On-site SRE Assessment

I’ve got an upcoming on-site technical assessment for a Site Reliability Engineer role. I already passed the oral technical interview, but I have no idea what they might throw at me in the hands-on part.

Has anyone here been through a similar assessment? What kinds of tasks or challenges should I be prepared for? Any tips on what to focus on in the next few days would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

https://redd.it/1mnja43
@r_devops

Debian 12 Packer image on Proxmox keeps on waiting for auto configuration network

I'm struggling a bit to make Packer works on my Proxmox Hypervisor to create a VM template.

I keep on getting hit by the "network autoconfiguration failed" even if my preseed.cfg mentionned to disable the network autoconfig.

It seems like the setup in my preseed.cfg isn't used. I've setup a fix ip address, but it's keep on hiting this prompt...

[![Screenshot of Debian 12 prompting "Network autoconfiguration failed"][1]][1]

Here are my files:

## debian12.pkrvars.hcl:

```
// debian12.pkr.hcl

packer {
required_plugins {
name = {
version = "1.1.6"
source = "github.com/hashicorp/proxmox"
}
}
}

variable "bios_type" {
type = string
}

variable "boot_command" {
type = string
}

variable "boot_wait" {
type = string
}

variable "bridge_firewall" {
type = bool
default = false
}

variable "bridge_name" {
type = string
}

variable "cloud_init" {
type = bool
}

variable "iso_file" {
type = string
}

variable "iso_storage_pool" {
type = string
default = "local"
}

variable "machine_default_type" {
type = string
default = "pc"
}

variable "network_model" {
type = string
default = "virtio"
}

variable "os_type" {
type = string
default = "l26"
}

variable "proxmox_api_token_id" {
type = string
}

variable "proxmox_api_token_secret" {
type = string
sensitive = true
}

variable "proxmox_api_url" {
type = string
}

variable "proxmox_node" {
type = string
}

variable "qemu_agent_activation" {
type = bool
default = true
}

variable "scsi_controller_type" {
type = string
}

variable "ssh_timeout" {
type = string
}

variable "tags" {
type = string
}

variable "io_thread" {
type = bool
}

variable "cpu_type" {
type = string
default = "kvm64"
}

variable "vm_info" {
type = string
}

variable "disk_discard" {
type = bool
default = true
}

variable "disk_format" {
type = string
default = "qcow2"
}

variable "disk_size" {
type = string
default = "16G"
}

variable "disk_type" {
type = string
default = "scsi"
}

variable "nb_core" {
type = number
default = 1
}

variable "nb_cpu" {
type = number
default = 1
}

variable "nb_ram" {
type = number
default = 1024
}

variable "ssh_username" {
type = string
}

variable "ssh_password" {
type = string
}

variable "ssh_handshake_attempts" {
type = number
}

variable "storage_pool" {
type = string
default = "local-lvm"
}

variable "vm_id" {
type = number
default = 99999
}

variable "vm_name" {
type = string
}

locals {
packer_timestamp = formatdate("YYYYMMDD-hhmm", timestamp())
}

source "proxmox-iso" "debian12" {
bios = "${var.bios_type}"
boot_command = ["${var.boot_command}"]
boot_wait = "${var.boot_wait}"
cloud_init = "${var.cloud_init}"
cloud_init_storage_pool = "${var.storage_pool}"
communicator = "ssh"
cores = "${var.nb_core}"
cpu_type = "${var.cpu_type}"
http_directory = "autoinstall"
insecure_skip_tls_verify = true
iso_file = "${var.iso_file}"
machine = "${var.machine_default_type}"
memory = "${var.nb_ram}"
node = "${var.proxmox_node}"
os = "${var.os_type}"
proxmox_url = "${var.proxmox_api_url}"
qemu_agent = "${var.qemu_agent_activation}"
scsi_controller = "${var.scsi_controller_type}"
sockets = "${var.nb_cpu}"
ssh_handshake_attempts = "${var.ssh_handshake_attempts}"
ssh_pty = true
ssh_timeout = "${var.ssh_timeout}"
ssh_username = "${var.ssh_username}"
ssh_password = "${var.ssh_password}"
tags = "${var.tags}"
template_description = "${var.vm_info} - ${local.packer_timestamp}"
token = "${var.proxmox_api_token_secret}"

unmount_iso = true
username = "${var.proxmox_api_token_id}"
vm_id = "${var.vm_id}"
vm_name = "${var.vm_name}"

disks {
discard = "${var.disk_discard}"
disk_size = "${var.disk_size}"
format = "${var.disk_format}"
io_thread = "${var.io_thread}"
storage_pool = "${var.storage_pool}"
type = "${var.disk_type}"
}

network_adapters {
bridge = "${var.bridge_name}"
firewall = "${var.bridge_firewall}"
model = "${var.network_model}"
}
}

build {
sources = ["source.proxmox-iso.debian12"]
}
```

