My DevOps Journey: From Code to Live Servers in Milestone 3

Hello everyone, 👋

Welcome back to my public learning journey into DevOps and the Cloud. After building a solid foundation in Linux with Milestone 2, I was ready for the next big step: learning how to manage code, automate environments, and deploy live web applications.

This milestone was about bridging the gap between local development and a running server.

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Mastering the Code: A Deep Dive into Git

The first focus was on Git, the cornerstone of modern version control. I moved beyond the basics to understand how development teams collaborate effectively.

• Core Concepts: I learned the difference between Centralized (CVCS) and Distributed (DVCS) version control systems, cementing my understanding of why Git is so powerful.

• Essential Commands: I practiced the full workflow, from initializing a repository (git init) to staging (git add), committing (git commit), and reviewing history (git log).

• Branching & Merging: I got hands-on with creating branches for new features, merging them back into the main line, and understanding how to handle changes.

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Automating the Environment with Advanced Vagrant

With code management under my belt, I turned to automating the infrastructure itself using Vagrant.

• Multi-Machine Setups: I learned to define and manage multiple VMs (like a web server and a database server) from a single Vagrantfile.

• Provisioning with Scripts: The real magic happened when I used shell scripts for provisioning. I could automate the entire setup process, from installing an Apache web server to copying over website files and starting the service—all with a single vagrant up command.

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Bringing It All to Life: Deploying Web Applications

This is where all the pieces came together. I used my new skills to deploy two types of web applications on my Linux VMs:

1. Static HTML Website: I started by deploying a simple HTML site on an Apache (httpd) web server, learning to configure the server and access the site from my local machine.

2. WordPress on a LAMP Stack: I built a complete LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) server to host a dynamic WordPress site. This involved setting up a MySQL database, configuring PHP, and completing the WordPress installation through the browser.

3. Apache Tomcat: Finally, I explored the Java world by installing and managing Apache Tomcat and learning how to run a service on a non-standard port (8080).

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Why This Milestone Was a Game-Changer

This milestone was incredibly rewarding. It connected three critical areas of DevOps: version control (Git), infrastructure automation (Vagrant), and application deployment (Apache/WordPress). I now have a practical understanding of how to take a piece of code and make it accessible on a live server, which is the core responsibility of a DevOps engineer.

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View My Detailed Notes on GitHub

I've documented all my notes, commands, and Vagrantfile configurations in my public GitHub repository. Feel free to explore and see how I did it.

👉 GitHub Repo for Milestone 3: https://github.com/darshan090905/Devops-learning/tree/master/milestone-3

Thank you for following my journey. Let's continue to learn and grow together in public!

#DevOps #Cloud #Git #Linux #Vagrant #WordPress #Tomcat #LearningInPublic #FreshersInTech