Skip to content
Quantaledge Tech Empowerment Foundation

Beginner

DevOps and Cloud

From a first Linux command to a running application on AWS. Covers the operating system, networking, Git and GitHub, Docker, Terraform, GitHub Actions and AWS, in the order an engineer actually meets them, with every session ending in hands-on work against real tooling.

  • 46 lessons
  • Beginner
  • 1 enrolled

This course takes beginners from their first Linux command to a running application on AWS. It covers the working DevOps toolchain in the order an engineer actually meets it: the operating system, then the network, then version control, then containers, then infrastructure as code, then the pipeline that ties them together, and finally the cloud they all deploy onto.

It is built for people with no prior experience and it is project-based throughout. Every session ends in hands-on exercises against real tooling rather than slides, and a short midweek session exists specifically to unblock people on their assignments.

What a graduate can do

  • Work comfortably at a Linux command line: navigate the file system, manage permissions and ownership, install packages, and write a simple shell script.
  • Reason about the networking a deployment depends on, and diagnose a connection with ping, traceroute, netstat, curl and telnet.
  • Use Git and GitHub in a team, running a feature-branch and pull-request workflow.
  • Build and run containers: write a Dockerfile, manage images, volumes and networks, and stand up a multi-container application with Docker Compose.
  • Provision infrastructure as code in Terraform, through init, plan, apply and destroy, handling state and outputs and factoring configuration into reusable modules.
  • Automate a pipeline in GitHub Actions, running tests on commit and building a Docker image on push.
  • Find their way around AWS: EC2, S3 and IAM, VPC basics, and the cloud security principles that govern them.
  • Deploy a working application to AWS, launching an EC2 instance, serving files from S3 and attaching a security group that controls who can reach it.

How it is taught

Seven teaching weekends, one session each of two to three hours, plus a thirty-minute midweek catch-up for assignments and blockers. Online and instructor-led. Learners are given access to the AWS Console and hands-on labs, so the cloud work is done against a live account rather than a simulator.

Assessment and certification

Project-based, with weekly quizzes and tests to track progress. Assignments are set each weekend and submitted on a deadline.

Finishing the course does not produce a certificate on its own. The certificate is issued by Quantaledge Tech Empowerment Foundation and carries the signature of the Chairman.

Before you start

None. No prior Linux, networking or programming experience is assumed.

Taught cohorts

You can work through this course on your own at any time. These are the dates it is also being taught, with a facilitator and a group starting together.

What the course covers

7 modules · 46 lessons

  1. 1. Linux fundamentals

    Make learners comfortable in a Linux environment: distributions and the command line, file system navigation, permissions and ownership, core commands, package management with apt and yum, and simple shell scripting.

    • Linux OS basics: distributions, CLI against GUI

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • File system navigation: ls, cd, pwd, mkdir, rm

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • File permissions and ownership: chmod, chown

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Basic commands: cat, grep, find, echo, man

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Package management: apt, yum

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Simple shell scripting: variables, loops, basic scripts

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  2. 2. Networking basics for DevOps

    IP addresses, subnets and gateways, DNS record types, ports and protocols, firewalls and basic security rules, the diagnostic commands, and client-server communication.

    • IP addresses, subnets, gateways

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • DNS basics: A, CNAME and MX records

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Ports and protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, TCP and UDP

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Firewalls and basic security rules

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • ping, traceroute, netstat, curl, telnet

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Introduction to client-server communication

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  3. 3. Git and GitHub

    Repositories, commits and branches, cloning, pushing, pulling and merging, the feature-branch and pull-request workflow, GitHub issues and remotes, and an overview of GitHub Actions.

    • Git basics: repositories, commits, branches

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Cloning, pushing, pulling, merging

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Git workflow: feature branches, pull requests

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • GitHub basics: remote repositories, issues, pull requests

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Introduction to GitHub Actions, overview only

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  4. 4. Docker and containerization

    Containers against virtual machines, installation and setup, images, containers, volumes and networks, the core Docker commands, writing a Dockerfile, and Docker Compose.

    • Containers against virtual machines

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Docker installation and setup

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Docker images, containers, volumes and networks

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Docker commands: run, build, ps, logs, exec, rm

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Writing a basic Dockerfile

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Docker Compose basics

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  5. 5. Terraform and infrastructure as code

    The infrastructure as code concept and its benefits, providers, resources and variables, init, plan, apply and destroy, state and outputs, and modular Terraform for reuse.

    • The infrastructure as code concept and its benefits

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Terraform basics: providers, resources, variables

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • terraform init, plan, apply, destroy

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Terraform state and outputs

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Modular Terraform for reusability

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  6. 6. CI/CD with GitHub Actions

    Continuous integration and delivery concepts, workflow syntax in YAML, triggers, jobs and steps, runners and environment variables, and connecting GitHub Actions with Docker.

    • CI/CD concepts: continuous integration and continuous delivery

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • GitHub Actions workflow syntax in YAML

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Triggers, jobs, steps

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Runners and environment variables

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Common actions: build, test, deploy

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Connecting GitHub Actions with Docker

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  7. 7. AWS cloud basics

    AWS global infrastructure, EC2, S3 and IAM, cloud security principles, VPC basics including subnets, internet gateways and security groups, and deploying an application to AWS.

    • AWS global infrastructure overview

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • EC2, S3 and IAM basics

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Cloud security principles

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • VPC basics: subnets, internet gateway, security groups

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Deploying a simple application to AWS

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Hands-on exercises

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
DevOps and Cloud - Quantaledge