DevOps, a term coined by combining the words "development" and "operations," is a software engineering approach that emphasizes collaboration and communication between development and operations teams.
In this blog, we'll explore the starter pack for DevOps i.e what we need to know to call ourselves a DevOps engineer. Whether you're a software developer, operations professional, or business leader, understanding DevOps is critical to staying competitive in today's fast-paced digital landscape. So, let's dive in and explore the world of DevOps together!
First, let us see what are the things we going to learn about in this blog
Contents
Linux
Source Code Management
CI/CD
Containerization - Docker
Cloud Services
Infrastructure as Code - Terraform
Configuration Management - Ansible
Container Orchestration - k8
1 - Linux
Linux is a free and open-source operating system that is based on the Unix operating system. It was first developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and has since become one of the most widely used operating systems in the world, powering everything from servers and supercomputers to smartphones and IoT devices.
Linux is known for its stability, security, and flexibility. It can be customized to suit the needs of individual users or organizations, and it supports a wide variety of hardware platforms. It also comes with a vast array of software tools and utilities that are available for free, making it a popular choice for developers, system administrators, and other IT professionals.
Types of Linux
There are several different types of Linux, also known as distributions or "distros," each with its unique features and characteristics. Here are some of the most popular types of Linux:
Ubuntu: Ubuntu is one of the most widely used Linux distributions, known for its ease of use and user-friendly interface. It is often recommended for new users who are just getting started with Linux.
Debian: Debian is another popular Linux distribution that is known for its stability and security. It is often used as a base for other Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu.
Fedora: Fedora is a community-driven Linux distribution that is often used by developers and software engineers. It is known for its bleeding-edge features and frequent updates.
CentOS: CentOS is a free and open-source Linux distribution that is based on the same code as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It is often used for servers and enterprise applications.
Arch Linux: Arch Linux is a minimalist Linux distribution that is highly customizable and often used by advanced users and developers. It is known for its simplicity and lightweight design.
Mint: Mint is a Linux distribution that is based on Ubuntu and is known for its user-friendly interface and out-of-the-box multimedia support.
openSUSE: openSUSE is a Linux distribution that is known for its focus on ease of use and its powerful YaST system configuration tool.
These are just a few examples of the many different types of Linux distributions that are available. Each distribution has its own unique set of features and advantages, so it's important to do your research and choose the one that best meets your needs.
NOTE:- If you are a complete beginner then I would suggest you start with Ubuntu because it is users friendly however, if you learn how to use one Linux distribution then others seem easy to work on.
2 - Source Code Management
Source code management, also known as version control, is the practice of tracking and managing changes to software code over time. It involves using software tools and techniques to keep track of every change made to the codebase, including who made the change, when it was made, and what the change involved.
The purpose of source code management is to make it easier for developers to collaborate on software projects and manage changes to the codebase. It enables multiple developers to work on the same codebase simultaneously, without worrying about conflicts or overwriting each other's changes. It also makes it easier to revert to previous versions of the code if something goes wrong, and to track down the source of any bugs or issues that arise.
Source code management is typically done using a specialized software tool called a version control system (VCS). The most popular VCS is Git, which is used by millions of developers worldwide. Other popular VCS tools include Subversion (SVN) and Mercurial.
3 - CI/CD
Continuous Integration (CI) is the first part of the CI/CD process. It involves automatically building and testing code changes as soon as they are submitted to the code repository. This helps to identify any issues or bugs early on in the development process before they become more difficult and expensive to fix.
Continuous Delivery (CD) or Continuous Deployment (CD) is the second part of the CI/CD process. It involves automatically deploying code changes to production once they have been tested and validated. Continuous Delivery means that code changes are always ready to be deployed, while Continuous Deployment means that code changes are automatically deployed to production without any manual intervention.
Together, CI/CD helps to streamline the software delivery process and improve the quality of software releases. By automating testing and deployment, developers can catch and fix issues more quickly, and software can be released to customers more frequently. This leads to faster feedback loops, better collaboration between development and operations teams, and ultimately, better software products.
