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DevOps Upskilling Roadmap

Goal: <your target cert, e.g. GCP Associate Cloud Engineer>, ready to apply in 3 months (from , targeting ). Self-learning pace, commitment.

Target role

<your target role, e.g. Platform / DevOps Engineer (mid-level)> in <your city / region>. Study 10-15 real job ads from your market and list the stack they actually ask for. Typical stack: Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform/Ansible, Jenkins / GitLab / GitHub Actions, AWS or GCP, Prometheus+Grafana or Datadog.

Month 1 - Foundations (weeks 1-4)

  • Weeks 1-3: Linux on WSL2 / Ubuntu VM (Linux Journey, freeCodeCamp). Filesystem, permissions, users/groups, processes, systemd, package managers, bash scripting.
  • From week 3 onward: write daily automation scripts in Python as well as bash — JDs ask for "Python, Go, or Shell", so both get reps every week.
  • Week 4: Networking fundamentals (OSI, TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP, ports, firewalls, subnets, load balancing). Free: Professor Messer Network+ videos.
  • Milestone: pass LPI Linux Essentials.

Month 2 - Core tools (weeks 5-8)

  • Week 5: Docker deep-dive - multi-stage builds, networks, Compose.
  • Weeks 6-7: Kubernetes - minikube/Kind locally, then a managed cluster (GKE/EKS/AKS). Pods, deployments, services, ingress, configmaps, secrets, storage.
  • Week 8: Terraform (IaC) - re-create one of your existing deployments as code.
  • Milestone: running K8s project on an existing app.

Month 3 - Observability, cert, positioning (weeks 9-12)

  • Week 9: Prometheus + Grafana dashboard; deepen GitHub Actions (environments, CD). One afternoon: GitOps — install ArgoCD on the K8s cluster and deploy by git push.
  • Weeks 10-11: cloud cert prep + exam (default: GCP ACE — swap for your cloud).
  • Week 12: study 10-15 DevOps/Platform JDs from your target market, extract exact keywords, close remaining gaps, log new achievements to your resume, tailor applications.

Daily routine (4-5 hours, same shape every day)

Run by the /coach skill: /coach in the morning for the day's tasks, /coach done in the evening for the proof check. State lives in progress.md, daily notes in notes/.

  • 2h hands-on first, best energy. Terminal, not videos. Break things, fix them.
  • 1h new material - video/reading for the current week's topic.
  • 30m write it down - one note per day: what I did, what broke, how I fixed it. Feeds the portfolio and future resume bullets.
  • 30m small reps - 10m review yesterday's note, 10m cert practice questions, 10m read one DevOps JD from your target market and list unknown words.
  • 15m ship to git - even a tiny script. Daily commits show the gap was worked.

Rules:

  • Terminal only, no GUI. Type every command, never copy-paste while learning.
  • One "why" per day: explain one thing out loud in simple words. If I can't, I don't understand it yet.
  • Friday = rebuild day. Delete the week's setup, rebuild from scratch, faster.
  • Weekend lighter: one 2h session, then rest. Burnout in week 5 kills the plan.
  • Daily question: "What can I do today that I couldn't do yesterday?"

Portfolio (3 showcase pieces)

  1. Self-hosted stack at home: reverse proxy + Docker Compose + Prometheus/Grafana + CI/CD.
  2. AI serving on K8s: <one of your own apps, ideally with an LLM backend> on a real K8s cluster — resource limits, probes, metrics + cost-per-request in Grafana, infra in Terraform. This is the "AI-platform" proof piece.
  3. IaC reproducibility: full stack destroyed and rebuilt from one command.

Checkpoints

  • Week 1-3: Linux daily practice done
  • Week 4: networking fundamentals done
  • Week 4: LPI Linux Essentials passed
  • Week 5: Docker deep-dive done
  • Week 6-7: K8s project running
  • Week 8: Terraform IaC done
  • Week 9: Prometheus/Grafana live
  • Week 10-11: cloud cert passed
  • Week 12: JDs studied, gaps closed, applications tailored

Notes

  • Never fabricate achievements; only log real results to your resume.
  • Later: add CKA once employed, then consider remote/international market.