Who are DevOps engineers? What do they do and how are they different from Agile engineers? Let’s understand the terms and look at the basics of technologies and tools you need to know to become a DevOps developer.

Firstly, DevOps is not precisely a specialization. It is a set of methods that combine software development, testing, and deployment, just like Agile. But, unlike Agile, DevOps methods also involve the operations team, expanding automation and collaboration between all software or application lifecycle stages. Originally, the term DevOps described only the software development approach, but it later became the name of a new profession. According to statistics, with the DevOps approach, the number of bugs during program deployment is reduced by five times.

So, the answer to the question “Who is a DevOps Engineer and what do they do” is this: a DevOps Engineer is an IT specialist who synchronizes the work of programmers, testers, and system administrators, and is responsible for automating the setup and deployment of applications. In other words, they deal with issues at the intersection of programming (dev – development) and operations (ops).

What Does a DevOps Engineer Do?

Depending on the qualification, the scope of the specialist may consist in the following categories of software development, testing and deployment:

• Control of continuous code creation at all stages
• Set up a network of cloud services with connections between them.
• Continuous monitoring and central logging
• Data and project security
• Infrastructure development and configuration 

Despite what is the job of DevOps, the requirements for a basic knowledge of the position of such a specialist is:

• Knowledge of the programming language – most often it is Bash and/or Python
• Confident work with Linux operating system
• Ability to work with the cloud infrastructure AWS (Amazon Web Services), Azure, Google Cloud
• Understanding the operation of databases
• Practical experience with configuration collection and automation systems.

The three pillars of DevOps software are Python, Linux, and AWS. To become a DevOps engineer, you need to constantly improve your knowledge, keep it up-to-date, and learn new methods and tools.

Which tool is in demand in DevOps?

Since DevOps is a methodological concept, the creation and configuration of infrastructure, process automation, and packaging are not universal. Therefore, there are many technologies and tools that can be used.

DevOps tools change and improve quickly and constantly, while concepts change much less often. Using the tools allows you to learn and embody concepts of all levels of complexity.

What tools should a DevOps Engineer master?

• Source Code Management (SCM). The most commonly used online services are GitLab, GitHub, Jenkins, BitBucket, Bamboo.
• Continuous integration (CI) in an isolated container environment – GitLab-CI, Jenkins and others.
• Data management (Data management) – tools for database maintenance FlywayDB, LiquiBase, Flocker.
• Amazon Web Services, Azure, Heroku
• Orchestration – OpenShift, Docker, Swarm
• Monitoring New Relic, Zabbix, DataDog
• Login Splunk, ELK Stack

Tools For Effective DevOps Collaboration

Used for the development and optimization of team work, as well as for the development of new ways of interaction in the team. Categories:

• Tracking tasks with Jira, Trello, Pivotal Tracker
• ChatOps – MatterMost, Slack messaging systems
• Documentation for internal use – Confluence wiki system, MarkDown data markup

It should be noted that hard skills and acquired tools can vary depending on the project! Specialists are put on a project with a specific goal in mind, so skills and tools are individual matters. You may be able to join a project and feel comfortable with the skills you already have, or you may need to acquire new ones to complete work tasks.

In the New Line Technologies team, there are DevOps engineers with different levels of experience. In addition to popular tools such as Azure, AWS, Git, Jenkins, and others, they work with resilient and scalable solutions. They tailor their approach to the client’s needs, gaining new knowledge and expanding their expertise.

What should I know about DevOps? Essential DevOps Books You Must Read:

• “The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations” Gene Kim, Patrick Debois, John Willis, Jez Humble
• “Effective DevOps: Building a Culture of Collaboration, Affinity, and Tooling at Scale” Jennifer Davis, Ryn Daniels
• “Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Fowler))” Jez Humble, David Farley
• “Securing DevOps: Security in the Cloud” Julien Vehent
• “Practical Guide to Continuous Delivery“ Eberhard Wolff
• “Terraform: Up and Running: Writing Infrastructure as Code“ Yevgeniy Brikman
• “Cloud Native DevOps with Kubernetes: Building, Deploying, and Scaling Modern Applications in the Cloud” John Arundel, Justin Domingus

Who can become DevOps engineer?

To become a DevOps specialist, system administrators often transition to this field as their knowledge partially aligns with the requirements of the profession. They need to master the basic technologies and DevOps tools related to testing and deployment. Experienced testers who want to learn new skills can also become DevOps engineers. To achieve this, open-source information, video tutorials on YouTube, communities on Telegram, or courses can be used. The last option provides more opportunities to get a Trainee position.

10 popular questions for the DevOps engineer during the interview.

Preparing for a Junior DevOps interview? We have already reviewed forums, talked to HR specialists, and selected the 10 most common questions that are asked to a beginner DevOps engineer during an interview. Read through to prepare yourself:

• What is Scrum? How does it work?
• What is Kanban? How does it work?
• Linux system architecture. Basic commands for operating system control through the shell
• What are the main network protocols? What is the difference?
• VPN Protocol. Examples of VPN Servers
• Basics of Git (basic commands, branch management, label creation)
• CI/CD. Milestones
• Examples of CI/CD systems. What DSL do they use?
• Virtualization systems. How do they work?
• Containerization. Basic Container Runtimes. Basic Docker Commands

How to Become a DevOps Engineer 

To master the profession of a DevOps engineer and become a Senior DevOps, you need to constantly learn and acquire constantly evolving tools and technologies.

You can start with the DevOps Roadmap, which clearly outlines what you need to know and where to start. Look for online courses on the chosen topics first.

To learn about AWS, you can start with various courses on aws.amazon.com. There are over 100 AWS development products available. Here, you can not only study but also receive help from external certified experts and gain practical experience.

Microsoft’s Azure – azure.microsoft.com – offers a free account for creating, deploying, and managing applications in multiple clouds.

DevOps Engineer is a promising specialization that offers wide opportunities for professional development. Anyone who is interested in software development and wants to understand all the links in the software development lifecycle to create a quality and in-demand product can start in this field.