Introduction

This is how I navigate my journey in the field of DevOps. For individuals with a background in computer science, the transition into DevOps can be more seamless and intuitive. This is because they already possess a foundational understanding of programming, systems architecture, and software development processes, which are crucial in DevOps. To embark on a successful DevOps journey, it is essential to be aware of certain prerequisites and to follow a structured roadmap that covers the core aspects of DevOps. These prerequisites include a solid grasp of programming languages, familiarity with version control systems, and an understanding of continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Additionally, knowledge of cloud platforms, containerization, and orchestration tools is highly beneficial. By following this comprehensive DevOps roadmap, you can effectively build the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in this dynamic and evolving field.

DevOps Pre-requisites roadmap

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Operating System

Understanding operating systems is crucial for anyone looking to excel in DevOps. You should be familiar with both Windows and Ubuntu (or any Linux distribution), as these are commonly used in various environments. Here are some key areas to focus on:

• File System

• Memory/Storage

• I/O Management

• Process Management

• Threads and Concurrency

• Virtualization

GitOps

• Introduction to Git , Source Control

• GitHub and other version control systems

• Git Operations and branching techniques

• Git Advanced Features : Stash , Cherrypick , Rebase , Bisect

• Git Remote Operations : Fetch , Pull , Push and Pull Requests

Programing Language

• Learn the basics of the programming language, including data types, variables, control structures, functions, and error handling.

• Aim to create a program that shows intermediate-level skills, focusing on writing, building, and deploying the application.

• Focus on compiling and building applications from source code using tools like gcc and make.

• Practice with at least one compiled language (e.g., C or C++) and one interpreted language (e.g., Python or JavaScript) to understand different programming paradigms and build processes.

Shell Scripting

Bash scripting

• Structure of Bash

• Functions

• Variables

• Loops

• Conditional Statements

By understanding these core components, you will be able to write efficient and effective Bash scripts to automate tasks and manage system operations.

Text manipulation

• AWK, sed, grep, sort

• uniq, cat, cut, paste, wc, etc.

Database

NoSQL

• MongoDB

  MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database known for its flexibility and scalability. It stores data in a JSON-like format and doesn't need a predefined schema, allowing easy changes. This is useful for handling large or changing data. MongoDB supports powerful querying and indexing, making it efficient for data management. It's widely used in web apps, real-time analytics, and big data processing due to its ability to scale across servers.

  Cassandra

  Apache Cassandra is a strong NoSQL database for handling large data across many servers, ensuring high availability without a single point of failure. It's ideal for fast, reliable data access in social media, IoT, and financial services. Its peer-to-peer architecture and column-family data model offer fault tolerance, scalability, and efficient data handling, making it perfect for high-throughput applications with minimal downtime.

SQL

• MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL

  • These are popular relational database management systems (RDBMS) known for reliability and community support. MySQL and MariaDB are fast and user-friendly, ideal for web apps and small projects. PostgreSQL offers advanced features for complex, large-scale applications.

  • The main goal is to understand basic database concepts, including data storage, retrieval, indexing, and relational database principles.

  • The secondary goal is to learn how database administrators automate tasks in 2023, using tools for backups, performance monitoring, and scaling to ensure efficient operations.

Networking

• OSI Model

• DNS (Domain Name System)

• HTTP and HTTPS

• FTP and SSL/TLS

• Network Tools:

  • Nmap

  • tcpdump

  • ping

  • mtr (My Traceroute)

  • traceroute

  • airman

  • dig (Domain Information Groper)

  • iptables

• Process Monitoring:

  • ps

  • top

  • atop

  • lsof (List Open Files)

How to setup

• Reverse Proxy

• Forward Proxy

• Load Balancer

• Firewall

How to deploy an application into a web server

• IIS (Internet Information Services)

• Nginx

• Tomcat

• Apache

In the DevOps roadmap, we will focus on automating the deployment process for these web servers. This automation will streamline the deployment pipeline, reduce manual errors, and ensure consistent and reliable application delivery. By integrating continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices, we will enhance the efficiency and speed of deploying applications into these web server environments.

Theory of DevOps

• Continuous Integration (CI)

• Continuous Deployment (CD)

• The Infinity Loop

• The Evolution of DevOps

• What Are the Top Companies Doing?

DevOps Core roadmap

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Practical DevOps

• Periodic Table of Tools

• Reference Architectures

• What Does “Good DevOps” Look Like?

• DevOps Culture - What Is It?

CI/CD

• Jenkins / CircleCI / GitLab

• Automate the Manual Tasks You Learned in the Prerequisites

• Do This on Windows and Linux OS's

Cloud

One Cloud: AWS / Azure / GCP

• Why Cloud?

• Creating VMs

• Networking

• Installing Software in the VM

• Common Cloud Services

• Connect from Command Line

Continuous Testing

• One popular functional testing tool is Selenium. It lets developers automate web browser interactions to ensure applications work correctly on different browsers and platforms. Selenium supports various programming languages, making it a versatile choice for many teams.

• Creating simple test cases in a CI/CD pipeline involves writing automated tests to check basic application functions. These tests ensure new code changes don't break existing features, maintaining software quality and reliability.

• A commonly used performance testing tool is Apache JMeter. It tests web application performance and scalability by simulating multiple users. JMeter helps identify bottlenecks and optimize performance.

• For mobile testing, Appium is a popular tool for automated testing on Android and iOS. It supports multiple programming languages, enabling reusable tests across devices and operating systems.

• In DevOps, new testing types have emerged, like chaos engineering to test system resilience, and infrastructure as code testing for secure configurations. Security testing is also crucial for finding vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance.

Container ecosystem

• Docker Basics

• Kubernetes (K8s) Overview

• YAML Introduction

• Pods, Replica Sets, Deployments, etc.

• Microservices Architecture

Infrastructure-as-cod

• Concept of Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

• How Does IaC Tie into the DevOps Cycle?

• Ansible and Terraform: Why Do We Need Both?

• Implement IaC for the CI/CD Pipeline Created

Monitoring & Logging

• Prometheus

• Grafana

• ELK Stack

• Graylog

This article outlines a comprehensive DevOps roadmap, starting with essential prerequisites like operating system fundamentals, programming languages, and shell scripting. It covers key topics such as GitOps, database management with SQL and NoSQL, networking concepts, and process monitoring tools. The guide delves into setting up reverse proxies, deploying applications on web servers, and understanding core DevOps practices like continuous integration and deployment. It also highlights cloud computing basics, continuous testing tools, the container ecosystem with Docker and Kubernetes, and infrastructure as code concepts. Lastly, it emphasizes the importance of monitoring and logging with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and the ELK Stack to ensure effective DevOps implementation.