🔹 Use this checklist to track your DevOps learning journey.
🔹 Check off skills as you learn them.
🔹 Follow the provided links to dive deeper into each topic.

🚀 A step-by-step guide to mastering DevOps in 2025

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✅ Step 1: Master the Fundamentals

🔲 Understand Linux (file systems, permissions, shell scripting) – Linux Basics
🔲 Learn Networking (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, Load Balancing, Firewalls) – Networking Fundamentals
🔲 Get familiar with Security Best Practices (SSH, VPN, IAM) – AWS IAM Guide

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✅ Step 2: Learn Programming & Scripting

🔲 Learn Bash/Shell Scripting – Bash Scripting Guide
🔲 Master Python for automation – Python for DevOps
🔲 Understand Go or JavaScript (Node.js) for backend automation – Go Dev Guide

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✅ Step 3: Version Control & Git

🔲 Learn Git Basics – Git Official Docs
🔲 Understand Branching, Merging, and Rebasing – Git Branching Guide
🔲 Work with GitHub/GitLab Actions for CI/CD – GitHub Actions Guide

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✅ Step 4: Continuous Integration & Deployment (CI/CD)

🔲 Set up a CI/CD Pipeline – Jenkins CI/CD
🔲 Learn CI/CD Tools (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI) – GitLab CI/CD Guide
🔲 Automate Testing in CI/CD (Unit tests, Security Scans) – Test Automation Basics

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✅ Step 5: Containers & Kubernetes

🔲 Learn Docker (build, manage, and deploy containers) – Docker Guide
🔲 Master Kubernetes (orchestration, scaling, deployments) – Kubernetes Docs
🔲 Use Helm for managing Kubernetes apps – Helm Guide

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✅ Step 6: Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

🔲 Learn Terraform (manage cloud infrastructure) – Terraform Docs
🔲 Understand CloudFormation (AWS) & Bicep (Azure) – AWS CloudFormation Guide
🔲 Try Pulumi for code-based infrastructure – Pulumi Docs

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✅ Step 7: Cloud Computing Expertise

🔲 Learn AWS Services (EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, VPC) – AWS Training
🔲 Understand Azure (Virtual Machines, AKS, Storage) – Azure Learning Path
🔲 Explore Google Cloud (GCP) (Compute Engine, GKE) – Google Cloud Training

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✅ Step 8: Observability & Monitoring

🔲 Learn Logging Tools (ELK Stack, Fluentd) – ELK Stack Guide
🔲 Master Monitoring & Alerting (Prometheus, Grafana) – Prometheus Docs
🔲 Use Tracing for Debugging (OpenTelemetry, Jaeger) – OpenTelemetry Guide

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✅ Step 9: DevSecOps (Security in DevOps)

🔲 Implement Secrets Management (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault) – Vault Docs
🔲 Secure Containers & Images (Trivy, Aqua Security) – Trivy Guide
🔲 Use Cloud Security Best Practices (IAM, Zero Trust) – AWS Security Best Practices

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✅ Step 10: Advanced DevOps & Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)

🔲 Experiment with Chaos Engineering (Simulate Failures) – Chaos Monkey
🔲 Use Service Mesh for Microservices (Istio, Linkerd) – Istio Docs
🔲 Implement Scaling Strategies (Blue-Green, Canary Deployments) – Canary Deployment Guide

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🎯 Your Next Steps

✅ Pick a cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and get certified – AWS Certification Guide
✅ Build a project with Terraform & CI/CD pipelines – Terraform Hands-on Labs
✅ Deploy Kubernetes workloads and scale them – Kubernetes Training
✅ Join DevOps communities (GitHub, LinkedIn, Slack groups)

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📌 Final Thoughts

🔹 DevOps is a journey, not a destination.
🔹 Start small, experiment, and automate everything.
🔹 Stay updated—tech changes rapidly!

🚀 Follow me on HammadHaqqani.com for more DevOps insights and career tips!