Prereqs

Introduction

It is important that you can hit the grounds running when you attend one of the Azure Arc partner hacks.

There will be a brief level set at the start of day one, but there is an assumption that you will have a core understanding of Azure Landing Zones and the Azure Arc hybrid capabilities. See the Required reading section for recommended links.

The hack is designed for partners who want to understand how they can standardise their target landing zones for multiple customers with hybrid environments. There is a focus on multi-tenancy, scale and automation and therefore the tooling is important. Whilst we understand that different people have different preferences in tooling, we have made a few assumptions to make effective use of the limited time and that includes the use of bash commands to accelerate deployments.

Minimal config

It is possible to complete the whole hack using nothing but the Azure portal and Cloud Shell? Well yes, just about, but that is not our recommendation.

Why not? You will find a few limitations with Cloud Shell as you work through the labs. The Cloud Shell sessions are ephemeral, and are subject to timeouts and disconnections. The public IP address for the containers will change (these need to be added to firewalls for access to VMs and Key Vaults.)

If you are using Cloud Shell then use the Bash experience (rather than PowerShell) for these labs. It is recommended to use a new tab with https://shell.azure.com, and make sure you’re familiar with the Monaco editor.

Therefore we we have a fuller config that we recommend for the hacks. Read on to get set up.

Recommended config

Installation

• Install Windows Subsystem for Linux

  Open PowerShell as Administrator:

  wsl --install
  

• Install Windows Terminal

  If you cannot install from the Microsoft Store then follow the alternative instructions.

• Open the Ubuntu profile in Windows Terminal

  You will be prompted to create a local username and password on first use.

• Azure CLI

  Install the Azure CLI within Ubuntu.

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

• Extend the CLI with the connectedmachine sub-commands

  az extension add --name connectedmachine
  

• Install binaries

  Again, within Ubuntu.

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install jq git tree stress -y && sudo apt upgrade -y
  

• Install Visual Studio Code on Windows

• Install the vscode Remote Development extension pack

• Install the vscode Remote - Tunnels extension

Test the config

• Open Terminal

• Open Settings from the drop down and select Ubuntu as the default profile and Save

  

  Windows Terminal is highly configurable. Feel free to customise using the docs.

• Open Ubuntu from the drop down

• Test that you can connect to Azure

  az login
  

  The familiar browser authentication workflow should start. (The Azure CLI documentation will also open up.)

• Show your current subscription context

  az account show --output jsonc
  

  

• Create a working directory for the hack

  mkdir ~/archack
  

• Change to the new directory

  cd ~/archack
  

  Note that you can set the starting directory: Settings | Profiles | Ubuntu | Starting directory

• Open vscode

  code .
  

  Visual Studio Code will open the current directory.

  

  Note the ><WSL: Ubuntu at the bottom left. Your vscode session is using the Remote Extension.

• Feel free to explore the Get Started page if you have not used vscode before.

OK, your system is good to go!

Required reading

The hack will assume that you have a base understanding of Azure, Azure Arc, the Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Landing Zones for hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

1. Azure Arc product page
2. Azure Arc-enabled servers overview (including the video)
3. Explore the hybrid and multi-cloud scenario for the Cloud Adoption Framework

References

• https://azure.microsoft.com/services/azure-arc/#product-overview
• https://aka.ms/adopt/hybrid
• https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-arc/servers/
• https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-arc/servers/agent-overview#prerequisites
• https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/linux/quotas
• https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/manage-apps/grant-admin-consent

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