DevOps Engineer Roadmap

1. Fundamentals

Build a strong foundation with Linux, networking, and scripting basics.

4-6 weeks

Linux Basics

Master the command line, file system, permissions, and process management.

Key Skills

Command Line File System Permissions Process Management Package Management

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Linux Journey FREE 🎥 Linux Command Line Basics (Udacity) FREE 📖 The Linux Command Line FREE 🏋️ OverTheWire Bandit FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Set up a Linux VM and configure SSH access
Write a bash script to automate system updates
Configure user permissions and groups

🔴 Required to Move On

Navigate the file system confidently
Manage users and permissions
Install and manage packages
Monitor system resources (top, htop, df, du)
Understand stdin, stdout, stderr and piping

Networking Fundamentals

Understand TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, and how the internet works.

Key Skills

TCP/IP DNS HTTP/HTTPS Firewalls Load Balancing

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Computer Networking Course (freeCodeCamp) FREE 📝 How DNS Works (Comic) FREE 📖 Computer Networks (Tanenbaum) PAID

💻 Hands-on Projects

Set up a local DNS server
Configure firewall rules with iptables/ufw
Analyze network traffic with tcpdump or Wireshark

🔴 Required to Move On

Explain the OSI model layers
Understand TCP vs UDP
Configure DNS records
Debug network issues with ping, traceroute, netstat
Understand SSL/TLS and certificates

Git & Version Control

Master version control with Git and collaborative workflows.

Key Skills

Git Basics Branching Merging Pull Requests Git Workflows

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Git & GitHub Crash Course (Traversy) FREE 🎮 Learn Git Branching FREE 📖 Pro Git Book FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Contribute to an open source project
Set up branch protection rules
Resolve a merge conflict

🔴 Required to Move On

Clone, commit, push, pull with confidence
Create and manage branches
Resolve merge conflicts
Use interactive rebase
Understand Git workflows (GitFlow, trunk-based)

Scripting (Bash/Python)

Automate tasks with Bash and Python scripting.

Key Skills

Bash Scripting Python Basics Automation Cron Jobs

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Bash Scripting Tutorial FREE 🎥 Automate the Boring Stuff with Python FREE 🏋️ Exercism - Bash Track FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Write a backup script with rotation
Create a log parser in Python
Build a system monitoring script

🔴 Required to Move On

Write conditional statements and loops
Handle command line arguments
Work with files and directories
Schedule scripts with cron
Parse JSON and CSV files

2. Containers & Docker

Learn containerization, the foundation of modern DevOps.

3-4 weeks

Docker

Master containerization with Docker - images, containers, networking, and volumes.

Key Skills

Docker Images Containers Dockerfile Docker Compose Networking Volumes

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Docker Tutorial for Beginners (TechWorld with Nana) FREE 🎥 Docker Mastery (Udemy) PAID 📄 Official Docker Documentation FREE 🏋️ Play with Docker FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Containerize a multi-tier application
Create a Docker Compose for local development
Build and push images to Docker Hub
Set up a private Docker registry

🔴 Required to Move On

Explain containers vs VMs
Write production-ready Dockerfiles
Understand layer caching and optimization
Use Docker Compose for multi-container apps
Manage Docker networking and volumes
Scan images for vulnerabilities

3. CI/CD Pipelines

Automate build, test, and deployment workflows.

3-4 weeks

4. Kubernetes & Orchestration

Master container orchestration with Kubernetes.

6-8 weeks

Kubernetes Fundamentals

Learn core Kubernetes concepts and architecture.

Key Skills

Pods Deployments Services ConfigMaps Secrets Namespaces

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Kubernetes Tutorial (TechWorld with Nana) FREE 🎥 Kubernetes for Developers (KodeKloud) PAID 🎮 Kubernetes the Hard Way FREE 🏋️ KillerCoda K8s Scenarios FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Deploy a multi-tier app on Kubernetes
Set up local K8s with minikube or kind
Configure resource limits and requests

🔴 Required to Move On

Understand K8s architecture (control plane, nodes)
Create and manage Pods, Deployments, Services
Use ConfigMaps and Secrets
Understand networking in K8s
Debug with kubectl logs, describe, exec

Helm

Kubernetes package manager for deploying applications.

