Lab setup

Requirements

Component	Minimum
Azure subscription	Pay-as-you-go or Free Account ($200 credit)
Role	Contributor on the subscription
Azure CLI	2.60+ (az --version)
Azure PowerShell	Az 12.0+ (Get-InstalledModule Az)
GitHub Codespaces	Optional — pre-configured environment

Quick start with GitHub Codespaces

The fastest way to start is using our pre-configured Codespace:

The Codespace includes Azure CLI, PowerShell Az module, and all required tools pre-installed.

Local setup

# Install Azure CLI (if not already installed)
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli

# Login to Azure
az login

# Verify subscription
az account show --query "{name:name, id:id, state:state}" -o table

# Set the subscription (if you have multiple)
az account set --subscription "<subscription-id>"

# Register required resource providers
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Network --wait
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Compute --wait
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Storage --wait
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.OperationalInsights --wait

Resource group convention

All challenges use a consistent naming pattern:

# Create resource group for a challenge
az group create --name "rg-az700-challenge-XX" --location "eastus2"

Location selection

Use eastus2 or westus2 for all challenges — they have full availability of networking services including VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and Azure Firewall.

Cost management strategy

Per-domain estimated costs

Domain	Estimated total cost	Strategy
1. Core Networking	~$2–5	Low cost — mostly VNets, DNS zones, routing
2. Connectivity	~$10–20	VPN Gateways are ~$0.19/h — deploy, test, delete immediately
3. App Delivery	~$8–15	App Gateway and Front Door — use minimum SKU
4. Private Access	~$2–5	Low cost — Private Endpoints are ~$0.01/h
5. Network Security	~$10–25	Azure Firewall is expensive — delete after each challenge

Cost guardrails

# Set a budget alert (recommended: $50 for the entire AZ-700 lab series)
az consumption budget create \
  --budget-name "az700-labs" \
  --amount 50 \
  --time-grain Monthly \
  --category Cost \
  --resource-group "rg-az700-*"

# Check current spending
az consumption usage list \
  --query "[?contains(instanceName, 'az700')].{Name:instanceName, Cost:pretaxCost}" \
  --top 20 -o table

ExpressRoute challenges (19–21): simulation mode

ExpressRoute requires a physical circuit

ExpressRoute challenges are simulation-based. You will:

• Learn the CLI commands and configuration parameters
• Review expected outputs and verify understanding
• Practice with the configuration concepts without deploying actual circuits

Deploying an ExpressRoute circuit requires a connectivity provider and costs $55–$10,000+/month. The challenges show exact commands, expected outputs, and configuration patterns so you can master the material for the exam.

Expensive resources: deploy → test → delete

For VPN Gateways, Azure Firewall, and Application Gateways:

# After completing a challenge, IMMEDIATELY delete the resource group
az group delete --name "rg-az700-challenge-XX" --yes --no-wait

# Verify deletion
az group list --query "[?starts_with(name, 'rg-az700')]" -o table

Cleanup all AZ-700 resources

# Nuclear option: delete ALL AZ-700 resource groups
for rg in $(az group list --query "[?starts_with(name, 'rg-az700')].name" -o tsv); do
  echo "Deleting $rg..."
  az group delete --name "$rg" --yes --no-wait
done

echo "All AZ-700 resource groups queued for deletion"

Network-specific prerequisites

Some challenges require specific network conditions:

# Verify you can create VPN Gateways (check quota)
az network list-usages --location eastus2 \
  --query "[?contains(name.value, 'VirtualNetworkGateways')].{Name:name.localizedValue, Current:currentValue, Limit:limit}" \
  -o table

# Verify Public IP availability
az network list-usages --location eastus2 \
  --query "[?contains(name.value, 'PublicIPAddresses')].{Name:name.localizedValue, Current:currentValue, Limit:limit}" \
  -o table