README.md

Generic Documentation

Generic Build Instructions

Prerequisites

• Powershell 7+
• Azure Az Module
• Git
• Azure Subscription
• Bicep installed ( https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/bicep/install#install-manually )
• This repository cloned (git clone https://github.com/qxsch/HackboxConsole.git)
• You have:
  • a challenges directory: It containts *challenge*.md files (can also be within subdirectories).
  • a solutions directory: It containts *solution*.md files (can also be within subdirectories).
  • an optional lab directory: It contains:
    • an optional quota-requests.csv file defining the required Azure resources per subscription
    • an optional deploy-lab.ps1 script to deploy the environments per team (subscription or resource group based deployment)

Execution Steps

1. Create the Hackathon Console Users (in this example, we prepare logins for 4 teams with a single coach for each team)

   .\iac\createUsers.ps1 -numberOfTenants 4 -createCsvFiles
   # there are users-coaches.csv and users-hackers.csv, that you can use to share with the participants and coaches

2. Build the Hackathon Console and deploy it to Azure

   # select the appropriate subscription for the management resources
   Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId "management"
   # -SourceLabDir is optional, so:
   # either deploy the Hackathon Console WITH lab provisioning
   .\iac\deployHackerConsole.ps1 `
      -SourceChallengesDir C:\path\to\directory\challenges\ `
      -SourceSolutionsDir C:\path\to\directory\solutions\ `
      -SourceLabDir C:\path\to\directory\lab\
   # or deploy WITHOUT lab provisioning
   .\iac\deployHackerConsole.ps1 `
      -SourceChallengesDir C:\path\to\directory\challenges\ `
      -SourceSolutionsDir C:\path\to\directory\solutions\

3. Check the users.json file for the logins of the teams and coaches

4. To Setup a pre-built environment for the hack:

   1. Weeks before the Event

      1. Create the lab users:

         [!IMPORTANT]
         Please follow this guide to enable the TAP and set the maximum lifetime in days to satisfy the hackathon duration: Temporary Access Pass (TAP) authentication method

         $startDate = Get-Date "2025-12-12 08:00"
         $stopDate =  Get-Date -Date $startDate.addDays(2) -Hour 16
         # verify the dates
         Write-Host "Hackathon Start Date: $startDate"
         Write-Host "Hackathon Stop Date: $stopDate"
         # create the users in Entra ID
         # if you have a No Mfa group, add f.e. -additionalGroupnames @("NoMfaEnforcement") to the command below
         .\iac\azure\createEntraIdUsers.ps1 -hackathonStartDate $startDate -hackathonEndDate $stopDate

      2. Publish the user credentials to the Hackathon Console:

         # select the appropriate subscription for the management resources
         Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId "management"
         # deploy the Hackathon Console
         Get-Content .\createdEntraIdUserSettings.json | ConvertFrom-Json | .\iac\addMultipleCredentials.ps1

      3. Prepare the quota requests (if applicable):

         [!IMPORTANT]
         Do not forget to edit the csv file, in case you host multiple teams per subscription!!

         # submitting the quota requests from the csv file (optionally use: -csvFilePath .\quotaRequests.csv)
         .\iac\azure\processQuotaRequests.ps1

   2. Multiple Days before the Event

      1. Deploy the lab environments:

         # for a resource group based deployment (multiple teams per subscription)
         .\iac\azure\deployLabEnvironments.ps1 -managementGroupId "labsubscriptions" -subscriptionPrefix "traininglab-" -deploymentType "resourcegroup" -teamsPerSubscription 4
         # or for subscription based deployments
         .\iac\azure\deployLabEnvironments.ps1 -managementGroupId "labsubscriptions" -subscriptionPrefix "traininglab-" -deploymentType "subscription"

      2. Publish the additional credentials to the Hackathon Console (in case the deploy-lab.ps1 script created entries):

         # select the appropriate subscription for the management resources
         Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId "management"
         # deploy the Hackathon Console
         Get-Content .\createdLabUserSettings.json | ConvertFrom-Json | .\iac\addMultipleCredentials.ps1

      3. Test if everything is working as expected (resources got deployed, ...)

   3. After the Event

      1. Delete the lab environments:

            # as an alternative you can also delete all the resource groups
            .\iac\azure\removeAllResourceGroupsFromSubscriptions.ps1 -managementGroupId "labsubscriptions" -subscriptionPrefix "traininglab-"

      2. Delete old user accounts (if any):

         # delete old users
         .\iac\azure\deleteEntraIdUsers.ps1 -purgeUsers
         # remove orphaned role assignments
         .\iac\azure\removeOrphanedRoleAssignments.ps1 -includeResourceGroups

5. Collect the time tracking data for your participants after the event:

   # select the appropriate subscription for the management resources
   Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId "management"
   # collect the timing data
   .\iac\getTimings.ps1
   # do something useful with the timings.csv file
   # f.e. import it into Excel or PowerBI for further analysis on how to improve your next event