How should a beginner start learning DevOps in 2025? What courses, tools, or paths do you recommend?

I'm completely new to devops but very interested in starting a career in it, i have some basic programming knowledge in web dev(Reactjs) but I'm not sure what the best starting point is , is there any course you would recommend i start with ? Thank you.

https://redd.it/1kxtz0f
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The skills no one teaches engineers: mindset, people smarts, and the books that rewired me

I got laid off from Amazon after COVID when they outsourced our BI team to India and replaced half our workflow with automation. The ones who stayed weren’t better at SQL or Python - they just had better people skills.

For two months, I applied to every job on LinkedIn and heard nothing. Then I stopped. I laid in bed, doomscrolled 5+ hours a day, and watched my motivation rot. I thought I was just tired. Then my gf left me - and that cracked something open.

In that heartbreak haze, I realized something brutal: I hadn’t grown in years. Since college, I hadn’t finished a single book - five whole years of mental autopilot.

Meanwhile, some of my friends - people who foresaw the layoffs, the AI boom, the chaos - were now running startups, freelancing like pros, or negotiating raises with confidence. What did they all have in common? They never stop self growth and they read. Daily.

So I ran a stupid little experiment: finish one book. Just one. I picked a memoir that mirrored my burnout. Then another. Then I tried a business book. Then a psychology one. I kept going. It’s been 7 months now, and I’m not the same person.

Reading daily didn’t just help me “get smarter.” It reprogrammed how I think. My mindset, work ethic, even how I speak in interviews - it all changed. I want to share this in case someone else out there feels as stuck and brain-fogged as I did. You’re not lazy. You just need better inputs. Start feeding your mind again.

As someone with ADHD, reading daily wasn’t easy at first. My brain wanted dopamine, not paragraphs. I’d reread the same page five times. That’s why these tools helped - they made learning actually stick, even on days I couldn’t sit still. Here’s what worked for me:
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: This book completely rewired how I think about wealth, happiness, and leverage. Naval’s mindset is pure clarity.

- Principles by Ray Dalio: The founder of Bridgewater lays out the rules he used to build one of the biggest hedge funds in the world. It’s not just about work - it’s about how to think. Easily one of the most eye-opening books I’ve ever read.

- Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins: NYT Bestseller. His brutal honesty about trauma and self-discipline lit a fire in me. This book will slap your excuses in the face.

- Deep Work by Cal Newport: Productivity bible. Made me rethink how shallow my work had become. Best book on regaining focus in a distracted world.

- The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel: Super digestible. Helped me stop making emotional money decisions. Best finance book I’ve ever read, period.


Other tools & podcasts that helped
- Lenny’s Newsletter: the best newsletter if you're in tech or product. Lenny (ex-Airbnb PM) shares real frameworks, growth tactics, and hiring advice. It's like free mentorship from a top-tier operator.

- BeFreed: A friend who worked at Google put me on this. It’s a smart reading & book summary app that lets you customize how you read/listen: 10 min skims, 40 min deep dives, 20 min podcast-style explainers, or flashcards to help stuff actually stick.

it also remembers your favs, highlights, goals and recommend books that best fit your goal.

I tested it on books I’d already read and the deep dives covered ~80% of the key ideas. Now I finished 10+ books per month and I recommend it to all my friends who never had time or energy to read daily.

- Ash: A friend told me about this when I was totally burnt out. It’s like therapy-lite for work stress - quick check-ins, calming tools, and mindset prompts that actually helped me feel human again.

- The Tim Ferriss Show - podcast – Endless value bombs. He interviews top performers and always digs deep into their habits and books.

Tbh, I used to think reading was just a checkbox for “smart” people. Now I see it as survival. It’s how you claw your way back when your mind is broken.

If you’re burnt out, heartbroken, or just numb - don’t wait for motivation. Pick up any book that speaks to what you’re

feeling. Let it rewire you. Let it remind you that people before you have already written the answers.

