DevOps1: CI/CD Toolchain and Automation

Goal

Build a solid understanding of DevOps principles, practices, and culture, enabling learners to bridge the gap between software development and IT operations while delivering software faster and more reliably. Gain hands-on experience with industry-standard CI/CD tools, automation techniques, and pipeline implementation.

This course is designed for:

• Beginners and career switchers looking to start a career in DevOps or cloud engineering
• Software developers who want to understand CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation
• IT support, system, or infrastructure engineers transitioning into DevOps roles
• QA and testing professionals interested in automated testing and release pipelines
• Cloud and platform engineers seeking stronger CI/CD and automation skills
• Anyone with basic programming or IT knowledge who wants practical, job-ready DevOps skills

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, learners will be able to:

• Explain DevOps culture and principles
• Implement CI/CD pipelines using industry tools
• Use Git effectively in collaborative environments
• Automate infrastructure and deployment workflows
• Design and manage multi-stage CI/CD pipelines

Module 1: Introduction to DevOps

• What is DevOps? History and evolution
• Core DevOps principles and lifecycle
• DevOps culture: collaboration, ownership, and feedback loops
• Benefits of adopting DevOps in modern organisations
• Shared responsibility between Development and Operations teams

Module 2: Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

• Overview of CI/CD and why it matters
• CI/CD concepts and industry best practices
• Differences between:
  • Continuous Integration (CI)
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Continuous Deployment
• The role of automation in modern software delivery
• Common CI/CD challenges and how to avoid them

Module 3: Version Control with Git

• Introduction to version control systems
• Git fundamentals:
  • Clone
  • Branch
  • Commit
  • Merge
• Git workflows:
  • GitFlow
  • Trunk-based development
• Best practices for collaborative development
• Integrating Git with CI/CD pipelines

Module 4: Continuous Integration Tools

• Introduction to CI tools and ecosystems
• Jenkins:
  • Installation and setup
  • Job creation and configuration
• GitLab CI:
  • Pipeline configuration basics
• Travis CI:
  • YAML-based pipeline setup
• Integrating CI tools with Git repositories

Module 5: Scripting for Automation

• Bash scripting fundamentals
• Automating tasks with shell scripts
• Python for DevOps automation
• Writing scripts for build, test, and deployment stages
• Advanced scripting for CI/CD pipeline integration

Module 6: Configuration Management with Ansible

• Introduction to configuration management concepts
• Ansible architecture and components
• Writing Ansible playbooks
• Managing infrastructure consistency and repeatability
• Using Ansible within CI/CD pipelines

Module 7: CI/CD Pipeline Implementation

• Designing end-to-end CI/CD pipelines
• Building pipelines for:
  • Code build
  • Automated testing
  • Application deployment
• Multi-stage pipeline configuration:
  • Development
  • Testing
  • Staging
  • Production
• Artifact creation, management, and storage
• Pipeline optimisation and best practices