Follow me on this journey as I let AI teach me how to be come a DevOps pro, from zero to hero. At least, from zero to "I understand a little bit".
I know that AI can help me a lot with DevOps. I have already tested out that before when I let Clio build me a static blog using Hugo, and deploy it to a live server on Amazon Web Service. We even sat up automated deployment together. I learned a little bit, but I would still be lost if I tried doing it without the AI guidence.
What is Clio? Learn more about Clio, our AI copilot that runs in your CLI, here.
In this series, I'm going to let AI teach me how I can do this on my own. I know vaguely what a DevOps do of course, but I don't know much about CI/CD, infrastructure, containerization, etc. So I'm even going to need help from AI to know what I need to learn.
I'm going to use Clio, my AI assistant, as my teacher. The cool thing about using AI for things like this is that I can ask questions, make her recommend things for me, asking for assignments or videos to watch to dive deeper into things, etc. And I don't have to thing about being that annoying student that always raises his hand, haha :-)
The first thing I'm going to do is to ask what I need to learn in order to become a DevOps engineer.
If you want to try this your self, you can go to https://github.com/gptscript-ai/clio. Here, you will find installation guides and similar.
When you have Clio running on your computer, you can just start talking to her like you would have done with a teacher in real life.
>>> I want to become a DevOps. Maybe not a pro, but enough to understand how things work and even build and deploy projects to the cloud. Can you briefly describe 8 important topics I need to learn? Start with the basics please. Absolutely! Here are 8 important topics to get you started on your journey to becoming proficient in DevOps: 1. Version Control Systems (VCS) • Description: Learn how to use version control systems like Git. This is fundamental for tracking changes in your code and collaborating with others. • Key Tools: Git, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket. 2. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) • Description: Understand the principles of CI/CD to automate the process of integrating code changes, testing, and deploying applications. • Key Tools: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Travis CI. 3. Containerization • Description: Learn how to package applications and their dependencies into containers to ensure consistency across different environments. • Key Tools: Docker, Podman. 4. Orchestration • Description: Manage and automate the deployment, scaling, and operation of containers. • Key Tools: Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, OpenShift. 5. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) • Description: Use code to manage and provision infrastructure, making it easier to automate and scale. • Key Tools: Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, Pulumi. 6. Cloud Providers • Description: Get familiar with major cloud service providers and their services for computing, storage, networking, and more. • Key Providers: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DigitalOcean. 7. Monitoring and Logging • Description: Implement monitoring and logging to keep track of application performance and troubleshoot issues. • Key Tools: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Splunk. 8. Security • Description: Learn the best practices for securing your applications and infrastructure. • Key Concepts: Secure coding practices, secrets management, network security, compliance.
As you can see, I got a list of 8 different topics. Based on what I read here, I think this could be a good list of topics. These 8 topics will be an article in this series.
Before I start diving directly in to part 1, let me just ask if there is anything I should do before I start.
Yes, there are a few prerequisites and additional considerations that can help you on your DevOps journey: ### Prerequisites: 1. Basic Programming Knowledge: • Description: Understanding basic programming concepts is essential. You don't need to be an expert, but familiarity with at least one programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript, Java) will be very helpful. • Why: Many DevOps tools and scripts require some level of programming. 2. Basic Linux/Unix Command Line Skills: • Description: Familiarity with the command line interface (CLI) in Linux/Unix is crucial. • Why: Most DevOps tools and environments are based on Linux/Unix systems. 3. Networking Fundamentals: • Description: Understanding basic networking concepts such as IP addresses, DNS, firewalls, and load balancers. • Why: Networking is a core component of deploying and managing applications. 4. Understanding of Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC): • Description: Familiarity with the stages of software development from planning to deployment and maintenance. • Why: DevOps practices are integrated into the SDLC to improve efficiency and collaboration. ### Additional Considerations: 1. Mindset and Culture: • Description: DevOps is as much about culture as it is about tools and practices. It emphasizes collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement. • Why: A DevOps mindset helps in breaking down silos between development and operations teams. 2. Soft Skills: • Description: Skills such as problem-solving, communication, and teamwork are crucial. • Why: DevOps involves working closely with different teams and stakeholders. 3. Community and Resources: • Description: Engage with the DevOps community through forums, meetups, and conferences. • Why: Learning from others' experiences and staying updated with the latest trends and tools is beneficial. 4. Hands-On Practice: • Description: Practical experience is invaluable. Set up your own projects, contribute to open-source projects, or use sandbox environments provided by cloud providers. • Why: Hands-on practice helps in reinforcing theoretical knowledge and gaining real-world experience. 5. Documentation and Learning Resources: • Description: Make use of official documentation, online courses, tutorials, and books. • Why: There is a wealth of information available that can guide you through each topic. By ensuring you have these prerequisites and considerations in mind, you'll be better prepared to dive into the world of DevOps. If you need recommendations for specific resources or have any other questions, feel free to ask!
I think this was a good answer, and it makes a lot of sense to know most of what she's talking about here. Luckily for me, I've been a programmer for over 15 years, so this is things I already know. I guess that when I start with the 8 parts, some of these topics like command line, networking and similar will be brought into light. If I'm stuck at a point, I can just ask my teacher.
For more details on getting started with Clio as your DevOps instructor, tune into this video I created below:
Okay, so far I have learned about what I need to learn in order to become a DevOps engineer. I know a little bit about what we're going to go through over the next weeks and similar.
I have not tried learning a new skill this way before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I hope the series sounds interesting and that you want to follow me and Clio on this journey.
To jump to a specific part of this series Harnessing AI to Become a DevOps Pro click one the link to one of the 8 key areas of DevOps that we will be exploring:
All you need to get started is some basic programming knowledge: to start from the beginning check out the intro guide here.
Follow along each week as we release detailed guides to each of the topics above.