DevOps is a cultural and technical movement aimed at unifying software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It emphasizes automation, collaboration, and monitoring throughout the software development lifecycle.
If you’re interested in a DevOps career, this guide will help you get started with the right skills, tools, and practices in a step-by-step roadmap.
🚀 Why DevOps?
Before jumping in, here’s why DevOps is in demand:
- Faster software releases
- Improved collaboration between dev & ops teams
- Increased automation = fewer errors
- Scalable and reliable infrastructure
🧭 DevOps Learning Roadmap
Here’s a structured roadmap split into 8 essential stages:
📘 1. Learn the Basics of Operating Systems & Networking
🧠 What to Learn:
- Linux command-line basics (shell, file systems, permissions)
- Networking fundamentals (IP, DNS, HTTP/HTTPS, firewalls)
🛠️ Tools:
- Linux (Ubuntu) – Preferred OS for DevOps
- Terminal/Shell – bash, zsh
🔧 How to Install Linux:
- Use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) on Windows:
wsl --install
- Or install Ubuntu via VirtualBox or dual-boot.
🌐 2. Version Control with Git
🧠 What to Learn:
- Git commands (clone, add, commit, push, pull, branch, merge)
- Git workflows (feature branching, pull requests)
🛠️ Tool:
- Git
- GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket
🔧 How to Install Git:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install git
🧪 3. Learn a Scripting Language
🧠 What to Learn:
- Shell scripting (bash)
- Python basics (variables, loops, modules)
🛠️ Tools:
🔧 How to Install Python:
sudo apt install python3 pip
📦 4. Understand Package Managers & Repositories
🧠 What to Learn:
- Install, update, and remove packages
- Use repositories and third-party sources
🛠️ Tools:
- apt (Debian/Ubuntu)
- yum or dnf (CentOS/Fedora)
- brew (macOS)
🐳 5. Containers & Virtualization
🧠 What to Learn:
- Difference between VM and containers
- Docker concepts (images, containers, volumes, networking)
🛠️ Tools:
🔧 How to Install Docker:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
☸️ 6. Container Orchestration (Kubernetes)
🧠 What to Learn:
- Kubernetes basics (pods, deployments, services)
- YAML configuration
- Helm for package management
🛠️ Tools:
- Kubernetes (minikube or kind for local use)
- kubectl – CLI for Kubernetes
- Helm
🔧 How to Install Minikube:
- Pre-requisites: Docker & kubectl
- On Linux/macOS:
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube
minikube start
🔁 7. CI/CD Pipelines
🧠 What to Learn:
- Continuous Integration & Deployment concepts
- Building pipelines: test → build → deploy
🛠️ Tools:
- Jenkins (most beginner-friendly)
- GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or CircleCI
🔧 How to Install Jenkins:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-11-jdk
curl -fsSL https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian-stable/jenkins.io.key | sudo tee \
/usr/share/keyrings/jenkins-keyring.asc > /dev/null
echo deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/jenkins-keyring.asc] \
https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian-stable binary/ | sudo tee \
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/jenkins.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install jenkins
📡 8. Monitoring & Logging
🧠 What to Learn:
- Metrics collection and alerting
- Log aggregation and visualization
🛠️ Tools:
- Prometheus – Monitoring
- Grafana – Dashboards
- ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) – Logging
🔧 How to Install Prometheus & Grafana (Docker):
docker run -d -p 9090:9090 prom/prometheus
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 grafana/grafana
📂 Bonus Skills to Explore Later
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform, Ansible
- Cloud Providers: AWS, Azure, GCP
- Security and compliance in DevOps (DevSecOps)
- GitOps and advanced Kubernetes tools
🎓 Learning Resources
🧭 Final Thoughts
Starting a career in DevOps can feel overwhelming, but the key is to start small and build step by step. Practice by:
- Automating personal projects
- Setting up CI/CD for your code
- Running containerized apps
- Deploying apps to the cloud
DevOps is not just about tools—it’s about culture, mindset, and continuous improvement.
