Skip to content

Setup Guide

Mandatory requirements and setup steps for Agentic InfraOps

📑 Table of Contents

Readiness Gate

Important

Run through this quick checklist to confirm you can participate. Every item marked "Blocks participation" must pass before the event starts. Items marked "Optional" enhance the experience but won't stop you.

# Check How to verify Blocks participation?
1 Copilot Pro+ or Enterprise license github.com/settings/copilot → confirms Pro+ or Enterprise Yes — custom agents require this tier
2 Azure subscription with Owner access az login && az account show → shows your subscription Yes — you cannot deploy without it
3 One subscription per team confirmed Ask your facilitator Yes — shared subscriptions are not supported
4 Azure quota in swedencentral az vm list-usage -l swedencentral -o table → sufficient vCPUs Yes — insufficient quota blocks deployment
5 Dev Container builds successfully F1 → "Reopen in Container" → tools load Yes — all challenge work happens inside the container
6 Custom agents visible in Copilot Chat Ctrl+Alt+I → agent dropdown shows InfraOps Conductor Yes — challenges depend on custom agents
7 Azure CLI authenticated inside container az account show inside Dev Container terminal Yes — deployment requires authentication
8 Repository created from template Your repo exists at github.com/<your-org>/<your-repo> (not a clone of this docs repo) Yes — you need your own working repo
9 Docker Desktop running docker --version Yes — required for Dev Container
10 Network access to Azure and GitHub Can reach portal.azure.com and github.com Yes — required throughout

Warning

If any "Blocks participation" item fails, resolve it before the event or contact your facilitator immediately. Do not wait until event day.

Who This Is For

  • Microhack participants: Complete the setup checklist and read "What to Expect" before event day.
  • Self-guided learners: Follow the same steps to explore the agentic workflow at your own pace.

Warning

Important: Your working repository is created from the azure-agentic-infraops-accelerator template, not from this documentation repository. If you cloned this repo directly, you have the wrong starting point.

What to Expect

Tip

TL;DR: 8 challenges in one day. You use AI agents to capture requirements, design architecture, generate Bicep, deploy to Azure, and present your solution. A DR curveball hits midway through.

The Microhack in 60 Seconds

Your team will build real Azure infrastructure — from business requirements through deployed resources — using AI agents instead of manual coding. You'll use GitHub Copilot custom agents that understand Azure best practices, the Well-Architected Framework, and Bicep Infrastructure as Code.

The flow: Requirements → Architecture → Bicep Code → Deploy → Documentation

The twist: Midway through, facilitators announce a curveball requirement (multi-region disaster recovery) that forces you to adapt your architecture.

What You'll Actually Do

Block You Will...
Intro (30 min) Meet your team, verify setup, learn the workflow
Challenges 1-2 (60 min) Capture requirements and design architecture with AI agents
Challenge 3 (45 min) Generate and deploy Bicep templates
Challenge 4 (45 min) Adapt to new DR requirements (the curveball!)
Challenges 5-7 (50 min) Load test, document, and diagnose
Challenge 8 (60 min) Present your solution to the group

Tip

See the full schedule in AGENDA.md.

Mindset Tips

  1. Let the agents drive — Resist the urge to write Bicep manually.
  2. Be specific in your prompts — "Create a hub-spoke network in swedencentral with Application Gateway" beats "Create some infrastructure."
  3. Iterate, don't restart — Refine in the same conversation rather than starting over.
  4. Read the artifacts — Review agent-output/{project}/ before the next challenge.
  5. Rotate roles — Each team member should drive at least one challenge.

Prerequisites

Warning

All items in this section are mandatory. The microhack cannot proceed without every prerequisite in place. Complete the Pre-Event Day Checklist to confirm readiness before the event.

Pre-Event Checklist

Important

Complete every item below before the event day. Arrive ready — there is no setup time built into the agenda.

  • [ ] Docker Desktop installed and running
  • [ ] VS Code 1.100+ with Dev Containers and GitHub Copilot Chat extensions
  • [ ] Azure CLI 2.50+ installed (az version)
  • [ ] PowerShell 7 installed (pwsh --version)
  • [ ] Git installed (2.40+)
  • [ ] GitHub account with Copilot Pro+ or Enterprise
  • [ ] Azure subscription with Owner access
  • [ ] Repository cloned locally
  • [ ] Dev Container image pulled and built (F1 → Reopen in Container)
  • [ ] Azure CLI authenticated (az login successful)
  • [ ] Custom agents enabled (VS Code setting)
  • [ ] Network access verified (no proxy issues)
  • [ ] Quota verified for Sweden Central
Software Requirements

Docker Desktop

GitHub Copilot custom agents run inside a Dev Container. You need Docker.

