DevOps: Docker, Kubernetes & CI/CD

What you will be able to do

• Work confidently on a Linux server: files, permissions, processes, services, networking and logs
• Collaborate with Git using branches, pull requests and a clear branching strategy
• Automate routine tasks with safe, readable Bash scripts
• Containerise applications with efficient, secure Dockerfiles and run multi-service stacks with Docker Compose
• Build CI/CD pipelines in GitHub Actions that lint, test, scan, build and publish container images
• Deploy and operate applications on Kubernetes with Deployments, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps, Secrets, probes and Helm
• Describe infrastructure as code with Terraform and explain state, plans and modules
• Monitor applications with Prometheus and Grafana, set alerts and choose a safe deployment strategy

About this course

Syllabus

This syllabus is a draft awaiting instructor review. Topics, order and schedule may change before the first batch is announced.

1. 01Linux for DevOps+4 live sessions · 8 hours · The Linux skills every later module depends on: the shell, permissions, services, networking and logs.

   Learning objectives

   • Navigate the filesystem and use pipes, redirection and text tools effectively
   • Manage users, groups, permissions, processes and systemd services
   • Use SSH and diagnose basic network problems from the command line
   • Install software with a package manager and find problems in system logs

   Live sessions

   1. 01The Linux filesystem and the shell2 hThe directory layout, paths, files and links, pipes and redirection, grep, find, sed and awk for everyday tasks, editing files in the terminal.
   2. 02Users, permissions, processes and services2 hUsers and groups, file permissions and ownership, sudo, processes and signals, systemd units, starting, stopping and enabling services.
   3. 03Networking tools and SSH2 hIP addresses, ports and DNS, curl, ss, dig and ping, SSH keys and config, copying files with scp and rsync, basic firewall rules.
   4. 04Packages, logs and Linux lab with doubt-clearing2 hapt and package repositories, journalctl and log files, disk and memory checks; running the course application on a Linux machine; open questions.

   Practice

   Set up the course application on a Linux machine or WSL 2, run it as a systemd service, and diagnose three deliberately broken configurations.

   Assessment

   Assignment: a troubleshooting log for the broken configurations, plus a Linux quiz (auto-marked).

   You will be able to

   You can work on a Linux server comfortably and find out why a service is not running.

2. 02Git and collaboration+2 live sessions · 4 hours · Version everything and work on shared code through branches and reviewed pull requests.

   Learning objectives

   • Use commits, branches, merges and rebases confidently and resolve conflicts
   • Work through pull requests with reviews and branch protection
   • Choose a branching strategy suited to continuous delivery

   Live sessions

   1. 05Git fundamentals and history2 hRepositories, the staging area, commits and good commit messages, inspecting history and diffs, undoing changes safely, .gitignore and keeping secrets out of Git.
   2. 06Branching, pull requests and doubt-clearing2 hBranches, merging and rebasing, resolving conflicts, pull requests and code review, branch protection rules, trunk-based development versus long-lived branches; open questions.

   Practice

   Collaborate in pairs on a shared repository: open, review and merge pull requests, and resolve a deliberate merge conflict.

   Assessment

   Assignment: a repository history with reviewed pull requests and a resolved conflict.

   You will be able to

   You can collaborate on code through Git in the way delivery pipelines expect.

3. 03Scripting and automation+2 live sessions · 4 hours · Automate repetitive work with Bash scripts that are safe to run more than once.

   Learning objectives

   • Write Bash scripts with variables, conditions, loops and functions
   • Handle errors, arguments and exit codes so scripts fail clearly
   • Schedule scripts with cron and keep them idempotent

   Live sessions

   1. 07Bash scripting basics2 hShebangs and executable scripts, variables and quoting, conditions and tests, loops, reading command output, environment variables.
   2. 08Robust scripts, scheduling and doubt-clearing2 hFunctions and arguments, exit codes and set -euo pipefail, logging from scripts, idempotency, cron jobs, linting with ShellCheck; open questions.

   Practice

   Write a backup script for the course database and an environment health-check script, and schedule one with cron.

   Assessment

   Assignment: two scripts reviewed for safety, readability and error handling.

   You will be able to

   You can automate routine operational tasks with scripts others can trust and maintain.

