Azure Local Operator Training¶
Under Construction
This training curriculum is actively being developed. Module framework is in place. Lab guides, slide decks, IaC templates, and the AI tutor are in progress.
Overview¶
A comprehensive, hands-on training curriculum for infrastructure operators managing Azure Local clusters through the Azure Arc management plane. The curriculum covers everything from initial cluster planning and cloud deployment through day-2 operations, security, hybrid integration, and advanced workloads (AKS, AVD, IoT Operations, AI Foundry Local).
Azure Local is the successor to Azure Stack HCI. This curriculum is built around the modern, cloud-first management model — Azure Portal and Azure Arc are the primary interfaces. Windows Admin Center (WAC) is covered in its situational role (operator fallback, Dell OMSWAC for AX hardware). SCVMM is a placeholder for enterprise coexistence scenarios.
This is a workshop-first curriculum. Most modules include hands-on labs, IaC templates, and demo scripts — not just slides.
Who Is This Training For?¶
| Audience | Description |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure Operators | Day-to-day cluster and VM management, storage, networking, monitoring |
| System Administrators | Windows Server / Hyper-V admins transitioning to Azure Local |
| Cloud Administrators | Azure admins extending cloud management to on-premises infrastructure |
| DevOps / Platform Engineers | Teams deploying AKS clusters and containerized workloads on Azure Local |
| VDI Administrators | Teams deploying Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure Local |
| Edge / IoT Operators | Teams deploying IoT Operations and AI Foundry Local workloads at the edge |
Prerequisites¶
- Azure fundamentals — Azure Portal, resource groups, subscriptions, RBAC
- Windows Server basics — Active Directory, DNS, DHCP
- Networking fundamentals — VLANs, subnets, IP addressing, switching
- Virtualization concepts — Hyper-V or any hypervisor
- PowerShell basics — ability to run and understand PowerShell commands
Curriculum — 20 Modules¶
The curriculum is organized into 20 modules across five learning tracks. Each module can be delivered independently or combined into a multi-day workshop. The day-by-day delivery schedule is built from these modules (see Delivery Programs).
Foundations¶
| # | Module | Level | Duration | Hands-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Introduction to Azure Local | L100 | 2h | Pres + demo |
| 01 | Planning & Sizing | L200 | 2h | Design exercise |
| 02 | Deployment | L200 | 4h | Lab |
| 03 | Management | L200 | 3h | Lab |
| 04 | Azure Arc — Infrastructure Deep Dive | L300 | 3h | Demo |
Infrastructure¶
| # | Module | Level | Duration | Hands-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05 | Compute (Hyper-V + Failover Clustering + Arc VMs) | L200-300 | 5h | Lab |
| 06 | Storage | L300 | 4h | Lab |
| 07 | Core Networking | L300 | 4h | Lab |
| 08 | Software Defined Networking (Arc-managed) | L300 | 4h | Lab |
Operations¶
| # | Module | Level | Duration | Hands-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09 | Security & Compliance | L300 | 5h | Lab |
| 10 | Observability & Monitoring | L200-300 | 3h | Lab |
| 11 | Troubleshooting | L300 | 4h | Lab/Demo |
| 12 | Business Continuity & DR (BCDR) | L300 | 4h | Lab |
| 13 | Day-2 Operations & Lifecycle | L300 | 4h | Lab |
Workloads¶
| # | Module | Level | Duration | Hands-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | AKS on Azure Local | L300 | 4h | Lab |
| 15 | Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure Local | L300 | 4h | Lab |
| 16 | IoT Operations on Azure Local | L300 | 3h | Lab |
| 17 | Azure AI Foundry Local | L300 | 3h | Lab |
Adoption¶
| # | Module | Level | Duration | Hands-on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Migration (VMware / Hyper-V → Azure Local) | L300 | 3h | Lab/Demo |
| 19 | SCVMM on Azure Local (Optional / Placeholder) | L300 | 2h | Presentation |
Total curriculum content: ~70 hours of presentation + lab time, delivered as multi-day workshops, online live sessions, or on-demand with the AI tutor.
Delivery Programs¶
Delivery programs are curated subsets of the 20 modules for specific audiences and time windows. Programs are defined in the strategic plan and will be published here as they're finalized.
The four delivery formats are:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| In-Person Workshop | Multi-day on-site delivery with dedicated lab environment per participant |
| Online Live | Scheduled virtual delivery via Teams/Zoom, same content, same labs |
| On-Demand Self-Paced | Module library with AI-narrated video and hands-on labs |
| AI-Led On-Demand | Interactive AI tutor (Claude-powered) that teaches modules and guides through labs |
Hands-On Labs¶
Every lab supports two environment options:
- Customer hardware — labs run against a customer's own Azure Local cluster
- Provided lab building solutions — Bicep / Terraform templates we provide that build a lab environment in Azure on demand, deployed by the student (self-guided / on-demand classes) or by the lab moderator (in-person workshops)
See Lab Environment Setup for full lab list and setup instructions.
Contributing¶
This training curriculum is an open-source project. Contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md in the repository root for details.