CCDC Training Lab

Prerequisites

Challenges come in three formats (see the **Format:** line at the top of each challenge README). What you need to install depends on the format and on your machine:

Format	Windows	Linux	Intel Mac	Apple Silicon Mac (M1–M4)
Vagrant (Linux)	VirtualBox	VirtualBox	VirtualBox	VMware Fusion
Vagrant (Windows/AD)	VirtualBox + Packer	VirtualBox + Packer	VirtualBox + Packer	❌ Not supported
Docker	Docker Desktop	Docker Engine	Docker Desktop	Docker Desktop

Vagrant (Linux) challenges detect your CPU architecture automatically and pick VirtualBox or VMware for you. The Windows/AD challenges run a Windows Server 2022 x86 VM, which can't run on Apple Silicon. Use an x86 machine (Windows, Linux, or Intel Mac) for those.

Hardware: At least 16 GB RAM (the Windows/AD VM alone takes 4 GB) and at least 60 GB free disk space.

Setup: Windows (x86)

1. Install VirtualBox.
2. Install Vagrant.
3. (Windows/AD challenges) Install Packer and make sure packer is on your PATH.
4. (Docker challenges) Install Docker Desktop.
5. RDP is built in: vagrant rdp opens the Remote Desktop client (mstsc).

If VirtualBox VMs fail to start or run very slowly, Hyper-V / WSL2 / Virtualization-Based Security may be holding the CPU's virtualization features. You can turn them off with bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off in an admin prompt (then reboot), but WSL2 and Docker Desktop stop working until you switch it back with bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto.

Setup: Linux (x86)

1. Install VirtualBox.
2. Install Vagrant.
3. (Windows/AD challenges) Install Packer.
4. (Docker challenges) Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin.
5. (Windows/AD challenges) Install an RDP client such as Remmina or xfreerdp.

Setup: Intel Mac (x86)

1. Install VirtualBox.
2. Install Vagrant.
3. (Windows/AD challenges) Install Packer (brew tap hashicorp/tap && brew install hashicorp/tap/packer).
4. (Docker challenges) Install Docker Desktop.
5. (Windows/AD challenges) Install Microsoft's Windows App (formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop) from the Mac App Store to RDP into the VM.

On first install, macOS may block VirtualBox's kernel extension. Allow it under System Settings → Privacy & Security, then reboot.

Setup: Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2/M3/M4)

VirtualBox does not work on Apple Silicon, so you must use VMware. Only Vagrant (Linux) and Docker challenges are supported.

⚠️ Windows/AD challenges can't run on Apple Silicon for now. Their Windows Server 2022 base box is x86-only and builds on VirtualBox only. Use an x86 machine (Windows, Linux, or Intel Mac) for any challenge whose README says **Format:** Vagrant (Windows/AD) or Vagrant (Windows).

1. Install VMware Fusion (free).
2. Install Vagrant.
3. Install the Vagrant VMware Utility. Download the macOS version, open the file, and run the standard installer.
4. Link Vagrant to VMware by running this command in your Mac terminal:

   vagrant plugin install vagrant-vmware-desktop

5. (Docker challenges) Install Docker Desktop.

Verify your setup

vagrant --version
vagrant plugin list      # Apple Silicon only: should list vagrant-vmware-desktop
packer --version         # Windows/AD challenges only
docker compose version   # Docker challenges only

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Quick Start

1. Clone this repo
2. cd into any challenge directory
3. Read the challenge's README.md for setup and challenge goals
4. Run vagrant up (or docker compose up for Docker challenges — check the README)
5. Windows/AD challenges only: the first run auto-builds the base box with Packer (~20–30 min)
6. Subsequent runs boot in ~2–3 minutes

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Usage

cd challenges/01-domain-controller-incident

vagrant up          # Start the challenge
vagrant rdp         # Connect via RDP (or use your RDP client to 192.168.56.10)
vagrant suspend     # Pause (saves state, fast resume)
vagrant resume      # Resume from suspend
vagrant destroy -f  # Delete and start over
vagrant up          # Rebuild fresh

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Credentials

Role	Username	Password
Local Admin	vagrant	vagrant
Domain Admin	CORP\Administrator	P@ssw0rd!

Setting	Value
RDP Port	3389
IP Address	192.168.56.10 (DC)

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Challenge Format

Each challenge directory contains:

File/Folder	Description
Vagrantfile	Defines the environment
README.md	Objectives, hints, scoring criteria
scripts/	Challenge-specific setup scripts

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Rebuilding the Base Box

If you need to rebuild the base box (e.g., after an update):

vagrant box remove ccdc/dc-base
cd challenges/any-challenge
vagrant up
# Packer will auto-rebuild

Or manually:

cd packer
packer init .
packer build .
vagrant box add ccdc/dc-base output/package.box --force

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Packaging Challenges for Distribution

To zip up a challenge for handing out (e.g. to screening candidates via Google Drive):

scripts/package-challenge.sh <challenge-dir-name> [--bundle candidate|instructor|both] [--offline] [--build-box]

Flag	Purpose
--bundle candidate|instructor|both	Which bundle(s) to produce (default: both)
--offline	Docker challenges only: bakes the built image(s) into the candidate bundle via docker save, so candidates don't need registry access
--build-box	Windows/AD and Linux-VM (Vagrant) challenges only: runs vagrant up + vagrant package to produce a pre-provisioned .box for the candidate bundle, since the provisioning script itself is the answer key. Slow — run once per challenge before its candidate bundle can be built

Output lands in dist/ at the repo root (gitignored). Run with no args for full usage.