4. 04Containers with Docker+4 live sessions · 8 hours · Package applications into images that run the same way on every machine.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain containers, images, layers and registries
   • Write efficient, secure multi-stage Dockerfiles
   • Run multi-service applications with volumes, networks and Docker Compose
   • Scan images for known vulnerabilities and publish them to a registry

   Live sessions

   1. 09Containers and images2 hContainers versus virtual machines, images and layers, running, inspecting and stopping containers, ports, environment variables and logs.
   2. 10Writing Dockerfiles2 hDockerfile instructions, build context and .dockerignore, layer caching, multi-stage builds, small base images, running as a non-root user.
   3. 11Volumes, networks and Docker Compose2 hNamed volumes and bind mounts, container networks and service discovery, a Compose file for the API, front end and PostgreSQL, health checks and dependencies.
   4. 12Image security, registries and doubt-clearing2 hTags and immutable digests, pushing to GitHub Container Registry, scanning with Trivy, keeping secrets out of images; open questions.

   Practice

   Containerise the course application, cut its image size with a multi-stage build, run the full stack with Compose and scan the images.

   Assessment

   Project milestone 1: Dockerfiles and a Compose file for the application, reviewed for size, security and clarity.

   You will be able to

   You can containerise an application properly and run it locally as a complete stack.

5. 05Continuous integration and delivery+4 live sessions · 8 hours · Build, test and publish every change automatically, and release it safely.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain continuous integration, delivery and deployment and what each pipeline stage is for
   • Write GitHub Actions workflows with jobs, steps, caching, matrices and artifacts
   • Build, scan and publish images with secrets and protected environments
   • Compare rolling, blue-green and canary releases and plan a rollback

   Live sessions

   1. 13CI/CD concepts and GitHub Actions2 hWhy small, frequent changes are safer, pipeline stages, workflow files, triggers, jobs, steps and runners, reading workflow logs.
   2. 14A build and test pipeline2 hLinting and tests on every pull request, dependency caching, matrix builds, service containers for a test database, required status checks.
   3. 15Building and publishing images2 hBuilding images in CI, tagging with commit SHAs, pushing to a registry, scanning as a pipeline gate, secrets, environments and manual approvals.
   4. 16Deployment strategies, mid-course review and doubt-clearing2 hRolling, blue-green and canary releases, feature flags, rollback plans; review of modules 1–5 with a practice quiz; open questions.

   Practice

   Build a pipeline for the course application that lints, tests, scans and publishes images on merge to the main branch.

   Assessment

   Project milestone 2: a working pipeline with a green run, a deliberately failed run and a written explanation of each stage.

   You will be able to

   You can build a CI/CD pipeline that catches problems early and produces deployable artifacts.

6. 06Kubernetes fundamentals+5 live sessions · 10 hours · Deploy, configure, expose and update containerised applications on Kubernetes.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain the Kubernetes architecture and the desired-state model
   • Deploy applications with Pods, Deployments and Services, and expose them with Ingress
   • Configure applications with ConfigMaps, Secrets, probes and resource limits
   • Package and release an application with Helm and debug failing workloads

   Live sessions

   1. 17Kubernetes architecture and kubectl2 hWhy orchestration, the control plane and nodes, desired state and reconciliation, creating a local cluster with kind, kubectl basics, namespaces and contexts.
   2. 18Pods, Deployments and rolling updates2 hPods and ReplicaSets, Deployments in YAML, scaling, rolling updates and rollbacks, labels and selectors, reading events and logs.
   3. 19Services and Ingress2 hClusterIP, NodePort and LoadBalancer Services, DNS inside the cluster, an Ingress controller and Ingress rules, connecting the front end to the API.
   4. 20Configuration, Secrets, probes and resources2 hConfigMaps and Secrets and their limits, readiness and liveness probes, resource requests and limits, persistent volumes for the database, StatefulSets in brief.
   5. 21Helm and Kubernetes lab with doubt-clearing2 hHelm charts, values and templates, installing and upgrading releases, debugging CrashLoopBackOff and pending Pods; how managed services such as Amazon EKS differ; open questions.

   Practice

   Deploy the full course application to a kind cluster with plain manifests, then package it as a Helm chart and perform an upgrade and a rollback.

   Assessment

   Project milestone 3: a Helm chart for the application, plus a Kubernetes quiz (auto-marked).

   You will be able to

   You can deploy and operate an application on Kubernetes and diagnose common failures.