Tools for CI/CD
There are many tools available for CI/CD, and the choice of tools may depend on the specific needs of the organization. Here are some of the most popular tools used for CI/CD:
Jenkins: Jenkins is an open-source automation server that is used to build, test, and deploy software. It is highly extensible and has a large community of users and developers.
GitLab: GitLab is an all-in-one DevOps platform that includes CI/CD, version control, and issue tracking. It is often used for managing Git repositories and automating the software delivery process.
CircleCI: CircleCI is a cloud-based CI/CD platform that integrates with many popular development tools and platforms. It is known for its fast build times and ease of use.
Travis CI: Travis CI is a popular cloud-based CI/CD platform that is often used for open-source projects. It integrates with GitHub and other version control systems.
TeamCity: TeamCity is a CI/CD tool developed by JetBrains that is known for its scalability and flexibility. It supports a wide variety of programming languages and technologies.
Bamboo: Bamboo is a CI/CD tool developed by Atlassian that is often used for building and deploying Java applications. It integrates with many popular development tools and platforms.
GitHub Actions: GitHub Actions is a CI/CD platform built into GitHub that enables developers to automate workflows directly from their code repositories. It is highly customizable and supports many programming languages and technologies.
These are just a few examples of the many CI/CD tools available. Choosing the right tool for your organization will depend on a variety of factors, including the size and complexity of your software projects, your team's technical skills, and your budget.
4 - Containerization
Containerization is a technology that is often used in DevOps to simplify the deployment and management of software applications. It involves packaging software code and its dependencies into self-contained containers, which can then be deployed and run consistently across different computing environments.
Containers provide a lightweight, isolated environment for running applications, which helps to eliminate many of the problems that can arise when deploying software on different operating systems, servers, or cloud platforms. Each container includes all the necessary libraries, runtime, and configuration files needed to run the application, which makes it easier to move the application between different computing environments.
One of the most popular containerization technologies is Docker, which provides a platform for building, shipping, and running containers. Docker containers are built using Docker images, which are essentially snapshots of the software code and its dependencies at a specific point in time. These images can be easily shared and deployed to any Docker host, which makes it easier to distribute and scale applications.
Containerization also enables a "microservices" architecture, where software applications are broken down into smaller, more manageable components that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This approach allows organizations to build and deploy software more quickly and efficiently, with better scalability and resilience.
5 - Cloud Services
Cloud services can be used at various stages of the DevOps process, including development, testing, deployment, and monitoring. For example, cloud-based development environments, such as AWS Cloud9 or Microsoft Visual Studio Online, can provide developers with access to the tools and resources they need to write and test code from anywhere with an internet connection. Cloud-based testing services, such as AWS Device Farm or Sauce Labs, can provide a wide range of devices and operating systems for testing applications.
Cloud services can also be used for deployment, with platforms like AWS Elastic Beanstalk or Google Cloud Run providing easy ways to deploy containerized applications. Cloud-based monitoring and logging services, such as AWS CloudWatch or Microsoft Azure Monitor, can help to identify issues in real time and provide insights into application performance and user behavior.
In summary, cloud services in DevOps provide a flexible and scalable infrastructure for building, testing, deploying, and monitoring applications, enabling organizations to accelerate their software development lifecycle and achieve greater agility and innovation.
6 - Infrastructure as Code
Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an approach to managing and provisioning infrastructure resources, such as servers, databases, and networking components, using code and automation techniques.
IaC is often used in DevOps practices to enable teams to more easily manage and scale their infrastructure, as well as to improve consistency and reliability. With IaC, infrastructure is defined and provisioned using code, typically in a declarative language such as YAML or JSON. This code can be version-controlled, tested, and deployed like any other software code.
By defining infrastructure as code, teams can quickly and easily spin up new resources, manage configurations, and enforce compliance policies. IaC can also help ensure that infrastructure resources are consistent across development, testing, and production environments. Additionally, IaC tools can help teams monitor and manage their infrastructure over time, making it easier to identify and fix issues.
Tools for Infrastructure as Code
There are many tools available for implementing infrastructure as code. Here are some of the most popular ones:
Terraform: An open-source tool developed by HashiCorp, Terraform allows you to define and manage infrastructure resources across multiple cloud providers using a simple, declarative language.
