on 11 Sept 2026
Career path
DevOps Engineer
A complete, in-depth path from Linux fundamentals to a DevOps engineer at top companies.
19 learning stages · project ideas
Computer Science & Linux Fundamentals
The OS and shell almost everything you'll run sits on top of.
- Computer Fundamentals
- Operating Systems
- Linux Installation
- Linux File System
- Terminal Commands
- File Permissions
- Process Management
- Users & Groups
- Shell Scripting
- Networking Basics
- SSH
- Cron Jobs
- Package Managers
- System Monitoring
- Logs
- Environment Variables
- Bash Scripting
- Debugging
- Security Basics
- Best Practices
Programming & Scripting
Automating the repetitive parts of the job.
- Python Basics
- Bash Scripting
- PowerShell
- Variables
- Functions
- Loops
- File Handling
- APIs
- JSON
- YAML
- Error Handling
- Automation Scripts
- Logging
- Modules
- Regular Expressions
- CLI Tools
- Git Integration
- Testing Scripts
- Code Standards
- Best Practices
Version Control
The shared source of truth every pipeline builds on top of.
- Git Basics
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Clone
- Commit
- Push
- Pull
- Branching
- Merging
- Rebase
- Pull Requests
- Tags
- Releases
- Git Ignore
- Cherry Pick
- Conflict Resolution
- GitHub Actions
- Collaboration
- CI Basics
- Best Practices
Networking Fundamentals
How traffic actually gets from a user to your server.
- OSI Model
- TCP/IP
- DNS
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- FTP
- SSH
- VPN
- Firewalls
- Load Balancer
- Reverse Proxy
- IP Addressing
- Subnetting
- Ports
- SSL/TLS
- CDN
- API Networking
- Monitoring
- Troubleshooting
- Best Practices
Cloud Computing
Running infrastructure beyond your own machine.
- AWS Fundamentals
- Azure Fundamentals
- Google Cloud
- EC2
- S3
- IAM
- VPC
- Load Balancer
- Auto Scaling
- Route53
- Lambda
- Cloud Storage
- Cloud Monitoring
- Security Groups
- Billing
- Networking
- Serverless
- Cloud Deployment
- Multi Cloud
- Best Practices
Docker
Packaging an app so it runs the same everywhere.
- Docker Installation
- Images
- Containers
- Dockerfile
- Docker Compose
- Volumes
- Networks
- Registry
- Docker Hub
- Environment Variables
- Multi-stage Build
- Logging
- Debugging
- Container Security
- Optimization
- Health Checks
- Build Cache
- Private Registry
- Deployment
- Best Practices
Kubernetes
Running and scaling containers reliably across a cluster.
- Cluster
- Pods
- Nodes
- Services
- Deployments
- ReplicaSets
- StatefulSets
- DaemonSets
- ConfigMaps
- Secrets
- Ingress
- Volumes
- Autoscaling
- Namespaces
- Helm
- Monitoring
- Logging
- Security
- Troubleshooting
- Best Practices
CI/CD
Automating build, test, and release so shipping isn't a manual event.
- CI Concepts
- CD Concepts
- GitHub Actions
- Jenkins
- GitLab CI
- Azure DevOps
- CircleCI
- Bitbucket Pipelines
- Build Pipeline
- Test Automation
- Deployment Pipeline
- Rollback
- Approval Workflow
- Secrets
- Artifacts
- Notifications
- Monitoring
- Optimization
- Automation
- Best Practices
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Defining infrastructure in version-controlled code instead of clicking around a console.
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Pulumi
- CloudFormation
- ARM Templates
- Modules
- Variables
- State Management
- Providers
- Provisioning
- Configuration Management
- Automation
- Security
- Secrets
- Version Control
- Validation
- Deployment
- Scaling
- Reusability
- Best Practices
Monitoring & Logging
Knowing when something breaks before your users do.
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- ELK Stack
- Loki
- Fluentd
- Datadog
- New Relic
- CloudWatch
- Alerting
- Metrics
- Dashboards
- Logs
- Tracing
- Jaeger
- OpenTelemetry
- Health Checks
- Performance
- Troubleshooting
- Incident Response
- Best Practices
Security (DevSecOps)
Building security into the pipeline, not bolting it on after.
- IAM
- Secrets Management
- Vault
- SSL/TLS
- Firewalls
- Vulnerability Scanning
- SAST
- DAST
- Container Security
- Kubernetes Security
- Network Policies
- Compliance
- OWASP Basics
- Security Monitoring
- Threat Detection
- Encryption
- Backup
- Disaster Recovery
- Incident Response
- Best Practices
Web Servers & Reverse Proxy
Serving traffic efficiently and securely.
- Nginx
- Apache
- Reverse Proxy
- Load Balancer
- SSL Setup
- Virtual Hosts
- Caching
- Compression
- URL Rewriting
- Proxy Pass
- Rate Limiting
- Security Headers
- Logging
- Performance
- Monitoring
- HTTP/2
- HTTP/3
- CDN Integration
- Troubleshooting
- Best Practices
Databases for DevOps
Keeping the data layer running, backed up, and fast.
