Complete DevOps Learning Path

Your Journey to
DevOps Mastery

Follow this comprehensive roadmap to become a skilled DevOps engineer. Each stage includes interactive skills with curated resources and hands-on learning paths.

9
Learning Stages
29+
Weeks to Complete
50+
Interactive Skills
27+
Hands-on Projects
Interactive Learning Path

The Complete DevOps Journey

Each stage includes curated resources, hands-on projects, and real-world skills you can practice immediately.

Fundamentals
Foundation
2-3 weeks
Build a solid foundation with essential programming and system administration skills

Market Context

Essential foundation skills required by 95% of DevOps job postings. Companies increasingly value engineers who understand both development and operations fundamentals.

🔥 Linux skills mentioned in 89% of DevOps job postings

Prerequisites

Basic computer literacy
Willingness to learn

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Junior DevOps Engineer
System Administrator
Platform Engineer Intern
$45,000 - $70,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Universal - Required by all major tech companies

Skills & Resources (5)

Linux/Unix Basics

basic

Learn essential Linux commands and file system navigation

concept

Shell Scripting (Bash)

basic

Automate tasks with powerful shell scripts

tool

Basic Programming (Python/Go)

basic

Learn programming fundamentals with Python or Go

concept

Networking Fundamentals

basic

Understand TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, and network protocols

concept

Git Version Control

basic

Learn version control with Git and GitHub

tool

Projects (3)

Personal Development Environment

beginner
1-2 days

Set up a complete development environment with Linux, Git, and basic automation scripts

Linux
Git
Bash
VS Code

System Monitoring Dashboard

intermediate
3-5 days

Create Bash scripts to monitor system resources and generate reports

Bash
Cron
Python
HTML/CSS

Automated Backup Solution

intermediate
2-3 days

Build an automated backup system using shell scripts and cron jobs

Bash
Cron
Rsync
Git

Learning Outcomes

  • Command line proficiency
  • Basic programming skills
  • System understanding
Infrastructure as Code
IaC Specialist
2-3 weeks
Learn to provision and manage infrastructure through code

Market Context

Infrastructure as Code is a $8.4B market growing at 25% annually. Companies save 40-60% on infrastructure costs through automation.

📈 IaC skills increase salary potential by 25-40%

Prerequisites

Linux basics
Basic programming

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Infrastructure Engineer
Platform Engineer
Cloud Engineer
DevOps Engineer
$75,000 - $120,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Adopted by 78% of enterprises for cloud infrastructure

Skills & Resources (5)

Terraform

intermediate

Provision cloud infrastructure with HashiCorp Terraform

tool

Ansible

intermediate

Automate configuration management and application deployment

tool

CloudFormation

intermediate

AWS native infrastructure as code service

tool

Configuration Management

basic

Understand configuration management principles and tools

concept

Infrastructure Testing

advanced

Test and validate infrastructure code

practice

Projects (3)

Multi-Environment Infrastructure

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Create development, staging, and production environments using Terraform

Terraform
AWS/Azure
Ansible
Git

Automated Web Application Stack

advanced
2-3 weeks

Deploy a complete web application stack with load balancers, databases, and monitoring

Terraform
Ansible
Nginx
PostgreSQL
+1 more

Infrastructure Testing Pipeline

advanced
1-2 weeks

Build a CI/CD pipeline that tests infrastructure changes before deployment

Terraform
Terratest
GitHub Actions
Checkov

Learning Outcomes

  • Infrastructure automation
  • Configuration management
  • Reproducible deployments
Containerization & Orchestration
Container Expert
3-4 weeks
Learn container technologies and orchestration platforms

Market Context

Container adoption grew 300% in the last 3 years. Kubernetes is used by 83% of container users, making it essential for modern DevOps.

🚀 Kubernetes expertise commands 30% salary premium

Prerequisites

Linux fundamentals
Basic networking

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Container Platform Engineer
Kubernetes Administrator
Site Reliability Engineer
Platform Architect
$85,000 - $140,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Used by 96% of organizations either in production or pilot

Skills & Resources (5)

Docker Fundamentals

basic

Learn containerization with Docker

tool

Container Networking

intermediate

Understand how containers communicate

concept

Kubernetes Basics

intermediate

Deploy and manage applications on Kubernetes

tool

Helm Charts

intermediate

Package and deploy Kubernetes applications

tool

Container Security

advanced

Secure containerized applications and runtime

practice

Projects (3)

Microservices E-commerce Platform

advanced
2-3 weeks

Build and deploy a complete microservices application using Docker and Kubernetes

Docker
Kubernetes
Helm
Istio
+2 more

Container CI/CD Pipeline

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Create a pipeline that builds, tests, and deploys containerized applications

Docker
GitHub Actions
Kubernetes
Harbor Registry

Kubernetes Cluster Setup

advanced
1-2 weeks

Set up a production-ready Kubernetes cluster with monitoring and logging

Kubernetes
Prometheus
Grafana
ELK Stack
+1 more

Learning Outcomes

  • Container expertise
  • Kubernetes proficiency
  • Microservices understanding
CI/CD Pipelines
Pipeline Expert
2-3 weeks
Build automated deployment pipelines for continuous delivery

Market Context

Organizations with mature CI/CD practices deploy 46x more frequently with 96% faster recovery times. GitOps adoption increased 75% year-over-year.