AWS CloudFormation: A service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows you to define and deploy infrastructure resources in a programmatic and repeatable way using JSON or YAML templates.
Ansible: An open-source automation tool that allows you to manage infrastructure resources using a YAML-based configuration language.
Puppet: An open-source configuration management tool that uses a declarative language to define and manage infrastructure resources.
Chef: Another popular open-source configuration management tool that uses a Ruby-based DSL to define and manage infrastructure resources.
SaltStack: An open-source configuration management tool that uses a Python-based configuration language to define and manage infrastructure resources.
Pulumi: An open-source tool that allows you to define and manage infrastructure resources using familiar programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, and Go.
These are just a few examples of the many tools available for implementing infrastructure as code. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of tool will depend on the specific needs and preferences of your organization.
7 - Configuration Management
Configuration management in DevOps refers to the practice of managing the configurations of all the software and hardware components that make up an organization's infrastructure. It involves defining, deploying, and maintaining consistent and reliable configurations across all environments, from development to production.
Configuration management is an essential aspect of DevOps as it ensures that the software and infrastructure are always in a known and stable state. This helps to reduce the risk of errors, inconsistencies, and downtime caused by misconfigurations or changes made outside of the established processes.
By adopting configuration management in DevOps, organizations can improve the consistency and reliability of their infrastructure, reduce the time and effort required to manage configurations and increase the speed and agility of their development and deployment processes.
Tools for Configuration Management
There are many configuration management tools available for implementing configuration management in DevOps. Here are some of the most popular ones:
Ansible: An open-source tool that provides simple, agentless IT automation and configuration management across multiple systems.
Chef: An open-source configuration management tool that provides a framework for automating infrastructure configuration and management.
Puppet: An open-source tool that provides a framework for automating the deployment and management of infrastructure configurations.
SaltStack: An open-source tool that provides a scalable and flexible system for automating configuration management.
CFEngine: An open-source tool that provides a declarative language for defining and managing configurations across large-scale distributed systems.
Terraform: An open-source tool that provides infrastructure as code to manage and provision infrastructure resources across multiple cloud providers.
AWS CloudFormation: A service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows you to define and deploy infrastructure resources in a programmatic and repeatable way using JSON or YAML templates.
These tools provide automation, scalability, and flexibility for managing configurations in DevOps. The choice of tool depends on the specific needs and preferences of an organization.
8 - Container orchestration
Container orchestration in DevOps is the process of automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications across a cluster of servers. Container orchestration allows DevOps teams to deploy and manage complex containerized applications in a reliable and scalable manner.
Containers are lightweight, portable, and self-contained units of software that package an application and its dependencies. Container orchestration tools allow DevOps teams to manage containerized applications at scale, by automating tasks such as container deployment, load balancing, service discovery, scaling, and self-healing.
Some of the popular container orchestration tools used in DevOps include:
Kubernetes: An open-source container orchestration tool developed by Google, which provides a platform for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications.
Docker Swarm: A container orchestration tool provided by Docker, which allows DevOps teams to deploy and manage containerized applications across multiple servers.
Apache Mesos: An open-source distributed systems kernel that provides resource isolation and sharing across distributed applications, including containerized applications.
Container orchestration tools provide many benefits to DevOps teams, including the ability to quickly deploy and scale containerized applications, simplify the management of complex applications, and increase the reliability and availability of applications by providing self-healing mechanisms.
Suggestion for tools
Now we know what technologies one should know to be a DevOps engineer but as a beginner, it can be very overwhelming because every technology being used in DevOps have many tools and it can be very difficult for a beginner to choose.
So I have prepared a list of tools for each technology that can serve the purpose of a beginner.
Linux - UBUNTU
Source Code Management - GIT
CI/CD - JENKINS
Containerization - DOCKER
Cloud Services - AWS/AZURE
Infrastructure as Code - TERRAFORM
Configuration Management - ANSIBLE
Container Orchestration - KUBERNETES
I'll be adding how to get stated with each tool as soon as i can and will provide limks in this blog only
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