Open Source DevOps Engineering Academy

Master DevOps Engineering
Step by Step

A clean, production-oriented curriculum of comprehensive reference guides and hands-on automation tasks for Docker, Ansible, Terraform, Jenkins, and Nagios.

Browse Learning Modules ↓ Hands-on Tasks DevOps Tools ⚡ Roadmap →

Learning Modules

Comprehensive step-by-step master guides with code examples, architecture breakdowns, and command references.

🐳

Docker & Containers

Containerization fundamentals, Dockerfile directives, multi-stage builds, storage, and networking.

9 Lessons ▼

Introduction to Docker

Understand client-server architecture, daemons, containers vs VMs.

Images & Containers

Demystify image layers, container lifecycle, and essential inspection commands.

Storage & Volumes

Manage persistent data with bind mounts, named volumes, and tmpfs storage.

Networking in Docker

Bridge, host, overlay, and macvlan drivers for container communication.

Dockerfile Directives

Write production Dockerfiles, build optimization, and multi-stage patterns.

Docker Swarm Orchestration

Cluster management, managers, workers, services, and high availability.

Docker Compose

Multi-container orchestration, compose YAML definitions, and service networks.

CPU, Memory & Security Limits

Enforce resource quotas, cgroups, memory limits, and container hardening.

Master Command Reference

Comprehensive CLI cheat sheet for image, container, volume, and swarm commands.

🤖

Ansible Automation

Agentless configuration management, YAML playbooks, roles, inventory, and dynamic templates.

12 Lessons ▼

Introduction to Ansible

Agentless architecture, YAML playbooks, push vs pull configuration management.

Configure Managed Nodes

Set up a local Docker-based Ansible lab and configure SSH key authentication.

Ad-Hoc Commands

Execute quick one-liner tasks across fleets using Ansible modules.

Inventory Files & Groups

Define managed hosts with INI/YAML, host variables, and dynamic inventories.

Playbooks in YAML

Structure declarative playbooks, plays, tasks, and syntax rules.

Variables & Data Precedence

Define reusable variables, playbook vars, group_vars, and host_vars.

Ansible Facts & Gathering

Capture target system metadata and context dynamically during execution.

Configuration Templates

Generate dynamic configuration files using the template module.

Roles & Modular Structure

Organize complex automation into reusable role directory structures.

Automate Repetition with Loops

Iterate over lists, hashes, and complex data structures with loop controls.

Event Handlers & Notification

Trigger idempotent service restarts only when configuration states change.

Advanced Jinja2 Templates

Master Jinja2 filter syntax, conditionals, variables, and interview prep.

🌍

Terraform & IaC

Declarative cloud infrastructure provisioning, state tracking, providers, modules, and workflows.

14 Lessons ▼

Introduction to Terraform

Declarative Infrastructure as Code, state tracking, and cloud provisioning.

Core Workflow (6 Commands)

Master the lifecycle: init, fmt, validate, plan, apply, and destroy.

Providers & Resources

Understand the bridge (providers) and blueprints (resources) in HCL.

Arguments & Attributes

Master resource inputs (arguments) and exported outputs (attributes).

Input Variables & Structure

Write flexible configurations with the 3-file pattern and variable types.

Output Values & Querying

Define root and module outputs, extract values with terraform output, and protect secrets.

Local Values & Expressions

DRY configurations using locals blocks, compute dynamic strings, and merge standard tags.

Data Sources & Dynamic Lookups

Query existing cloud infrastructure dynamically with data blocks for AMIs, VPCs, and subnets.

State Management & S3 Backend

Demystify terraform.tfstate, remote S3 backend storage, and DynamoDB distributed state locking.

Reusable Modules & Registry

Package infrastructure into reusable modules with inputs, outputs, and Terraform Registry sources.

Loops: count, for_each & Dynamic Blocks

Master multi-resource loops, fix index shifting with for_each, and generate dynamic blocks.

Resource Lifecycle & Meta-Arguments

Control zero-downtime updates, prevent accidental deletions, and ignore drift.

Workspaces & Multi-Environment

Manage multiple environments (dev, stage, prod) from one codebase with isolated states.

Provisioners, User Data & terraform_data

Execute boot scripts with user_data, local-exec Ansible triggers, and terraform_data.

📊

Nagios Monitoring

Enterprise server, service, and network infrastructure monitoring with active/passive checks.

3 Lessons ▼

Introduction to Nagios

Continuous infrastructure monitoring, daemon architecture, and check types.

