Prerequisites for GenAIOps Labs

Before starting the labs in this course, ensure you have the following tools and accounts set up. This page provides links and instructions for installing everything you’ll need.

Required accounts

Azure subscription

You need an Azure subscription with access to Microsoft Foundry and Azure OpenAI services.

Note: Some Foundry resources are constrained by regional model quotas. If you encounter quota limits, you may need to deploy resources in a different region.

GitHub account

All labs use GitHub for version control and collaboration.

Required software

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is the primary code editor used throughout all labs.

Recommended extensions (install after VS Code setup):

Python 3.9 or later

Python is used for all agent development and scripting in the labs.

Tip: On macOS and Linux, you may need to use python3 instead of python.

Git

Git is required for version control and working with GitHub repositories.

Azure CLI

The Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is used to authenticate and interact with Azure services.

Platform-specific installation:

Azure Developer CLI (azd)

The Azure Developer CLI is used to provision Azure infrastructure and manage deployments.

Platform-specific installation:

  • Windows: 
    winget install microsoft.azd
  • macOS: 
    brew tap azure/azd && brew install azd
  • Linux: 
    curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/install-azd.sh | bash

Verification checklist

Before starting the labs, verify all prerequisites are installed:

# Check Visual Studio Code
code --version

# Check Python
python --version

# Check Git
git --version

# Check Azure CLI
az --version

# Check Azure Developer CLI
azd version

All commands should return version numbers without errors.

Authenticate with Azure

After installing the Azure CLI and Azure Developer CLI, authenticate with your Azure account:

# Authenticate Azure CLI
az login

# Authenticate Azure Developer CLI
azd auth login

Both commands will open a browser window for authentication. Sign in with your Azure credentials.

Troubleshooting

Common issues

Python command not found:

  • Verify Python is in your system PATH
  • Try using python3 instead of python
  • Reinstall Python and check “Add Python to PATH” option

Azure CLI authentication fails:

  • Clear cached credentials: az account clear
  • Try authenticating again: az login
  • Check your internet connection and firewall settings

azd command not recognized:

  • Restart your terminal after installation
  • Verify installation with: azd version
  • Check PATH environment variable includes azd installation directory

Git authentication issues with GitHub:

Regional considerations

Some Microsoft Foundry services have regional availability constraints:

  • Recommended regions for these labs: Sweden Central, East US, West Europe
  • Check model availability: Model availability by region
  • Quota limits: If you encounter quota issues, try deploying in a different region

Next steps

Once all prerequisites are installed and verified:

  1. Start with Lab 01: Infrastructure Setup
  2. Follow labs in sequence or jump to specific topics based on your learning path
  3. Need help or have questions? The community is here to support you - create an issue in the GitHub repository