7. 07Infrastructure as code+2 live sessions · 4 hours · Describe infrastructure in reviewed code instead of clicking through consoles.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain why infrastructure as code matters and how declarative tools work
   • Write Terraform configuration with providers, resources, variables and outputs
   • Understand state, plans, modules and drift, and review a plan in a pull request

   Live sessions

   1. 22Infrastructure-as-code concepts and Terraform basics2 hDeclarative versus imperative, idempotency, Terraform providers and resources, init, plan, apply and destroy, variables and outputs, using the Docker provider locally.
   2. 23State, modules and doubt-clearing2 hTerraform state and why it is sensitive, remote state and locking, modules, drift detection, running plan in CI; where configuration management tools such as Ansible fit; open questions.

   Practice

   Describe the course application’s local supporting resources in Terraform, refactor them into a module and add a plan step to the pipeline.

   Assessment

   Assignment: Terraform code with a reviewed plan and a short note explaining the state file and how it is protected.

   You will be able to

   You can manage infrastructure as reviewed, repeatable code.

8. 08Monitoring and observability+2 live sessions · 4 hours · Know when an application is unhealthy before users tell you, and know what to do next.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain metrics, logs and traces and the golden signals
   • Collect metrics with Prometheus and build Grafana dashboards
   • Write alert rules and a runbook for responding to them

   Live sessions

   1. 24Metrics with Prometheus and dashboards with Grafana2 hThe golden signals (latency, traffic, errors, saturation), exposing application metrics, Prometheus scraping and PromQL basics, building a Grafana dashboard.
   2. 25Logs, alerts and doubt-clearing2 hStructured logs and collecting them from containers, alert rules and avoiding noisy alerts, writing a runbook, a blameless incident review; capstone brief walkthrough; open questions.

   Practice

   Add metrics to the course application, build a dashboard, write an alert rule and test it by causing the failure it detects.

   Assessment

   Assignment: a dashboard, an alert rule and a one-page runbook, reviewed with feedback.

   You will be able to

   You can monitor a running application and respond to problems methodically.

9. 09Capstone: delivery pipeline+3 live sessions · 6 hours · Plan, build and present a complete pipeline from commit to monitored deployment.

   Learning objectives

   • Plan a delivery pipeline for an unfamiliar application
   • Deliver containerisation, CI/CD, Kubernetes deployment, infrastructure as code and monitoring together
   • Demonstrate a release and a rollback, and defend your design choices in a live review

   Live sessions

   1. 26Capstone planning and build clinic2 hReading the brief, writing the delivery plan, setting up the repository; guided working session with one-to-one help on pipeline and cluster problems.
   2. 27Capstone peer review2 hStructured reviews of each other’s pipelines, charts and dashboards against the brief; fixing the issues found.
   3. 28Final presentations and final assessment2 hLive capstone demonstrations with feedback; final assessment.

   Practice

   Complete the capstone pipeline and address the feedback from the peer review.

   Assessment

   Capstone submission and a final assessment (pass mark 60%).

   You will be able to

   You can take an application from a Git repository to a monitored Kubernetes deployment and explain every step.

Teaching formats and fees

Every format teaches the full syllabus live, with the same projects, assessments and certificate rules. The fee is per student for the whole course.

Launch fee — GST treatment to be confirmed.

Fees are set in Indian rupees. Amounts in other currencies are estimates; the amount and currency you would pay are shown before payment once online enrolment opens.

Schedules and batches

Choose the schedule that fits your week. Both teach the same syllabus and the same 56 live hours; only the number of weeks differs.

• Weekday Intensive classes are one hour, so each 2 h syllabus session is taught across consecutive weekday classes.
• Weekend Evening classes run on Saturday and Sunday evenings; the exact time and time zone are set before a batch is confirmed.
• Public holidays are not class days unless the instructor confirms a class. Holidays, instructor leave and cancelled classes move the end date later so no live hours are lost.
• Plan about 5 hours a week of exercises, assignments and project work outside class.
• Group, Duo and One-to-One courses all follow one of these two schedules.

Final project

Certificate

Tools and skills

Where these skills apply

• DevOps and platform engineering work
• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines
• Containerising and deploying applications on Kubernetes
• Site reliability and operations work: monitoring, alerting and incident response
• Developer work that owns its build, release and deployment
• Automating routine system administration tasks

We help you prepare for work; we do not guarantee jobs, placements or salaries. Career resources

Questions about DevOps: Docker, Kubernetes & CI/CD