NRPE & Alert Configuration

Configure NRPE daemon on remote slaves, master configs, and alert contacts.

Nagios Web Interface

Navigate host status, service maps, servicegroups, and problem resolution.

Hands-on Production Tasks

Practical hands-on automation playbooks, cloud provisioning scripts, and CI/CD pipelines separated by tool.

🖥️

Linux & Shell Script Tasks

System maintenance scripts, log rotation, and server cleanup automation.

1 Task ▼

Automated Weekly Server Maintenance

Bash script and cron automation to clean caches, rotate logs, and audit disk space.

🤖

Ansible Automation Tasks

Production playbooks for monitoring agents, app upgrades, user management, and Jinja2 templates.

9 Tasks ▼

Install Node Exporter with Playbook

Fetch Prometheus node exporter binary, isolate service account, and wire systemd.

Automate Application & OS Updates

Idempotent apt package updater with safe cache refreshing and dependency cleanup.

Server Diagnostic & Health Checks

Pulls CPU, memory, disk, and uptime metrics across fleet into structured output.

Install Packages & Provision Users

Automates prerequisite installation, developer user setup, and workspace permissions.

Create System Users via Variables

Dynamic user provisioning leveraging variable files without hardcoded credentials.

Create Directory Trees with Loops

Create multi-tier project directories and permission hierarchies using Ansible loops.

Cross-Distro Packages with When Conditions

Deploy packages seamlessly across Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL/CentOS using gathered facts.

Install Apache with Event Handlers

Deploy web server and notify service restart handler only on configuration changes.

Deploy Dynamic Files with Jinja2

Template employee records and server configurations dynamically at runtime.

🌍

Terraform & AWS Tasks

Declarative cloud infrastructure provisioning for AWS EC2 instances and encrypted S3 buckets.

2 Tasks ▼

Provision AWS EC2 with Security Group

Deploy AWS EC2 instance with custom SSH key pair and strict security group ingress.

Secure AWS S3 Bucket with Encryption

Production S3 bucket with AES256 server-side encryption, versioning, and public access blocks.

🐳

Docker Container Tasks

Container image builds, port publishing, and background daemon execution.

1 Task ▼

Build & Run Nginx Docker Image

Custom Dockerfile, container port binding (80:80), and background daemon execution.

🪈

Jenkins CI/CD Tasks

Automated source code checkout, pipeline script triggers, and build execution stages.

1 Task ▼

Jenkins Pipeline: SCM Pull & Build

Declarative Jenkinsfile pipeline pulling code from GitHub SCM and running automated build stages.

FREE ONLINE UTILITIES

DevOps Online Tools & Generators

Free browser-based generators, calculators, and cloud utilities to streamline your daily engineering workflow.

Docker Compose Generator

Generate production-ready Docker Compose YAML files for multi-container stacks.

Containerization

Ansible Playbook Generator

Instantly build declarative YAML playbooks with roles, tasks, and handlers.

Kubernetes YAML Generator

Generate manifests for Deployments, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, and CronJobs.

Cron Expression Generator

Build, translate, and understand 5-field cron schedules with human explanations.

SSH Key Pair Generator

Generate secure RSA or Ed25519 public/private key pairs for servers and GitHub.

S3 Bucket Viewer

Explore public Amazon S3 bucket contents, inspect objects, and view directories.

Bash Script Generator

Create ready-to-use shell automation scripts with robust error handling.

IP & CIDR Calculator

Calculate subnets, CIDR ranges, network/broadcast IPs, and usable host counts.

Looking for more tools? Explore 18+ free utilities including Uptime Checker, Speed Test, Timezone Converter, Open Source Hub, and Cloud 3D Diagrams.

Visit server.shanmugananthan.com ↗

RECOMMENDED LEARNING PATH

DevOps Career Roadmap

Follow this recommended sequential order to build solid foundational and advanced engineering skills.

Step 01

🖥️ Linux & Scripts

Master system maintenance scripts, cron jobs, file systems, and bash automation.

Step 02

🐳 Docker & Containers

Package apps into immutable images, manage storage, networks, and compose setups.

Step 03

🤖 Ansible Automation

Write idempotent playbooks, roles, handlers, loops, and configure fleets over SSH.

Step 04

🌍 Terraform IaC

Provision cloud servers, storage, and networking declaratively with state management.

Step 05

📊 CI/CD & Monitoring

Continuous integration via Jenkins and infrastructure observability via Nagios.