Key Skills

Charts Values Releases Repositories Templating

📚 Learning Resources

📄 Helm Documentation FREE 🎥 Helm Tutorial (TechWorld with Nana) FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Create a Helm chart for your application
Deploy using different value files for environments

🔴 Required to Move On

Install and upgrade releases
Create custom Helm charts
Use values for environment configuration
Understand chart dependencies

5. Infrastructure as Code

Provision and manage infrastructure with code.

4-6 weeks

Terraform

The leading infrastructure as code tool for multi-cloud provisioning.

Key Skills

HCL Providers State Modules Workspaces

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Terraform Tutorial (TechWorld with Nana) FREE 🎥 HashiCorp Learn - Terraform FREE 📖 Terraform: Up & Running PAID

💻 Hands-on Projects

Provision AWS/GCP infrastructure with Terraform
Create reusable Terraform modules
Set up remote state with S3/GCS
Implement Terraform in CI/CD

🔴 Required to Move On

Write HCL configuration
Understand state and state locking
Create and use modules
Use workspaces for environments
Import existing infrastructure

Ansible

Configuration management and application deployment.

Key Skills

Playbooks Roles Inventory Modules Ansible Galaxy

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Ansible Tutorial (TechWorld with Nana) FREE 📄 Ansible Documentation FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Configure servers with Ansible playbooks
Create reusable Ansible roles
Set up Ansible for application deployment

🔴 Required to Move On

Write playbooks and roles
Manage inventory (static and dynamic)
Use Ansible Vault for secrets
Understand idempotency

6. Monitoring & Observability

Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting for your systems.

3-4 weeks

Prometheus & Grafana

The standard stack for metrics collection and visualization.

Key Skills

Metrics PromQL Dashboards Alerting Service Discovery

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 Prometheus Tutorial (TechWorld with Nana) FREE 📄 Prometheus Documentation FREE 📄 Grafana Documentation FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Set up Prometheus to monitor a K8s cluster
Create Grafana dashboards for application metrics
Configure alerting rules

🔴 Required to Move On

Understand metrics types (counter, gauge, histogram)
Write PromQL queries
Create and share Grafana dashboards
Set up alerting with Alertmanager

Logging (ELK/Loki)

Centralized logging for troubleshooting and analysis.

Key Skills

Log Aggregation Elasticsearch Loki Log Parsing

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 ELK Stack Tutorial FREE 📄 Grafana Loki Documentation FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Set up centralized logging for containers
Create log-based alerts

🔴 Required to Move On

Understand structured vs unstructured logs
Set up log shipping and aggregation
Query and analyze logs
Create log-based dashboards

7. Cloud Platforms

Get familiar with major cloud providers.

4-6 weeks

AWS Essentials

Learn the most popular cloud platform basics.

Key Skills

EC2 S3 VPC IAM RDS Lambda

📚 Learning Resources

🎥 AWS Cloud Practitioner (freeCodeCamp) FREE 🎥 AWS Solutions Architect Course FREE 🏋️ AWS Free Tier FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Deploy a web application on AWS
Set up a VPC with public/private subnets
Create IAM policies and roles

🔴 Required to Move On

Navigate the AWS Console
Understand core services (EC2, S3, VPC, IAM)
Deploy basic infrastructure
Understand AWS billing and cost management

8. Security & Best Practices

Implement security throughout the DevOps lifecycle.

2-3 weeks

DevSecOps

Integrate security into CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure.

Key Skills

SAST DAST Container Security Secret Management Compliance

📚 Learning Resources

📝 DevSecOps Guide (GitLab) FREE 🎥 DevSecOps Tutorial FREE

💻 Hands-on Projects

Add security scanning to CI/CD pipeline
Implement secrets management with Vault
Set up container image scanning

🔴 Required to Move On

Implement SAST/DAST in pipelines
Scan container images for vulnerabilities
Manage secrets securely
Understand compliance frameworks

1. Fundamentals

Linux Basics

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Networking Fundamentals

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Git & Version Control

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Scripting (Bash/Python)

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

2. Containers & Docker

Docker

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

3. CI/CD Pipelines

CI/CD Concepts

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

GitHub Actions

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Jenkins

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

4. Kubernetes & Orchestration

Kubernetes Fundamentals

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Helm

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

5. Infrastructure as Code

Terraform

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Ansible

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

6. Monitoring & Observability

Prometheus & Grafana

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

Logging (ELK/Loki)

Key Skills

📚 Learning Resources

💻 Hands-on Projects

🔴 Required to Move On

7. Cloud Platforms

AWS Essentials

Key Skills