Overview

Azure OpenAI provides a secure, enterprise-grade way to use OpenAI’s models in your camelAI deployment. This guide walks you through the process of setting up Azure OpenAI and configuring the necessary models.

Prerequisites

  • An active Microsoft Azure account
  • Subscription with Azure OpenAI access (may require approval)

Step-by-Step Setup Process

1. Create an Azure OpenAI Resource

  1. Go to the Azure Portal
  2. Click Create a Resource
  3. Search for “openai”
  4. Click Azure OpenAI
  5. Click Create
  6. Fill in the required details:
    • Subscription: Select your Azure subscription
    • Resource group: Create new or select existing
    • Region: Choose East US2 (Global Standard). o3 is not available in other regions.
    • Name: Give your resource a unique name
    • Pricing tier: Select a pricing tier (Standard S0 is recommended)
  7. Click Review + create
  8. Click Create

2. Deploy Required Models

After your Azure OpenAI resource is created:

  1. Click Go to resource
  2. Click Azure AI Foundry portal
  3. Click Model catalog in the sidebar
  4. Deploy the following models (required for camelAI):
    • o3
    • gpt-4.1-mini
    • o3-mini

For each model:

  1. Click on the model name
  2. Click Deploy
  3. Use the default deployment name as provided by Azure
  4. Click Deploy
  5. Repeat for each required model

3. Get API Information

After deploying the models:

  1. Go to Home in the sidebar
  2. Copy the following information:
    • Azure OpenAI Service endpoint: This will be your AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT
    • API Key 1 or API Key 2: This will be your AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY

4. Configure camelAI

Update your .env.docker file with the Azure OpenAI settings:

# Azure OpenAI Settings
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=your_azure_endpoint
AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your_azure_api_key

Troubleshooting

Common issues:

  1. Models Not Available: Ensure the models are fully deployed and check deployment names match exactly what camelAI expects (default names)

  2. Authentication Errors: Double-check your API key and endpoint URL

  3. Rate Limit Errors: Azure OpenAI has rate limits. Consider adjusting your quota or upgrading your pricing tier

  4. Regional Availability: Some models may only be available in specific regions

Next Steps

After setting up Azure OpenAI:

  1. Configure Other Environment Variables
  2. Start Services
  3. Create a Superuser