Installation Instructions

Install:

Verify:

docker --version
# Expected: Docker version 24.x or newer

Alternatives (if Docker Desktop licensing is an issue):

Visual Studio Code

Install: VS Code (version 1.100+)

The Dev Container auto-installs most extensions when it starts. You only need to install the following on your host machine before opening the container:

Extension ID Why host-only?
Dev Containers ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers Required to open any Dev Container at all
GitHub Copilot Chat github.copilot-chat Licensing and sign-in happen on the host; automatically installs github.copilot

Install all at once:

code --install-extension ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers
code --install-extension github.copilot-chat

Note

Extensions such as Bicep, Azure CLI Tools, PowerShell, and Azure Resource Groups are declared in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json and are installed automatically when the Dev Container image is built. No manual action needed for those.

Azure CLI

Required for authenticating to Azure, managing resources, running quota checks, and executing deployment scripts throughout the microhack.

Installation Instructions

Install:

  • Windows: Azure CLI installer
  • Mac: brew install azure-cli
  • Linux: curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

Verify:

az version
# Expected: azure-cli 2.50.0 or newer

Note

The Dev Container ships with the latest Azure CLI pre-installed. Install it locally only if you plan to use the CLI outside the container.

PowerShell 7

Required for deployment scripts, the prerequisite check script, and microhack cleanup. PowerShell 7 (pwsh) is distinct from Windows PowerShell 5.1 and must be installed separately.

Installation Instructions

Install:

Verify:

pwsh --version
# Expected: PowerShell 7.4 or newer

Note

The Dev Container ships with PowerShell 7 pre-installed. Install it locally only if you plan to run scripts outside the container.

Git

Installation Instructions

Install:

  • Windows: Git for Windows
  • Mac: brew install git or Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Linux: sudo apt install git or equivalent

Verify:

git --version
# Expected: git version 2.40 or newer
Account Requirements

GitHub with Copilot Pro+ or Enterprise

Warning

This microhack requires GitHub Copilot Pro+ or GitHub Copilot Enterprise. Custom agents are NOT available on Copilot Free, Copilot Pro, or Copilot Business.

Plan Custom Agents Compatible
Copilot Free No No
Copilot Pro No No
Copilot Business No No
Copilot Pro+ Yes Yes
Copilot Enterprise Yes Yes

Compare plans: GitHub Copilot Plans

Tip

GitHub Copilot can be billed directly through your Azure subscription. See [Copilot Azure billing][copilot-azure-billing] for setup instructions.

Verify:

  1. Go to github.com/settings/copilot
  2. Confirm your subscription shows Pro+ or Enterprise
  3. Ensure "Copilot Chat in the IDE" is enabled

Setup guide: VS Code Copilot Setup

Azure Subscription

Warning

This is a Bring-Your-Own-Subscription event. No Azure subscriptions will be provided.

Compatible subscription types:

Subscription Type Compatible
Azure in CSP Yes
Enterprise Agreement (EA) Yes
Pay As You Go Yes
Visual Studio subscription Yes
Azure Free Account (with Credit Card) Yes
Azure Pass No

Requirements:

  • One Azure subscription per team — this is the only supported model. Shared subscriptions cause naming collisions, RBAC confusion, and accidental cross-team interference. Do not share a subscription across teams.
  • Owner role on the subscription is required so that facilitators can deploy Azure Policy assignments for the governance challenges. If your organisation restricts Owner, the minimum alternative is Contributor plus Resource Policy Contributor — but Owner is strongly recommended.
  • Sufficient quota — see Azure Quota Requirements below

Verify:

az login
az account list --output table

Post-Event Cleanup

Warning

The team lead is responsible for cleanup. Before leaving the event, the team lead must delete all team resources and confirm cleanup is complete. Do not leave resources running overnight.