⚡ Teams with CI/CD deploy 2,555x more frequently

Prerequisites

Git version control
Basic containerization

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Release Engineer
DevOps Engineer
Platform Engineer
CI/CD Specialist
$80,000 - $130,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Used by 87% of software organizations for faster delivery

Skills & Resources (6)

GitHub Actions

basic

Automate workflows with GitHub Actions

tool

Jenkins

intermediate

Build CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins

tool

GitLab CI

intermediate

Continuous integration with GitLab

tool

ArgoCD

advanced

GitOps continuous delivery for Kubernetes

tool

Testing Automation

intermediate

Integrate automated testing in pipelines

practice

Deployment Strategies

advanced

Blue-green, canary, and rolling deployments

practice

Projects (3)

Multi-Stage CI/CD Pipeline

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Build a complete pipeline with testing, security scanning, and deployment

GitHub Actions
Docker
SonarQube
Kubernetes
+1 more

GitOps Deployment System

advanced
2-3 weeks

Implement GitOps workflow for automated deployments with ArgoCD

ArgoCD
Helm
Kubernetes
Git
+1 more

Blue-Green Deployment Pipeline

advanced
1-2 weeks

Create a zero-downtime deployment strategy with automated rollback

Jenkins
Kubernetes
Helm
Monitoring
+1 more

Learning Outcomes

  • Automated deployments
  • Testing integration
  • Release management
Cloud Platforms
Cloud Architect
4-6 weeks
Learn major cloud service providers and their services

Market Context

Cloud market reached $545B in 2024. 92% of enterprises have multi-cloud strategy. AWS holds 33% market share, followed by Azure (22%) and GCP (11%).

☁️ Cloud-certified professionals earn 25% more on average

Prerequisites

Infrastructure as Code
Networking fundamentals

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Cloud Engineer
Solutions Architect
Cloud Security Engineer
Principal Engineer
$95,000 - $180,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Adopted by 94% of enterprises globally

Skills & Resources (7)

DigitalOcean

basic

Cloud infrastructure and services for developers

tool

AWS Fundamentals

basic

Learn core AWS services and concepts

tool

Azure Services

intermediate

Microsoft Azure cloud platform essentials

tool

Google Cloud Platform

intermediate

GCP services and cloud architecture

tool

Multi-cloud Strategies

advanced

Design applications for multiple cloud providers

concept

Cost Optimization

intermediate

Optimize cloud costs and resource usage

practice

AWS Certified Solutions Architect

advanced

Professional certification for AWS

certification

Projects (3)

Multi-Cloud Architecture

advanced
3-4 weeks

Design and implement an application that runs across AWS, Azure, and GCP

AWS
Azure
GCP
Terraform
+2 more

Serverless Application Suite

intermediate
2-3 weeks

Build a complete serverless application with API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB

AWS Lambda
API Gateway
DynamoDB
CloudFormation
+1 more

Cost Optimization Dashboard

advanced
1-2 weeks

Create automated cost monitoring and optimization recommendations

CloudWatch
AWS Cost Explorer
Python
Grafana
+1 more

Learning Outcomes

  • Multi-cloud expertise
  • Cost optimization
  • Architecture design
Monitoring & Observability
SRE Specialist
2-3 weeks
Implement comprehensive monitoring and observability solutions

Market Context

Observability market growing at 8.2% CAGR, reaching $1.6B by 2025. Companies with mature observability practices have 69% faster MTTR.

📊 SRE roles grew 34% year-over-year

Prerequisites

Container basics
Cloud fundamentals

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Site Reliability Engineer
Observability Engineer
Platform Reliability Engineer
Principal SRE
$105,000 - $200,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Critical for 89% of cloud-native organizations

Skills & Resources (5)

Prometheus & Grafana

intermediate

Metrics collection and visualization

tool

ELK Stack

intermediate

Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for logs

tool

APM Tools

intermediate

Application Performance Monitoring

tool

Distributed Tracing

advanced

Track requests across microservices

concept

SRE Practices

advanced

Site Reliability Engineering principles

practice

Projects (3)

Complete Observability Stack

advanced
2-3 weeks

Build end-to-end monitoring for a microservices application

Prometheus
Grafana
Jaeger
ELK Stack
+1 more

SLO Monitoring Dashboard

advanced
1-2 weeks

Create SLI/SLO tracking with automated alerting and error budgets

Prometheus
Grafana
SLO Library
PagerDuty
+1 more

Performance Analysis Tool

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Build automated performance regression detection system

Prometheus
Python
Grafana
Statistical Analysis
+1 more

Learning Outcomes

  • System visibility
  • Incident response
  • Performance optimization
Security & Compliance
Security Champion
3-4 weeks
Implement DevSecOps practices and security automation

Market Context

DevSecOps market expected to reach $23.2B by 2027. 85% of organizations plan to increase security automation investment in 2024.

