DevOps From Zero to Staff: The Complete Local-First + Cloud-Ready Master Guide

A production-grade, local-first learning system to build real operational competence: delivery systems, production operations, incident response under pressure, reliability engineering, security/supply-chain hygiene, and staff-level tradeoff thinking.

This repo is designed to be used like an engineering program: you produce evidence, run drills, write runbooks, and practice safe rollback and verification.

What “Competence” Means Here

You finish each module with evidence:

• You can build, break, and fix systems locally (repeatably).
• You can explain failures from symptoms → diagnosis commands → root cause → fix → prevention.
• You can write runbooks and decision records (ADRs) that another engineer can execute.
• You can sit an on-call drill (time-boxed) and produce an incident log + follow-ups.

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/Kuldeep2822k/devops-mastery-curriculum.git devops-staff-guide
cd devops-staff-guide

• Start here: ROADMAP.md
• Read the operating model: 00-how-to-use.md
• Bootstrap tooling: SETUP/00-overview.md
• Pick a schedule: SCHEDULES/

Local-First, Cloud-Ready

Core labs run locally using safe, reproducible primitives:

• Containers: Docker
• Kubernetes: kind or minikube
• IaC: Terraform/OpenTofu (local-first workflow; cloud extensions optional)
• CI: local pipeline simulation + GitHub Actions-style contracts
• Observability: local signals (logs + metrics) with optional stack extensions

Cloud usage is optional and always isolated to:

• per-module cloud-extension-lab.md
• provider mappings and notes under APPENDICES/

Every cloud extension includes cost control and cleanup guidance. Do not run cloud labs without reading 03-lab-safety-cost-control.md.

Repository Layout

• Core navigation:
  • Roadmap and progression: ROADMAP.md
  • How to use: 00-HOW-TO-USE/
  • Setup/tooling: SETUP/
• Curriculum:
  • Modules (01–25): MODULES/
  • Troubleshooting catalog: TROUBLESHOOTING_CATALOG/
  • Cheatsheets: CHEATSHEETS/
• Portfolio:
  • Projects (01–10): PROJECTS/00-overview.md
  • Capstones (01–04): CAPSTONES/00-overview.md
• Hiring practice:
  • Interview drills: INTERVIEW_DRILLS/
• Tracking:
  • Progress templates: PROGRESS/

Evidence You Produce

• Completed checklist.md (Definition of Done)
• Self-score via rubric.md (0–4 per skill)
• Notes from review-questions.md
• Exam submissions (commands run + outputs + reasoning)
• A runbook draft + an ADR draft (even for “simple” modules)
• Postmortem + follow-ups for on-call drills

Evidence guidance: 04-evidence-rubrics.md

How To Navigate a Module

Each module is a complete mini-course with:

• overview + concept lessons (01-*.md, 02-*.md, …)
• runnable labs (lab-*.md) with strict sections: Goal/Prereqs/Setup/Steps/Verify/Cleanup/Troubleshooting
• assessment artifacts (checklist, rubric, review questions, exam)
• troubleshooting practice (troubleshooting.md and troubleshooting-lab.md)

Safety and Security Rules (Non-Negotiable)

• Never paste secrets into terminals, files, screenshots, or logs.
• Prefer short-lived credentials and workload identity patterns.
• Use least privilege; design for revocation.
• Treat build artifacts as supply-chain inputs: provenance, SBOM, signatures where feasible.
• Always include cleanup steps and verify resource deletion.

Safety and cost control: 03-lab-safety-cost-control.md

Recommended Progression

Pick one schedule and follow it:

• SCHEDULES/30-day-boot.md
• SCHEDULES/90-day-deep.md
• SCHEDULES/180-day-staff.md
• SCHEDULES/365-day-mastery.md

QA

• QA checklist: QA_AUDIT.md
• Self-audit report template: QA_SELF_AUDIT_REPORT.md
• Why the guide uses small Python tools: WHY_PY_TOOLS.md

Generated Files Manifest

Track generated content and repository status in GENERATED_FILES_MANIFEST.md.