03 · LAB · POSTGRESHELP LABS

Windows workstation setup, steps 02–08

Generic, repeatable install and verification steps for the tools used through the rest of this course — VS Code, Git, GitHub, Copilot, AWS CLI, and Terraform. Each section explains why the step matters before showing the command, then how to read the result.

VS Code Setup

Install Visual Studio Code and the extensions used for Terraform, Ansible/YAML, and SQL editing.

MENTAL MODEL

VS Code itself is just a text editor. Every tool-specific capability — Terraform syntax highlighting, Copilot completions — comes from an extension, installed separately. "Installing VS Code" and "being ready to write Terraform" are two different checkpoints.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ Windows 10/11, admin rights on the machine
✓ Stable internet connection, ~1 GB free disk space

Extensions to install

HashiCorp Terraform
YAML (Red Hat) — for Ansible/Liquibase files
GitLens
GitHub Copilot (covered in 05)

Why these four?

Each one matches a file type you'll actually edit in this course: .tf, .yml, and Git history — not a generic "useful extensions" list.

Download and run the installer

code.visualstudio.com → Windows (User Installer). Accept the license, keep defaults, and check "Add to PATH" — this lets you run code from any terminal.

Install the extensions from the command line

WHY THIS COMMAND?Doing this via CLI instead of clicking through the Extensions panel means you can paste the same three lines onto a second machine and get an identical setup — no memory required.

PS C:\Users\hp> code --install-extension hashicorp.terraform
PS C:\Users\hp> code --install-extension redhat.vscode-yaml
PS C:\Users\hp> code --install-extension eamodio.gitlens

EXPECTED RESULT

Look fora version/commit/architecture triple, three lines, no error text.

If it fails"not recognized" means the installer's "Add to PATH" step was skipped — reinstall and check that box.

PS C:\Users\hp> code --version
1.94.2
5a0e0b3...
x64

Git Installation & Configuration

Install Git for Windows and set your identity so commits are attributed correctly.

MENTAL MODEL

"Installed" and "configured" are two separate checkpoints. Git works the moment it's installed — but every commit needs an author, and Git won't invent one for you. Skipping config just defers the error to your first commit instead of catching it now.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ VS Code installed (topic 02) — not required for Git itself, but you'll want an editor open next

Download and install Git for Windows

git-scm.com/download/win. Keep the default editor unless you have a preference, and select "Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software" for the PATH option.

Set your identity

WHY THIS COMMAND?Every commit needs a name and email — this is what shows up in git log and on GitHub. --global means every repo on this machine, not just this one.

PS C:\Users\hp> git config --global user.name "Y_USER_NAME"
PS C:\Users\hp> git config --global user.email "Y_USER_EMAIL"

EXPECTED RESULT

git config --listshows user.name=... and user.email=... echoing back what you just set.

Empty output?You forgot --global, or you're inside a repo with its own local override.

PS C:\Users\hp> git config --list
user.name=Y_USER_NAME
user.email=Y_USER_EMAIL
core.autocrlf=true

PS C:\Users\hp> git --version
git version 2.47.0.windows.1

GitHub Login

Authenticate Git and VS Code against your GitHub account so pushes don't prompt for a password every time.

MENTAL MODEL

Git identity (topic 03: who wrote this commit) and GitHub authentication (this topic: who's allowed to push it) are unrelated. You can have a perfectly configured name/email and still be rejected on push if you've never authenticated.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ Git installed and identity configured (topic 03)
✓ A GitHub account, and a remote already added via git remote add origin

Sign in from VS Code

Click the account icon (bottom-left) → Sign in with GitHub. This opens your browser for OAuth consent, then hands a token back to VS Code and to Git Credential Manager.

First push triggers the credential prompt

WHY THIS COMMAND?git push -u does two things at once: pushes the commits, and remembers this branch's remote pairing so future push/pull need no arguments.

PS C:\Users\hp> git push -u origin master
info: please complete authentication in your browser...
Enumerating objects: 9, done.
...
branch 'master' set up to track 'origin/master'.

EXPECTED RESULT

Look for"Hi Y_USER_NAME! You've successfully authenticated"

What it meansYour local SSH/token identity is now trusted by GitHub — not the same as Git commit identity from topic 03.

PS C:\Users\hp> ssh -T [email protected]
Hi Y_USER_NAME! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

GitHub Copilot Setup

Copilot piggybacks on the GitHub login from step 04 — no separate credentials needed.

MENTAL MODEL

One login, three tools: VS Code's auth session → GitHub OAuth token → Copilot extension reuses that same token → Copilot's backend validates your subscription against it. There's nothing to separately "log into" for Copilot.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ Signed into GitHub from VS Code (topic 04)
✓ An active Copilot subscription or trial on your GitHub account

Install the extensions

PS C:\Users\hp> code --install-extension GitHub.copilot
PS C:\Users\hp> code --install-extension GitHub.copilot-chat

Reload — it should just work

Because you're already signed into GitHub, Copilot picks up the same session automatically. If not, click the Copilot icon in the status bar → Sign in to use Copilot.