Cleanup steps:

  1. Delete all resource groups created during the microhack:
az group delete -n rg-freshconnect-dev-swc --yes --no-wait
# Repeat for any additional resource groups (e.g., secondary region)
az group delete -n rg-freshconnect-dev-gwc --yes --no-wait
  1. Ask your facilitator to remove governance policies (or, if you have Owner access):
pwsh -File scripts/Remove-GovernancePolicies.ps1 -Subscription "<subscription-name-or-id>"
  1. Verify cleanup is complete:
az group list --query "[?starts_with(name, 'rg-freshconnect')]" -o table
# Expected: empty result

Deadline: Cleanup must be confirmed before the team leaves the event venue.

Handling Secrets Safely

Warning

Throughout the microhack you will work with Azure credentials, connection strings, and API keys. Follow these rules to prevent accidental leakage.

  • Never paste real passwords, connection strings, access keys, or tokens into Copilot Chat prompts.
  • Never commit secrets to your repository. Use placeholders like <your-connection-string> in code and documentation.
  • Use environment variables or Key Vault for any values your deployment scripts need at runtime.
  • If you accidentally expose a secret: rotate it immediately (az keyvault secret set, regenerate storage keys, etc.) and notify your facilitator.
  • Review agent output before committing — agents may echo sensitive values from your terminal session.

Dev Container

Important

Pull and build the Dev Container image before the event day. The first build downloads ~1–2 GB of layers and takes 3–5 minutes. Doing this on-site wastes time and strains shared Wi-Fi. Complete Setup Steps in advance.

The repo includes a Dev Container with all tools pre-installed. It works with VS Code Dev Containers (local Docker) and GitHub Codespaces (cloud).

Tools Included
Tool Version Purpose
Azure CLI (az) Latest Azure resource management
Bicep CLI Latest Infrastructure as Code
GitHub CLI (gh) Latest Repository and PR management
Node.js + npm 20.x Linting, validation scripts
Python 3 + pip 3.12+ Diagram generation, MCP server
PowerShell 7.x Microhack scripts, deployment
Git Latest Version control
Configuration Files
File Purpose
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json Container definition and VS Code settings
.vscode/extensions.json Recommended VS Code extensions
Customization

Add a VS Code extension — append to .vscode/extensions.json:

{
  "recommendations": ["your-publisher.your-extension"],
}

Install additional tools — add to postCreateCommand in devcontainer.json:

{
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install && pip install -r requirements.txt",
}

Pass environment variables:

{
  "remoteEnv": {
    "AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID": "${localEnv:AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID}",
  },
}
GitHub Codespaces
  1. Create your own repository from the azure-agentic-infraops-accelerator template
  2. Open your new repository on GitHub
  3. Click Code → Codespaces → Create codespace on main
  4. Wait for the container to build (first time takes 2-3 minutes)

Setup Steps

Important

Complete all steps below before the event day. Steps 1 and 2 pull and build the Dev Container image (~1–2 GB download). Do not leave this for the morning of the event.

1. Create Your Repo and Open It
  1. Go to the azure-agentic-infraops-accelerator template
  2. Click Use this template → Create a new repository
  3. Clone your new repository and open it in VS Code:
git clone https://github.com/<your-org-or-user>/<your-new-repo>.git
cd <your-new-repo>
code .
  1. If the repository still contains template placeholders, run npm run init:template from the repo root. If you do not have Node.js locally, run it after reopening in the dev container.

When VS Code opens, accept the "Reopen in Container" prompt.

2. Pull and Build the Dev Container

Warning

Do this before the event. The initial image pull and build takes 3–5 minutes and requires a reliable internet connection. On the event day, skip straight to step 3.

  1. Press F1 → type "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container"
  2. Wait for the container to build (watch progress in the terminal)
  3. Once complete, verify tools:
az version        # Expected: 2.50+
bicep --version   # Expected: 0.20+
pwsh --version    # Expected: 7+
3. Authenticate with Azure 
az login
az account set --subscription "<your-subscription-id>"
az account show --query "{Name:name, SubscriptionId:id, TenantId:tenantId}" -o table
4. Enable Custom Agents

Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,) and add:

{
  "github.copilot.chat": {
    "customAgentInSubagent": {
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
5. Verify Prerequisites - skip this step

Verify the core tools manually:

az version
bicep --version
node --version
npm --version
gh --version
6. Start the Workflow

Open Copilot Chat (Ctrl+Shift+I) and select InfraOps Conductor:

Describe the Azure infrastructure project you want to build.