You don’t need to figure everything out alone. You just need to start reading again.

https://redd.it/1kxuufw
@r_devops

Self-hosted IDP for K8s management

Hi guys, my company is trying to explore options for creating a self-hosted IDP to make cluster creation and resource management easier, especially since we do a lot of work with Kubernetes and Incus. The end goal is a form-based configuration page that can create Kubernetes clusters with certain requested resources. From research into Backstage, k0rdent, kusion, kasm, and konstruct, I can tell that people don't suggest using Backstage unless you have a lot of time and resources (team of devs skilled in Typescript and React especially), but it also seems to be the best documented. As of right now, I'm trying to set up a barebones version of what we want on Backstage and am just looking for more recent advice on what's currently available.

Also, I remember seeing some comments that Port and Cortex offer special self-hosted versions for companies with strict (airgapped) security requirements, but Port's website seems to say that isn't the case anymore. Has anyone set up anything similar using either of these two?

I'm generally just looking for any people's experiences regarding setting up IDPs and what has worked best for them. Thank you guys and I appreciate your time!

https://redd.it/1kxtbhl
@r_devops

Suggestion on a DevOps project ...

Hey guys, I am planning to build some DevOps projects for my portfolio and I need your help. I do not want to create a project on something I have already thoroughly worked on like CI/CD pipelines, K8s clusters, Serverless Containerizations.

What I want to build is real solution that solves a real DevOps problem, perhaps an automation, or a wrapper over Terraform, maybe something using Ansible, etc. Basically, I want to it to be super specific at the same highlight my knowledge. To give you an example, in my previous work place I had to make a CLI tool for automatic Backups from on-prem to Cloud. It was a very elaborate tool.

With that in mind, if guys can share such issues/incidents/tickets from present or past that can help me devise a solution would be a great help. I really tried brainstorming ideas but I am having difficulties with it.

Thanks in advance guys!

Edit: I would be super interested in making Terraform Wrappers because I have never done that, but I am struggling to narrow down a use case.

https://redd.it/1kxvgdd
@r_devops

Writing policies in natural language instead of Rego / OPA

There are 2 problem with Open Policy Agent and the Rego language that it uses under the hood:

1. It is cumbersome, so writing even a single policy takes a lot of effort
2. Each policy project needs to start from scratch because policies aren't re-usable

Combined, these two problems lead to the reality that's far from ideal: most teams do not implement policy-as-code at all, and most of those who do tend to have inadequate coverage. It's simply too hard!

What if instead of Rego you could write policies as you'd describe them to a fellow engineer?

For example, here's a natural language variant of a sensible policy:

> No two aws_security_group_rule resources may define an identical ingress rule (same security-group ID, protocol, from/to port, and CIDR block).

But in Rego, that'd require looping, a helper function, and still would only capture a very specific scenario (example).

We initially built it as a feature of Infrabase (a github app that flags security issues in infrastructure pull requests), but then thought that rule prompts belogs best in GitHub, and created this repo.

PLEASE IGNORE THE PRODUCT! It's linked in the repo but we don't want to be flagged as "vendor spam". This post is only about rules repo, structure, conventions etc.

Here's the repo: https://github.com/diggerhq/infrabase-rules

Does it even make sense? Which policies cannot be captured this way?

https://redd.it/1kxzssj
@r_devops

Showcasing non-IT work experience vs relevant projects on resumes?

Hey everyone, I wanted to get your thoughts, insights or advice on the matter regarding work experiences and projects. So typically, for recruiters, hiring managers, and employers, work experience (i.e. internships, jobs, etc.) is valued over projects, especially since it establishes one's work history and years of experience. However, when job seekers are applying to roles that have a specific industry or niche (i.e. DevOps, software development, cybersecurity, database administration), my understanding is that employers will prioritize work experiences that involve the technical skills, roles, and responsibilities associated with them.

Given this case, what would be the case then for work experiences that are not directly related (or even irrelevant) to the targeted job roles? Take for instance, I have past work experience in project management, outreach and recruitment, higher education, etc. These industries are essentially non-IT, in comparison to the more technical IT roles related to software development, DevOps, etc. Yet, different projects I've undertaken use relevant technologies and tools that are used by professionals within the IT industry.

