Prerequisites

Required Tools¶

Azure Subscription¶

You'll need an Azure subscription with Contributor access. No subscription? Create a free account with $200 in credits.

Install & Verify¶

macOSWindowsLinux

# Git (if not already installed)
brew install git

# Azure CLI
brew install azure-cli

# Azure Developer CLI
curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/install-azd.sh | bash

# Python
brew install python@3.11

# uv (fast Python package manager)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Docker — install Docker Desktop from https://docker.com/products/docker-desktop

# Git
winget install Git.Git

# Azure CLI
winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI

# Azure Developer CLI
winget install microsoft.azd

# Python — download from https://python.org (check "Add to PATH")
# Or: winget install Python.Python.3.11

# uv (fast Python package manager)
powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

# Docker — install Docker Desktop from https://docker.com/products/docker-desktop

# Git
sudo apt install git

# Azure CLI
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

# Azure Developer CLI
curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/install-azd.sh | bash

# Python
sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3.11 python3-pip

# uv (fast Python package manager)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Docker
sudo apt install docker.io
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER  # log out and back in

Authenticate and verify everything:

macOS / LinuxWindows (PowerShell)

az login && az account show
azd auth login && azd auth login --check-status
python3 --version   # 3.10+
uv --version
docker ps            # Docker Desktop must be running
git --version

az login ; az account show
azd auth login ; azd auth login --check-status
python --version   # 3.10+
uv --version
docker ps           # Docker Desktop must be running
git --version

Tool	Docs
Azure CLI	Install guide
Azure Developer CLI	Install guide
Python	Downloads
uv	Documentation
Docker Desktop	Documentation

Recommended: VS Code Extensions¶

Download VS Code, then install these extensions:

GitHub Copilot — AI pair programming (used in Base Camp exploits)
Python — language support
Azure Tools — resource management
Bicep — Infrastructure as Code

Optional: Azure Functions Core Tools¶

Only needed to run and debug Azure Functions locally during Camps 3–4. The workshop deploys functions to Azure, so this is not required to complete the labs.

macOSWindowsLinux

brew tap azure/functions && brew install azure-functions-core-tools@4

winget install Microsoft.Azure.FunctionsCoreTools

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg
sudo mv microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-ubuntu-$(lsb_release -cs)-prod $(lsb_release -cs) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dotnetdev.list'
sudo apt update && sudo apt install azure-functions-core-tools-4

Verify: func --version — Install guide

What Each Camp Needs¶

Tool	Base Camp	Camp 1	Camp 2	Camp 3	Camp 4
Python 3.10+ & uv
Azure subscription
Azure CLI & azd
Docker
Functions Core Tools

Required | Optional (local debugging only)

Troubleshooting¶

Azure CLI: 'az' command not found

Restart your terminal, or run source ~/.bashrc / source ~/.zshrc (macOS/Linux). On Windows, restart PowerShell.

azd: Authentication failed

Log into both tools and verify:

az login
azd auth login
az account show
azd auth login --check-status

Python: wrong version or 'not found'

macOS often installs Python as python3. Try python3 --version. If multiple versions exist, use the full path or create an alias.

uv: Installation script fails

Download manually from GitHub releases, or fall back to pip install uv.

Docker: 'Cannot connect to the Docker daemon'

Make sure Docker Desktop is running — look for the Docker icon in your system tray / menu bar. On Linux, run sudo systemctl start docker.

Questions or issues? Open an issue on GitHub.