EXPECTED RESULT

Look fora greyed-out inline suggestion within a second or two of typing a comment in any code file.

Nothing appears?Check the Copilot status-bar icon for an error badge — usually means the subscription check failed, not the extension.

AWS CLI Setup

Install the AWS CLI v2 — Terraform's AWS provider can use its config, and it's needed for verification commands throughout this course.

MENTAL MODEL

Installing the CLI and authenticating it (topic 07) are two different steps — this topic only gets you the aws command itself. Running aws anything before topic 07 will fail on credentials, not on installation.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ Admin rights to run the MSI installer

Download and run the MSI installer

awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.msi. Accept defaults — it installs to C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLIV2 and adds itself to PATH.

Open a new terminal

PATH changes only apply to new shells — close and reopen PowerShell/VS Code terminal before verifying.

EXPECTED RESULT

Look foran aws-cli/2.x version string.

PS C:\Users\hp> aws --version
aws-cli/2.19.0 Python/3.12.6 Windows/10 exe/AMD64 prompt/off

AWS Authentication

Store credentials locally so both the AWS CLI and Terraform's AWS provider can find them.

MENTAL MODEL

Terraform never asks you for AWS keys directly — it delegates entirely to the AWS SDK's standard credential chain. Whatever aws configure writes to disk here is the same file Terraform reads later. Get this step right and topic 01 "just works"; get it wrong and every Terraform error will look like a Terraform problem when it's actually this.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ AWS CLI installed (topic 06)
✓ An IAM user with programmatic access enabled in the AWS Console

Create an IAM access key

AWS Console → IAM → your user → Security credentials → Create access key. Choose "Command Line Interface (CLI)." Save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key shown once.

Run `aws configure`

WHY THIS COMMAND?This writes the [default] profile to %USERPROFILE%\.aws\credentials and ...\.aws\config — the exact files the credential chain below reads.

PS C:\Users\hp> aws configure
AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIA................
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: ****************************
Default region name [None]: us-east-1
Default output format [None]: json

terraform apply
      │
      ▼
Terraform AWS Provider
      │
      ▼
AWS SDK credential chain
      │
      ├── Environment variables? (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID / AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY)
      │       └── none set
      │
      ├── --profile flag or AWS_PROFILE env var?
      │       └── none set → falls back to "default"
      │
      ├── Shared credentials file?
      │       └── %USERPROFILE%\.aws\credentials
      │
      ▼
C:\Users\hp\.aws\credentials
      │
      ▼
[default]
aws_access_key_id = AKIA................
aws_secret_access_key = ****************************
      │
      ▼
AWS API (signed request)

Security note — the credentials file is plaintext on disk. Never commit .aws/ to git, and prefer short-lived SSO credentials (aws configure sso) over long-lived access keys where supported.

EXPECTED RESULT

Look fora JSON block with Account and Arn — this is "who am I," not "what can I do."

If it fails"Unable to locate credentials" means aws configure either wasn't run or wrote to a profile you're not using.

PS C:\Users\hp> aws sts get-caller-identity
{
    "UserId": "AIDAEXAMPLE...",
    "Account": "123456789012",
    "Arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/hp"
}

Terraform Installation

Follow HashiCorp's official Windows installation docs — summarized here for reference.

MENTAL MODEL

Terraform itself is just a single binary with no runtime dependency — it doesn't need AWS credentials to install or exist. Everything from topic 07 only matters the moment you run terraform apply against a real provider.

BEFORE YOU START

✓ Admin rights, or a package manager (choco/winget) already installed

Get the binary

developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/install, or via a package manager:

PS C:\Users\hp> choco install terraform
# or
PS C:\Users\hp> winget install HashiCorp.Terraform

Add to PATH (manual installs only)

Unzip terraform.exe into a folder (e.g. C:\terraform) and add that folder to your System PATH. Package-manager installs do this automatically.

Reference — full official steps, including checksum verification, are in HashiCorp's docs: developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/install.

EXPECTED RESULT

Look for"Terraform v1.9.x on windows_amd64" — this is topic 01's actual starting point.

PS C:\Users\hp> terraform -version
Terraform v1.9.8
on windows_amd64

CAN I EXPLAIN THIS? (topics 02–08)

What's the difference between Git identity (03) and GitHub authentication (04)? Why does Copilot need no separate login of its own? Which file does aws configure write to, and who else reads it? Why would a Terraform auth error in topic 01 actually be a topic 07 problem? What does -u on git push actually set up for future pushes? Without looking — list all 7 tools from 02–08 in the order they were installed, and why that order matters.

VS Code Setup

Extensions to install

Why these four?

Download and run the installer

Install the extensions from the command line

Git Installation & Configuration

Download and install Git for Windows

Set your identity

GitHub Login

Sign in from VS Code

First push triggers the credential prompt

GitHub Copilot Setup

Install the extensions

Reload — it should just work

AWS CLI Setup

Download and run the MSI installer

Open a new terminal

AWS Authentication

Create an IAM access key

Run aws configure

Terraform Installation

Get the binary

Add to PATH (manual installs only)

Run `aws configure`