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DevOps Foundations

By Updated

Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD all sit on the same four skills. A container is a Linux process. A Service is a network address and a DNS name. A pipeline starts with a Git push. And the glue between tools is usually a script. When those foundations are solid, every tool on top becomes easier to learn and much easier to debug.

What You'll Learn

  • How to operate and troubleshoot Linux servers with confidence
  • How traffic actually moves — IP, TCP, DNS, HTTP, TLS, and load balancers
  • How Git works internally, and how teams branch, review, and recover
  • How to write Python automation that is safe to run unattended

The Four Tracks

Track Why it matters Start
Linux for DevOps Every server, container, and CI runner is Linux. Permissions, processes, systemd, disks, and performance are daily work. Linux
Networking Most production incidents involve DNS, TLS, timeouts, or a load balancer. Networking
Git and Branching Git is the interface to CI/CD and GitOps. Recovery skills prevent lost work. Git
Python Automation When a shell script outgrows itself, Python handles APIs, data, and error handling cleanly. Python

Suggested Order

flowchart LR
  L["Linux"] --> N["Networking"]
  N --> G["Git"]
  G --> P["Python automation"]
  L --> S["Shell scripting"]
  S --> P
  P --> T["Docker, Kubernetes,<br/>Terraform, CI/CD"]
  N --> T

You don't need to finish everything before moving on. A good rule: complete Linux and Networking before the Docker course, and Git before CI/CD Pipelines.

How to Practice

  • Use a disposable Linux machine. A local VM (Multipass, UTM, VirtualBox), a WSL2 distribution, or a small cloud instance you can delete. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS matches the examples.
  • Break things on purpose. Fill a disk, kill a process, misconfigure DNS — then fix it with the tools each chapter teaches.
  • Write down what changed and why. Your notes become your runbooks.

Practice safely

Commands that change users, firewalls, disks, or SSH settings can lock you out or destroy data. Run them on a machine you can rebuild, and keep a second session open when editing SSH or firewall rules.

  • Shell Scripting — turn the commands from these chapters into safe, reusable scripts
  • SRE Practices — the reliability practices these skills support
  • Security — secrets, supply chain, and hardening beyond the basics

Next

Start with Linux for DevOps.