Challenge 01: Entra ID Users & Groups.