DevOps Engineer Roadmap with Cloud and Essential Tools

lokeshmatetidevops1lokeshmatetidevops1
4 min read

A structured guide to becoming a skilled DevOps engineer with Cloud, CI/CD, Kubernetes, Terraform, and GitOps.

This article will focus on DevOps with cloud providers like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, along with essential tools for CI/CD, infrastructure automation, monitoring, and more.

1. Learn Linux Basics

Since most cloud environments and DevOps tools run on Linux, having a good understanding of Linux is a must.

  • Learn basic Linux commands (ls, cd, mkdir, rm, chmod, chown, grep, find, etc.)

  • Understand process management (ps, top, kill, nice, etc.)

  • Learn about networking basics (ping, netstat, curl, ssh, etc.)

  • Understand user and permission management

2. Learn a Scripting Language

A DevOps engineer must be comfortable with scripting for automation and configuration management.

  • Shell scripting (Bash): Writing scripts to automate server management tasks

  • Python: Used for automation, AWS/Azure SDKs, scripting in CI/CD pipelines

3. Learn Git and Version Control

Every DevOps workflow revolves around Git for source code management.

  • Learn Git commands (clone, commit, push, pull, branch, merge, rebase, etc.)

  • Understand branching strategies (Git Flow, Trunk-based development)

  • Learn Git hosting platforms (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)

4. Cloud Fundamentals (AWS / Azure / GCP)

Choose one cloud provider and master its core services.

  • Compute: EC2 (AWS), Virtual Machines (Azure), Compute Engine (GCP)

  • Storage: S3 (AWS), Blob Storage (Azure), Cloud Storage (GCP)

  • Networking: VPC (AWS), Virtual Network (Azure), VPC (GCP)

  • IAM (Identity & Access Management): Roles, Policies, Security Groups

  • Serverless: AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions

5. Learn Containerization (Docker)

Containers are widely used in DevOps for application packaging and deployment.

  • Learn Docker basics (Dockerfile, images, containers, volumes, networks)

  • Understand container lifecycle (build, run, stop, remove, tag, push, pull)

  • Learn how to write Docker Compose files for multi-container applications

6. Code Analysis & Security Scanning

Code quality and security are crucial in DevOps. Implement automated code analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities, enforce coding standards, and ensure security compliance.

  • Static Code Analysis Tools:

    • SonarQube – Code quality and security scanning

    • ESLint & Prettier – Linting and formatting for JavaScript

    • Checkov – Static analysis for Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Kubernetes)

  • Security & Vulnerability Scanning:

    • Snyk – Security scanning for dependencies and container images

    • Trivy – Container and Kubernetes security scanning

    • Bandit – Python security analysis

7. Container Registry

Store and manage container images using:

  • AWS ECR (Elastic Container Registry)

  • Azure Container Registry

  • Google Container Registry

  • Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, JFrog Artifactory

8. CI/CD - Continuous Integration & Deployment

Automate build, test, and deployment processes.

  • Choose a CI/CD tool: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, ArgoCD

  • Learn pipeline scripting:

    • GitHub Actions: Workflows, jobs, steps

    • GitLab CI/CD: .gitlab-ci.yml

    • Jenkins: Declarative and scripted pipelines

  • Implement CI/CD pipelines for building and deploying applications

9. Kubernetes (K8s) - Container Orchestration

Kubernetes is the industry standard for container orchestration.

  • Learn Kubernetes fundamentals: Pods, Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets

  • Understand Kubernetes networking (Ingress, Load Balancers, DNS, CNI plugins)

  • Learn how to deploy applications on Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE)

  • Troubleshoot Kubernetes workloads (kubectl commands, logs, debugging)

10. Helm - Kubernetes Package Management

Helm simplifies Kubernetes application deployment.

  • Understand Helm chart structure (Chart.yaml, values.yaml, templates)

  • Learn how to package and deploy applications using Helm

11. GitOps - Continuous Deployment with ArgoCD or FluxCD

  • Learn GitOps concepts (declarative deployments, automated sync)

  • Set up ArgoCD or FluxCD to manage Kubernetes applications

12. Monitoring & Logging

A DevOps engineer should monitor infrastructure and applications effectively.

  • Prometheus & Grafana: Collect and visualize metrics

  • ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) or OpenSearch: Log management

  • Cloud-native monitoring tools: AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, GCP Operations

13. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Automate infrastructure provisioning using:

  • Terraform: Learn how to write Terraform scripts to provision cloud resources

  • CloudFormation (AWS) or Azure Bicep for cloud-native IaC

  • Learn about state management, modules, and best practices

14. Bonus Skills

  • Configuration Management: Ansible, Puppet, Chef

  • Service Mesh: Istio, Linkerd

  • Networking Basics: DNS, Load Balancing, API Gateways

Conclusion

This roadmap gives you a structured path to follow if you want to become a DevOps engineer with expertise in cloud environments. Whether you are a beginner or have some experience, following this step-by-step approach will help you build a strong foundation and advance your career in DevOps.

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lokeshmatetidevops1