Complete every item before your first session. If anything fails, post in the help channel with the exact error message.

2.1 Operating System

All tools in this program run on Linux. Choose your path:

WSL2 Installation (Windows only)

# Run in PowerShell as Administrator:
wsl --install
# Restart your machine, then open "Ubuntu" from the Start menu
# Set a Unix username and password when prompted

2.2 Required Tools

Docker Desktop

# macOS: download from https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop
# WSL2: install Docker Desktop for Windows, then enable WSL2 backend in settings
docker --version   # confirm installation
docker compose version

Python 3.11+

# WSL2 / Ubuntu:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv -y
python3 --version

# macOS (if not installed):
brew install python@3.11

PostgreSQL

# Start a PostgreSQL container (recommended — avoids local install issues):
docker run --name postgres-dev \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=bootcamp \
  -p 5432:5432 -d postgres:16

# Verify connection:
docker exec -it postgres-dev psql -U postgres -c "SELECT version();"

dbt Core

pip install dbt-postgres
dbt --version

Apache Airflow

# Use the official Docker Compose setup (easiest for local dev):
curl -LfO "https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/docker-compose.yaml"
mkdir -p ./dags ./logs ./plugins
echo "AIRFLOW_UID=$(id -u)" > .env
docker compose up airflow-init
docker compose up -d
# Open http://localhost:8080  (user: airflow, pass: airflow)

PySpark

pip install pyspark
python3 -c "from pyspark.sql import SparkSession; print(SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate())"

VS Code + Extensions

• ms-python.python — Python IntelliSense (mandatory)
• ms-toolsai.jupyter — Jupyter notebooks
• innoverio.vscode-dbt-power-user — dbt IntelliSense and model runner
• ms-ossdata.vscode-postgresql — PostgreSQL query runner
• mtxr.sqltools — General SQL client
• ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl — Connect VS Code to WSL2 (Windows only)

2.3 Verify Your Stack

python3 --version          # 3.11+
docker --version            # 24+
dbt --version               # 1.8+
psql --version              # 16+ (or via docker)
python3 -c "import pyspark; print(pyspark.__version__)"