DevOps Roadmap
Master Linux, Git, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, AWS, Terraform & CI/CD pipelines with this comprehensive learning path designed for developers and sysadmins.
Your DevOps Learning Journey
Why Linux is Essential for DevOps
Linux powers over 90% of public cloud workloads and is the operating system of choice for servers, containers, and cloud infrastructure. As a DevOps engineer, you’ll spend most of your time working in Linux environments.
Key Areas to Master
Start with basic command line navigation (cd, ls, pwd) and progress to file permissions, process management, shell scripting (Bash), package management, and networking. Understanding Linux internals will help you troubleshoot performance issues and optimize system configurations.
Core Linux Concepts
- File System Hierarchy: Understand /etc, /var, /usr, /home directories
- Permissions: chmod, chown, and special permissions
- Process Management: ps, top, kill, systemd services
- Networking: netstat, ss, iptables/firewalld
- Shell Scripting: Automate tasks with Bash scripts
- Package Management: apt/yum/dnf for software installation
Version Control in DevOps
Git is the foundation of modern software development and DevOps practices. It enables collaboration, tracks changes, and integrates with CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment.
Beyond Basic Commits
Master advanced Git workflows like feature branching, rebasing, cherry-picking, and resolving merge conflicts. Understand how Git hooks can automate tasks and how to structure repositories for monorepos vs microservices.
Essential Git Skills
- Branching Strategies: Git Flow, GitHub Flow, Trunk-Based Development
- Collaboration: Pull Requests, Code Reviews, Forking Workflow
- Advanced Operations: rebase, cherry-pick, bisect, submodules
- Git Hooks: Automate pre-commit checks and deployment triggers
- Platform Integration: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket workflows
The Container Revolution
Docker solves the “it works on my machine” problem by packaging applications and dependencies into portable containers. Containers are lightweight, isolated, and consistent across environments.
From Dockerfiles to Orchestration
Start with creating Dockerfiles, building images, and running containers. Progress to Docker Compose for multi-container applications, Docker networking, volumes, and best practices for security and optimization.
Docker Core Concepts
- Images & Containers: Immutable images vs running containers
- Dockerfile: Create efficient, secure Docker images
- Docker Compose: Define and run multi-container apps
- Registry: Docker Hub, Azure Container Registry, ECR
- Networking: Bridge, host, overlay networks
- Storage: Volumes, bind mounts, tmpfs
Production-Grade Container Management
Kubernetes automates deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It handles load balancing, self-healing, rolling updates, and resource optimization across clusters.
K8s Architecture and Resources
Understand the master-worker node architecture, pods, services, deployments, configmaps, and secrets. Learn to use kubectl, write YAML manifests, and implement ingress controllers for external access.
Kubernetes Key Components
- Control Plane: API Server, etcd, Scheduler, Controller Manager
- Worker Nodes: Kubelet, Container Runtime, Kube-proxy
- Workloads: Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets
- Networking: Services, Ingress, Network Policies
- Storage: PersistentVolumes, PersistentVolumeClaims
- Configuration: ConfigMaps, Secrets
Automating the Software Delivery Pipeline
Jenkins is the most popular open-source automation server that enables developers to build, test, and deploy applications automatically. It integrates with virtually every tool in the DevOps ecosystem.
From Freestyle Jobs to Pipeline as Code
Start with creating simple freestyle jobs, then progress to Jenkins Pipeline (declarative and scripted). Learn to manage Jenkins agents, secure your installation, and implement blue-green deployments.
Jenkins Core Concepts
- Pipelines: Declarative vs Scripted, Jenkinsfile
- Agents: Masters, workers, and cloud agents
- Plugins: Extending Jenkins functionality
- Integrations: Git, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS
- Security: Role-based access control, credentials
- Best Practices: Pipeline libraries, shared libraries
The Leading Cloud Platform
AWS provides over 200 fully-featured services from data centers globally. Understanding AWS is essential as most organizations use cloud services for their infrastructure.
Core Services for DevOps
Focus on compute (EC2, Lambda), storage (S3, EBS), networking (VPC, Route 53), databases (RDS, DynamoDB), and management tools (CloudWatch, IAM). Learn to design highly available and scalable architectures.
AWS Services for DevOps
- Compute: EC2, ECS, EKS, Lambda, Fargate
- Storage: S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier
- Databases: RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache
- Networking: VPC, Route 53, CloudFront, API Gateway
- Management: CloudWatch, CloudFormation, IAM
- Integration: SNS, SQS, Step Functions
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Terraform allows you to define both cloud and on-prem resources in human-readable configuration files that you can version, reuse, and share. It manages the full lifecycle of infrastructure.
Declarative Infrastructure Management
Learn Terraform syntax (HCL), providers, state management, modules, and workspaces. Understand how to create reusable modules and implement best practices for team collaboration and production deployments.
Terraform Core Concepts
- Configuration: HCL syntax, resources, data sources
- State Management: terraform.tfstate, remote backends
- Modules: Reusable infrastructure components
- Providers: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes
- Workspaces: Environment isolation
- CI/CD Integration: Automated terraform apply
Bringing all DevOps tools together in an automated pipeline that delivers software from code to production.
True DevOps mastery comes from integrating all these tools into cohesive workflows. Focus on automation, measurement, and sharing. Start with a simple pipeline and gradually add complexity. Remember that DevOps is as much about culture and collaboration as it is about tools.