What do employers and hiring managers ultimately prioritize for resumes? Should all work experience be included as much as possible, regardless of whether they're unrelated to the targeted job roles? Or should job applicants consider sacrificing irrelevant jobs in favor of the more relevant projects? (I forgot to mention that this is mostly geared towards junior / entry-level / mid-level roles)

https://redd.it/1ky232c
@r_devops

Beginner’s Guide to the Grafana Open Source Ecosystem Blog

I’ve been exploring the LGTM stack and put together a beginner-friendly intro to the Grafana ecosystem. See how tools like Loki, Tempo, Mimir & more fit together for modern monitoring.

https://blog.prateekjain.dev/beginners-guide-to-the-grafana-open-source-ecosystem-433926713dfe?sk=466de641008a76b69c5ccf11b2b9809b

https://redd.it/1ky3rpk
@r_devops

To all the new prospects

It's good to see so many new people interested in DevOps. Our field definitely needs fresh perspectives. But I've seen a common issue. A lot of folks entering DevOps, especially if they're coming straight from college or some internships, don't always have a gut feel for the intense, unpredictable side of live operational work. They might know about certain tools, but they haven't always built up the deep resilience or the sharp, practical problem-solving skills you get from really tough, real-world challenges.

Think about what it's like on a working fishing boat. Imagine a vessel where its constant, reliable operation is absolutely essential for the crew to make their living. At the same time, this boat is often run on a tight budget, meaning ingenuity and making the most of what you have are more common than expensive, easy fixes. This boat isn't for fun. It's a vital piece of equipment. People's livelihoods and their safety absolutely depend on it running reliably, day after day. That makes its operation critical. And with limited resources, every repair or challenge demands clever solutions. You've got to make do, get creative, and find smart ways forward with what you've already got.

Things inevitably go wrong on that boat. Often it happens far from shore, in bad weather or tough conditions. When that occurs, the results are immediate and serious. An engine failure isn't some abstract problem. It’s a critical situation that needs to be diagnosed and fixed right now, with practical skills. There's no option to just pass the problem up the chain. That kind of environment forces you to become truly resourceful. It teaches you to solve complex problems when you're under serious pressure. You learn to understand the whole system because one small failure can affect everything else. You also develop a real toughness and a calm focus. Panicking doesn't help when you're dealing with a crisis.

This type of experience, where you're constantly adapting and learning by doing, with real responsibility and clear results, is incredibly valuable. It builds a kind of practical wisdom and resilience that's tough to get from more sheltered learning situations. Some internships are great for introducing tools. But they might not expose you to the actual stress and uncertainty of a live system failure. They may not show you how to make critical decisions when you don't have all the answers.

The parallels to the DevOps world are strong. We manage systems that are absolutely production critical. When they fail, the impact is right now, affecting users, company money, and its reputation. And while some companies have huge budgets, many DevOps teams work with limits. They need to find smart, efficient solutions instead of just throwing more money at every problem. We need people who can think on their feet. We need folks who can diagnose tricky issues across connected systems and stay effective when the pressure is high. We need that same ingenuity and resilience you'd find on that fishing boat, the kind that comes from real necessity.

So, if you're looking to build a solid foundation for a DevOps career, I'd really encourage you to look for experiences that genuinely challenge you. Find situations that force you to develop these core skills. Don't just focus on learning tools by themselves. Try to understand how systems actually work, how they break, and how you can fix them when the stakes are high. It's often true that the most effective people in DevOps also have a strong track record as successful developers. They don't just know that systems operate; they understand how they are built from the code on up. That deep insight is incredibly valuable. It’s also a fundamental truth that operating a system is only as good as its implementation. You can't effectively run or automate something that was poorly designed or built in the first place. No amount of operational heroism can truly make up for a flawed foundation.