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- MongoDB
- Redis
- Backup
- Replication
- Clustering
- Performance
- Optimization
- Monitoring
- Database Security
- Migrations
- Docker Databases
- Cloud Databases
- Scaling
- Connection Pooling
- Disaster Recovery
- Automation
- Maintenance
- Best Practices
MLOps & AI Infrastructure
Running AI/ML workloads reliably in production.
- MLflow
- Kubeflow
- Airflow
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- GPU Deployment
- Model Serving
- FastAPI
- Vector Database
- AI Deployment
- AI Monitoring
- Drift Detection
- Retraining
- AI Pipelines
- LLM Deployment
- Ollama
- LangChain Deployment
- Automation
- Scaling
- Best Practices
Interview Preparation
Everything between applying and getting the offer.
- Linux Questions
- Docker Questions
- Kubernetes Questions
- Terraform Questions
- AWS Questions
- Jenkins Questions
- Networking Questions
- CI/CD Questions
- Security Questions
- Scripting Questions
- System Design
- Troubleshooting
- HR Questions
- Live Scenarios
- Resume Review
- Mock Interviews
- Salary Negotiation
- Production Cases
- Final Checklist
- FAANG Preparation
Career Growth
Building a career, not just landing one job.
- ATS Resume
- LinkedIn Profile
- GitHub
- DevOps Portfolio
- Open Source
- Certifications
- AWS Certification
- Azure Certification
- Kubernetes Certification
- Networking
- Personal Branding
- Freelancing
- Remote Jobs
- Consulting
- Mentorship
- Productivity
- Leadership
- Career Planning
- Continuous Learning
- Best Practices
AI Tools for DevOps Engineers
Working faster by working alongside AI itself.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- GitHub Copilot
- Cursor AI
- Windsurf
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- OpenRouter
- Ollama
- Docker AI
- Kubernetes AI
- Terraform AI
- AI Monitoring
- AI Log Analysis
- AI Incident Detection
- AI Automation
- Prompt Engineering
- AI Agents
- MCP Servers
- Best Practices
DevOps Best Practices
The habits that separate a hobbyist setup from a production-grade one.
- GitOps
- Blue-Green Deployment
- Canary Deployment
- Infrastructure Automation
- Observability
- High Availability
- Disaster Recovery
- Cost Optimization
- Auto Scaling
- Zero Downtime Deployment
- Performance Tuning
- Capacity Planning
- Documentation
- Team Collaboration
- Agile DevOps
- SRE Basics
- Production Readiness
- Compliance
- Governance
- Best Practices
Becoming a DevOps Engineer at Top Companies
The final layer — system design, communication, and interview readiness for top companies.
- DevOps Portfolio
- GitHub Projects
- Cloud Projects
- Docker Projects
- Kubernetes Projects
- Terraform Projects
- AWS Resume
- Technical Interviews
- System Design
- Production Case Studies
- Communication Skills
- Problem Solving
- Mock Interviews
- Salary Negotiation
- FAANG Preparation
- Startup vs MNC
- Personal Branding
- Networking
- 30-60-90 Day Learning Plan
- Final Career Checklist
Project ideas by level
Build one or two from each level and write up what you decided and why — that's what interviewers ask about.
Beginner
- CI/CD Pipeline
- Dockerized App
- Kubernetes Deployment
- AWS Infrastructure
- Terraform Project
- Monitoring Dashboard
- Auto Scaling
Intermediate
- Blue-Green Deployment
- Canary Deployment
- Logging Pipeline
- Infrastructure Automation
- Secure Deployment
- GitOps Project
- Multi Cloud Setup
Advanced
- High Availability
- Backup System
- AI Deployment Pipeline
- SaaS Deployment
- Production Cluster
- Final Capstone
Open roles on this path
on 7 Sept 2026
on 3 Sept 2026
DevOps Engineer: common questions
Is DevOps a good career?
Yes — it's a critical infrastructure role in high demand and generally well-paid, though it often comes with on-call/incident-response responsibilities that pure development roles don't have.
How to prepare for a DevOps Engineer interview?
Know Linux fundamentals, CI/CD concepts, one cloud provider, and Docker/Kubernetes basics — expect scenario-based troubleshooting questions rather than pure theory.
What are the job titles of a DevOps Engineer?
Common titles include DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer (SRE), Platform Engineer, and Cloud Engineer — these overlap significantly.
How to become a DevOps Engineer?
Learn Linux, then Docker, CI/CD pipelines, one cloud provider, and Kubernetes — and build a real deployment pipeline project you can walk through end to end.
How long does it take to become a DevOps Engineer?
Typically 6-10 months, faster if you already have backend or sysadmin experience.
What are DevOps Engineer salaries?
Generally strong given how critical the role is to keeping systems running, but it varies by cloud provider expertise and company size.
DevOps vs SRE — what's the difference?
DevOps typically focuses on build/release pipelines and automation; SRE focuses more on reliability, monitoring, and incident response. Many companies use the titles interchangeably.