🔒 DevSecOps roles increased 164% in the last 2 years

Prerequisites

CI/CD pipelines
Container security basics

Career Progression

Potential Roles
DevSecOps Engineer
Security Engineer
Compliance Engineer
Security Architect
$110,000 - $190,000
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Critical priority for 76% of organizations

Skills & Resources (5)

Security Scanning

intermediate

Automated vulnerability scanning in pipelines

tool

Secrets Management

intermediate

Secure handling of secrets and credentials

practice

RBAC & IAM

intermediate

Role-based access control and identity management

concept

Compliance Automation

advanced

Automate compliance checks and reporting

practice

Container Security

advanced

Advanced container and runtime security

practice

Projects (3)

Secure CI/CD Pipeline

advanced
2-3 weeks

Build a pipeline with integrated security scanning and compliance checks

SAST/DAST
Container Scanning
Secret Detection
Policy as Code

Zero Trust Network

advanced
2-3 weeks

Implement zero-trust principles with service mesh and mTLS

Istio
Cert-Manager
OPA Gatekeeper
Falco
+1 more

Compliance Automation

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Automate compliance reporting and remediation for SOC2/GDPR

Open Policy Agent
Falco
Cloud Security Tools
Automation Scripts

Learning Outcomes

  • Security automation
  • Compliance management
  • Threat mitigation
Database Management
Data Engineer
2-3 weeks
Handle data persistence, scaling, and database operations

Market Context

Database market growing at 14% CAGR. 73% of organizations use multiple database types. Cloud databases account for 68% of new deployments.

💾 Database specialization adds $15-20k to base salary

Prerequisites

Basic programming
Cloud fundamentals

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Database Engineer
Data Platform Engineer
Database Administrator
Data Architect
$85,000 - $150,000
high demand
Industry Adoption

Essential for 100% of data-driven organizations

Skills & Resources (5)

SQL & NoSQL Databases

basic

Work with relational and non-relational databases

concept

Database Automation

intermediate

Automate database deployments and migrations

practice

Backup Strategies

intermediate

Implement robust backup and recovery procedures

practice

Performance Tuning

advanced

Optimize database performance and queries

practice

Data Migration

advanced

Plan and execute database migrations

practice

Projects (3)

Database Migration Pipeline

advanced
2-3 weeks

Automate migration from legacy systems to cloud databases

Database Migration Service
ETL Tools
Monitoring
Rollback Strategies

Multi-Database Architecture

advanced
2-3 weeks

Design polyglot persistence with different database types

PostgreSQL
MongoDB
Redis
Elasticsearch
+1 more

Database Monitoring System

intermediate
1-2 weeks

Build comprehensive database performance monitoring

Prometheus
Grafana
Database Exporters
Alert Rules

Learning Outcomes

  • Database expertise
  • Data reliability
  • Performance optimization
Continuous Learning
Lifelong Learner
Forever
Embrace lifelong learning and community contribution

Market Context

Technology changes rapidly - 50% of skills become obsolete every 2-5 years. Continuous learners are 40% more likely to receive promotions.

🚀 Lifelong learners earn 47% more over their careers

Prerequisites

Curiosity
Growth mindset

Career Progression

Potential Roles
Senior Engineer
Staff Engineer
Principal Engineer
Distinguished Engineer
CTO
$150,000 - $500,000+
very high demand
Industry Adoption

Essential for long-term career success

Skills & Resources (7)

Stay Curious & Experiment

basic

Always explore new technologies and approaches

practice

Open Source Contribution

intermediate

Contribute to open source projects

practice

Technical Writing & Blogging

intermediate

Share knowledge through writing

practice

Mentoring Others

advanced

Help others on their DevOps journey

practice

Build Side Projects

basic

Create projects to learn and showcase skills

practice

Attend Conferences & Workshops

basic

Learn from industry experts and network

practice

Join DevOps Communities

basic

Connect with other DevOps professionals

practice

Projects (3)

Open Source Contribution

advanced
Ongoing

Contribute to major DevOps tools or create your own project

GitHub
Community Building
Documentation
Code Review

Technical Blog Series

intermediate
Ongoing

Share your DevOps journey and learnings through regular blog posts

Writing
SEO
Community Engagement
Personal Branding

Mentorship Program

intermediate
Ongoing

Guide junior engineers and contribute to community growth

Leadership
Communication
Knowledge Transfer
Career Coaching

Learning Outcomes

  • Continuous growth
  • Community impact
  • Knowledge sharing

"The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice."- Brian Herbert

Salary ranges and demand levels reflect US market averages and may vary by region.

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