Look for opportunities that push you to be resourceful, to take real ownership, and to keep

going through tough times. This could be in a job, a project, or even a demanding hobby. And remember, the best use of a good DevOps engineer is to serve the developers, to act as a force multiplier for them. Our primary role should be to make their work smoother, faster, and more effective, clearing obstacles so they can build and innovate. While we support the business, empowering the engineering teams is where we truly shine.

It's this kind of broader experience and focused mindset that builds the practical skills and the strong character so essential in our field. Being able to navigate those "storms," understand the code, and support your development teams is what truly makes a difference.

https://redd.it/1ky3qn1
@r_devops

Remote SWE Role for AI Infrastructure (Top Tier CS Backgrounds, Flexible Hours)

Hey all – wanted to share a SWE contract role I came across that might interest those with strong backend or API experience, especially if you're from a top-tier CS background.

It's from a platform called Mercor, which connects developers to AI-focused research projects. They've raised $100M+ and work with top labs to build tools and infrastructure that support large-scale Reinforcement Learning (RL) systems.

---

🛠️ The role (contract / remote):
- Help design and build secure APIs, database schemas, and backend infra used in AI training
- You'll also simulate synthetic environments to test RL systems
- 10–20 hrs/week (asynchronous, fully remote)
- Applicants must be based in the US, UK, or Canada
- Comp is a hybrid hourly+commission model with $50–$150/hr range depending on throughput

They’re looking for folks with:
- Strong CS fundamentals from top schools
- 1+ year in high-pressure environments (startups, quant funds, etc.)
- Real experience structuring DBs and building APIs (testing, auth, deployment, etc.)

You can check the official listing here.

I’m posting because I’ve been working with them and having good experiences so far. Worth a look if you’re interested in contributing to AI infra work and want something flexible but high-caliber.

Disclosure: referral link included above

https://redd.it/1ky4wpj
@r_devops

AWS ECS Alert

I want to setup on alert for ecs state change for my cluster in slack.Whats the best approach to do it.

I am planning to do it via event bridge with lambda.


Any other suggestions?

https://redd.it/1ky4hyn
@r_devops

I am looking for some devops project ideas, stuffs to deploy in Docker, Kubernetes etc.



My status: I am qualified to deploy "anything" on bare metal without hassle. i.e. on virtual machine.

I just started with docker & kubernetes. I am looking for projects that I can deploy on gitlab. There are tons of open source projects out there like:








artemis-platform

ipfire

jumpserver


While this is enough food for thought to learn deployment. Including the awesome-selfhosted github repo, I am posting this just for fun.

https://redd.it/1ky6iun
@r_devops

The hardest part of learning cloud wasn’t the tech it was letting go of “I need to understand everything first”

When I first started learning cloud, I kept bouncing between services.
I'd open the AWS docs for EC2, then jump to IAM, then to VPCs, and suddenly I'm 40 tabs deep wondering why everything feels disconnected.

I thought I had to fully understand everything *before* touching it.

But the truth is:

* You learn best when you build, break, and fix
* It's okay to treat the docs like a reference, not a textbook
* You'll never feel “ready”—you just get more comfortable being confused

Once I let go of the need to “master it all upfront,” I actually started making progress.

Anyone else go through that mindset shift?
What helped you move from overwhelm to action?

https://redd.it/1ky9el4
@r_devops

Kubernetes observability is way more complex than it needs to be

Every time something breaks, I'm stuck digging through endless logs or adding more instrumentation code just to see what's happening. And agent-based tools are eating up CPU and memory.

Are there any monitoring solutions that don't require me to modify application code or pay a fortune just to see what's going on in my cluster? Would love to hear what's worked for others who don't have enterprise-level resources!

https://redd.it/1kyace1
@r_devops

First DevOps Internship Interview—What Should I Focus On?

Hey everyone! I’m prepping for my first DevOps internship interview and would love advice on key areas and likely questions. Here’s my background:

* **Microservices:** Built Spring Boot services (Healthcare platform).
* **Docker:** Wrote Dockerfiles and managed images locally.
* **Kubernetes:** Deployed to a Minikube cluster for local testing.
* **CI/CD:** Configured GitHub Actions per service branch for build, test, and deploy.
* **Blog Post:** Wrote “Introduction to Docker” covering its history and use cases.