The Conductor guides you through all 7 steps with approval gates:

  1. Requirements — capture what you need
  2. Architecture — WAF assessment and cost estimate
  3. Design — diagrams and ADRs (optional)
  4. Planning — Bicep implementation plan with governance
  5. Code — AVM-first Bicep templates
  6. Deploy — Azure provisioning with what-if preview
  7. Documentation — as-built suite

Explore complete sample artifacts in the agent-output/_sample/ directory (created during the workshop).

Network Requirements

Ensure your network allows outbound HTTPS to:

Service Domains
GitHub github.com, api.github.com
GitHub Copilot copilot.github.com, *.githubusercontent.com
Azure *.azure.com, *.microsoft.com, login.microsoftonline.com
Docker docker.io, registry-1.docker.io

Azure Quota Requirements

Warning

Verify your subscription has sufficient quota BEFORE the microhack.

Per-Team Resource Requirements
Resource Type Quantity SKU/Tier Region
Resource Groups 1-2 N/A Sweden Central
App Service Plans 1 P1v4 or S1 Sweden Central
App Services (Web Apps) 1-2 N/A Sweden Central
Azure SQL Server 1 N/A Sweden Central
Azure SQL Database 1 S0 or Basic Sweden Central
Storage Accounts 1-2 Standard_LRS Sweden Central
Key Vault 1 Standard Sweden Central
Application Insights 1 N/A Sweden Central
Log Analytics Workspace 1 Per-GB Sweden Central
Optional Advanced Resources
Resource Type Quantity SKU/Tier Region
Azure Front Door 1 Standard or Premium Global
Application Gateway 1 Standard_v2 or WAF_v2 Sweden Central
Web Application Firewall (WAF) 1 N/A (part of AppGW) Sweden Central
Traffic Manager 1 N/A Global
Azure Container Registry 1 Basic or Standard Sweden Central
Challenge 4 — DR Additional Resources
Resource Type Quantity SKU/Tier Region
Resource Groups 1 N/A Germany West Central
App Service Plans 1 P1v4 or S1 Germany West Central
App Services (Web Apps) 1 N/A Germany West Central
Azure SQL Database (replica) 1 S0 or Basic Germany West Central
Storage Accounts (GRS) 1 Standard_GRS Sweden Central
Multi-Team Shared Subscription (4 teams)
Resource Type Total
Resource Groups 8-12
App Service Plans 8
App Services (Web Apps) 8-12
Azure SQL Servers 4
Azure SQL Databases 8
Storage Accounts 8-12
Key Vaults 4
Application Insights 4
Log Analytics Workspaces 4
Checking and Increasing Quotas

Azure Portal: Search "Quotas" → filter by region → review per resource type.

Azure CLI:

az vm list-usage --location swedencentral --output table
az storage account list --query "length(@)"

Common issues:

Issue Solution
"Subscription not registered" az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Web
"Quota exceeded" Request increase via Azure Portal → Quotas
"Region not available" Use alternative region or request access
"SKU not available in region" Try a different SKU tier

Warning

Request quota increases at least 1 week before the microhack to ensure approval.

Estimated Event Costs
Configuration Estimated Cost (~8 hours)
Single team (basic) €5-10
Single team (with DR) €10-20
4 teams (shared sub) €30-50

Important

Delete all resources immediately after the microhack. Delete the resource groups created for the event, or use your own cleanup automation if your workshop fork includes it.

Pre-Microhack Verification 
az login
az account set --subscription "<your-subscription-id>"
az group create --name rg-quota-test --location swedencentral
az group delete --name rg-quota-test --yes --no-wait

First 10 Minutes on Event Day

  1. Open VS Code → Reopen in Container (if not already running)
  2. Verify Azure auth: az account show
  3. Open Copilot Chat (Ctrl+Alt+I) → confirm agents appear in the dropdown
  4. Read the Workshop Prep to understand the scenario and team roles
  5. Assign team roles using the role cards in Workshop Prep

Troubleshooting Quick Fixes

Problem Fix
Docker won't start Windows: ensure WSL 2 is enabled. Mac: check virtualization. Restart Docker.
Copilot not working Sign out and back in with the correct GitHub account. Reload VS Code.
Azure CLI login fails Use device code flow: az login --use-device-code
Dev Container build fails F1 → "Dev Containers: Rebuild Container Without Cache". Check Docker has 4 GB+ RAM.
Agents not in dropdown Verify customAgentInSubagent is enabled. Reload VS Code window.

See Troubleshooting for a complete reference.

Next Steps