DevOps Foundations

Start here. The core skills every DevOps engineer uses, whatever cloud or company you end up in.

Roadmap

Work through these in order. Each step builds on the last.

Linux basics

Most servers run Linux. Learn to move around the terminal, edit files, manage permissions and read logs.

Linux Journey The Linux Command Line (book) Go deeper: Linux path →
Networking basics

IP addresses, ports, DNS and HTTP. Enough to understand how a request reaches a server.

Go deeper: Networking path →
Git basics

Commits, branches and pull requests on GitHub. Everything you build from here lives in a GitHub repo, which doubles as your portfolio.

Learn Git Branching Pro Git (book) GitHub Hello World Go deeper: Git path →

Shell scripting

Turn the commands you type every day into scripts, so a task you do twice becomes one command.

The Linux Command Line (book) Go deeper: Linux path →
CI/CD pipelines

Build, test and deploy automatically on every push, so changes go live without manual steps.

GitHub Actions quickstart

Containers with Docker

Package an app and everything it needs into a container that runs the same on any machine.

Docker: Get started Go deeper: Docker path →

Infrastructure as code with Terraform

Create servers, networks and cloud resources from code, so you can rebuild everything in minutes.

Terraform: Get started with AWS Go deeper: Terraform path →
Configuration with Ansible

Install and configure software on many servers at once with simple, repeatable playbooks.

Ansible: Getting started Go deeper: Ansible path →

Monitoring basics

Metrics, logs and alerts. What to watch, and how to know something is wrong before your users do.

Prometheus: Overview

Linux Journey
Short, friendly lessons on the Linux command line, made for beginners.
The Linux Command Line (book)
A free, complete book on the terminal. Dip into chapters as you need them.
Learn Git Branching
Interactive, visual Git practice in the browser. The best way to understand branches.
Pro Git (book)
The free official Git book. Read chapters 2 and 3 first.
Terraform: Get started with AWS
Official hands-on tutorial. Build, change and destroy AWS resources with code.
Ansible: Getting started
The official introduction: inventories, playbooks and your first automation.
GitHub Actions quickstart
Official guide to your first workflow: run jobs automatically on every push.
Docker: Get started
Official introduction to images and containers.
Prometheus: Overview
What Prometheus is, how it collects metrics, and where it fits.
GitHub Hello World
Create your first repository, branch and pull request on GitHub.