**My questions for the community:**

1. **Key topics to study:**
* Should I dive deeper into Kubernetes concepts, or focus more on CI/CD best practices?
* How important is it to have hands-on AWS knowledge vs. local setups like Minikube?
2. **Interview question prep:**
* What practical or scenario-based questions might they ask ?
* Any common algorithmic or systems-design questions for a DevOps intern?
3. **Soft skills & culture fit:**
* What kind of behavioral questions are typical ?
4. **Additional resources:**
* Recommended tutorials, books, or courses to fill any gaps?

Thanks in advance for any advice, sample questions, or pointers! I really appreciate any help to make sure I’m covering the most relevant areas. 😊

https://redd.it/1kybht9
@r_devops

Are you guys willing to switch to (and re-learn) a different cloud provider for if it is required for a job?

As the title says, is it wise to start learning Azure from scratch for a job opportunity if you already have a few years of experience with AWS and some AWS certs? (specifically, switching from amazon EKS to azure AKS and learning how to deploy it with terraform).

https://redd.it/1kyeo40
@r_devops

Downgrade CPU

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fdowngrade-cpu-v0-ftvxu72m3r3f1.png%3Fwidth%3D1662%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3De581291ccbf7835f9d45124c034b286e97e4d7b3


The virtual machine is provisioned with 4vCPUs.
Here's the breakdown of the CPU usage from GCP in last 14 days.
Occasionally it goes up to 86.4%, but most of the time it stays at around 30%.

Is it safe to downgrade it to 2 vCPUs? What kind of factors should I consider?

https://redd.it/1kyfykm
@r_devops

Looking for Secure Dev Team Access to Cloud Resources (without Cloud Accounts)

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to design a **secure and cloud-agnostic access solution** for my dev team, and I’d appreciate some guidance or suggestions.

🔒 **What I want to achieve:**

* I want my devs to securely access certain cloud resources (e.g., VMs, internal services) **without creating cloud user accounts** for them (e.g., no IAM/AD accounts).
* Ideally, they should be able connect with a client (similar to VPN) and get seamless, controlled access to assigned resources.
* I need **identity-based access control**, centralized management of access policies, and something **cloud-agnostic** so I’m not tied to a specific cloud vendor.
* This should cover use cases like **SSH access to VMs** and **access to internal web services**.

🌐 **What I’ve tried:**
I’ve been experimenting with **OpenZiti** to set up secure overlays (for example, mapping `vm.ziti` to a target VM’s public IP). However, I’m facing challenges:

* **Overlaying SSH connections to public IPs of target VMs** hasn’t been easy im having couple of issues.
* I’m not sure if my setup is incorrect or if OpenZiti isn’t ideal for this use case.

📢 **So I’m looking for:**

* Alternative solutions that are easier to set up than OpenZiti but still provide **zero-trust, identity-based access control**.
* Solutions where developers can connect via a VPN-like client and get access based on policies, with **no user account management in the cloud**.
* **Cloud-agnostic** setups that work across different cloud providers.

🤝 If anyone has experience with **OpenZiti**, especially in overlaying SSH access to public IPs, I’d love to connect and discuss further!

Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations 🙌

https://redd.it/1kyiqrd
@r_devops

I had an interviewer refer to AWS' DNS service as "Route 34"

I gave my best poker face and pretended not to notice... if you know you know.

https://redd.it/1kyk9g2
@r_devops

The terror of a "ZERO CVE" metric and how the bureaucrats lost.

Hey i recently worked at company with a 'Zero CVE' policy and i would like to share my story on my blog, feel free to ask any questions it was a lot of fun to write and i hope you guys like it as well.

The terror of a "ZERO CVE" metric and how the bureaucrats lost.

Please share me your best stories and especially metrics that the bureaucrats in your company made up. I'm fascinated in what silliness other companies invent.

I suppose the Goodhart Law is really fitting to this topic.

https://redd.it/1kykf9o
@r_devops