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How to become a DevOps / Cloud Engineer

Make software ship and stay up: Linux, networking, automation, CI/CD, containers, Kubernetes and one cloud, learned in that order.

21-29 weeks4 phases16 steps21 free resources3 checkpoint tests

Best for

Students who enjoy making systems reliable, like automating repetitive work, and are comfortable living in a terminal.

Maybe not for you if

Freshers who want to write product features all day. DevOps is also a harder FIRST job than backend - many people arrive here after a year of development.

The 4 phases

What each phase gets you to. The steps, resources and checkpoint inside each one open with a free account.

  1. Phase 1 - Linux, networking and scripting

    5-7 weeks

    Goal: Live comfortably on the command line, explain what happens on a network request, and automate real maintenance work in Bash and Python.

    4 steps · ends in a scored checkpoint (65% to clear) · assumes basic programming

  2. Phase 2 - Version control, CI/CD and containers

    5-7 weeks

    Goal: Take a repository from commit to a deployed container automatically, with tests and image scanning in the path.

    4 steps · ends in a build deliverable

  3. Phase 3 - Cloud, Kubernetes and infrastructure as code

    7-9 weeks

    Goal: Stand up monitored infrastructure from code rather than from a console, and run your container on Kubernetes.

    5 steps · ends in a scored checkpoint (60% to clear)

  4. Phase 4 - Clear the process

    4-6 weeks

    Goal: Pass the coding, aptitude and interview rounds that gate most campus offers, and defend every artefact you built.

    3 steps · ends in a scored checkpoint (60% to clear)

Open the full DevOps / Cloud Engineer roadmap

Free account, no card. It takes about a minute and you do not need to verify your email to start.

  • All 16 steps, in order, with why each one is there
  • 21 hand-picked free resources, no paid course upsells
  • The specific mistake people make at each stage
  • 3 scored checkpoint tests, so progress is earned not ticked
  • Progress saved per step, so a break does not cost you the thread
  • Adaptive start, phases your test history already clears are skipped
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What hiring actually looks like here

Practitioners typically advise mastering OS, networking and one scripting language BEFORE cloud and DevOps tooling, because the tools assume those fundamentals. Dedicated fresher DevOps openings are usually fewer than backend openings.

We claim no placement outcome, salary or success rate. This describes what is commonly reported about the role, nothing more. Linked resources are credited to their authors.

Comparing paths?