## debian12.pkrvars.hcl:

```
// custom.pkvars.hcl

bios_type = "seabios"
boot_command = "<esc><wait>auto console-keymaps-at/keymap=fr console-setup/ask_detect=false debconf/frontend=noninteractive fb=false url=https://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed.cfg<enter>"
boot_wait = "10s"
bridge_name = "vmbr1"
bridge_firewall = false
cloud_init = true
cpu_type = "x86-64-v2-AES"
disk_discard = true
disk_format = "qcow2"
disk_size = "12G"
disk_type = "scsi"
iso_file = "DIR01:iso/debian-12.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso"
machine_default_type = "pc"
nb_core = 1
nb_cpu = 1
nb_ram = 2048
network_model = "virtio"
io_thread = false
os_type = "l26"
proxmox_api_token_id = "packer@pve!packer"
proxmox_api_token_secret = "token_secret"
proxmox_api_url = "https://ip_address:8006/api2/json"
proxmox_node = "node1"
qemu_agent_activation = true
scsi_controller_type = "virtio-scsi-pci"
ssh_handshake_attempts = 6
ssh_timeout = "35m"
ssh_username = "packer"
ssh_password = ""
storage_pool = "DIR01"
tags = "template"
vm_id = 99999
vm_info = "Debian 12 Packer Template"
vm_name = "pckr-deb12"
```

## autoinstall/preseed.cfg:

```
#_preseed_V1
d-i debian-installer/language string en
d-i debian-installer/country string FR
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US.UTF-8
d-i localechooser/supported-locales multiselect en_US.UTF-8, fr_FR.UTF-8
d-i keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap select fr
d-i console-keymaps-at/keymap select fr-latin9
d-i debian-installer/keymap string fr-latin9

# d-i netcfg/dhcp_failed note
# d-i netcfg/dhcp_options select Configure network manually

d-i netcfg/disable_autoconfig boolean true
d-i netcfg/choose_interface select auto
d-i netcfg/get_ipaddress string 10.10.1.250
d-i netcfg/get_netmask string 255.255.255.0
d-i netcfg/get_gateway string 10.10.1.254
d-i netcfg/get_nameservers string 1.1.1.1
d-i netcfg/confirm_static boolean true
d-i netcfg/get_hostname string pckr-deb12
d-i netcfg/get_domain string local.hommet.net

d-i hw-detect/load_firmware boolean false
d-i mirror/country string FR
d-i mirror/http/hostname string deb.debian.org
d-i mirror/http/directory string /debian
d-i mirror/http/proxy string

d-i passwd/root-login boolean true
d-i passwd/make-user boolean true
d-i passwd/root-password password pouetpouet
d-i passwd/root-password-again password pouetpouet
d-i passwd/user-fullname string jho
d-i passwd/username string jho
d-i passwd/user-password password pouetpouet
d-i passwd/user-password-again password pouetpouet

d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true
d-i time/zone string Europe/Paris
d-i clock-setup/ntp boolean true
d-i clock-setup/ntp-server string 0.fr.pool.ntp.org

d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/sda
d-i partman-auto/method string lvm
d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select multi
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean

true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-md/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman/mount_style select uuid

d-i base-installer/install-recommends boolean false
d-i apt-setup/cdrom/set-first boolean false
d-i apt-setup/use_mirror boolean true
d-i apt-setup/security_host string security.debian.org
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard, ssh-server

d-i pkgsel/include string qemu-guest-agent sudo ca-certificates cloud-init
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select safe-upgrade
popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string default
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
d-i cdrom-detect/eject boolean true
```

If you have any idea how to make it work, let me know.


[1]: https://i.sstatic.net/4aGcUjyL.png




I can't understand, I feel like it doesn't take the preseed.cfg file into consideration.

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

Helping in devops projects for free

hi folks,

i’m a devops/sre based in france, confirmed junior engineer looking to join community projects in devops or infrastructure.

i’m open to freelance work too if it helps me build up stars. i’ve reached out to people before but haven’t had much luck, and i’m not looking to spend a ton of time on self-promo since i already have a good job.

i just want to put my skills into something interesting and well-built, while working with cool people.

curious to know if others are in the same situation — where do you usually find these kinds of projects ?


https://redd.it/1mnj3de
@r_devops

GitHub's CEO is leaving and GitHub will be more directly integrated into Microsoft CoreAI

link



I wonder what impact this will have on the GitHub ecosystem. We use GitHub and GitHub Actions extensively as our primary git and CI platforms, respectively...

https://redd.it/1mnp20a
@r_devops

Accelerating AI-assisted development

https://metalbear.co/blog/cursor-windsurf-mirrord-extension/

https://redd.it/1mnpg8k
@r_devops

100+ Rejections, No FAANG Internship, and Still a Senior SWE — Here’s How She Did It

Breaking into tech is hard enough when you’re in a major hub.
It’s even harder when you’re applying from across the world.

I recently spoke with a developer from Nigeria who applied for over 100 jobs before getting her first break.
No FAANG internship. No insider network. Just persistence.

What finally worked:

* Building personal projects to prove she could ship
* Following up after applications (almost no one does this)
* Learning to **communicate impact**, not just list skills

Her first role was an internship via a job board — nothing glamorous, but it opened the door.
Six years later, she’s a Senior SWE building global SaaS products and mentoring 200+ devs.

Her advice for people trying to land their first SWE role:

>

I wrote up the full conversation (with her detailed strategies) — I’ll drop it in the first comment for anyone who wants to read.

What about you — what was your *breakthrough moment* in getting your first SWE job?

https://redd.it/1mnsqp9
@r_devops

Interview questions!!

I am aware that Devops is a vast field. You have to know tools . You have to know process. You have to show your engineering chops. You have to know yourself. It is not limited to certain tools , certain process or certain organization.
But my question is to the people who are interviewing. Who is your ideal candidate!!
A. Is he who can solve your problem.
B. Is he who fits your team
C. Is he who fits company culture
D. Is he who is affordable

F. Back door ??

This is a vote on you !! Please vote as you please . Trust this as a self assessment test . !!

https://redd.it/1mnu192
@r_devops

What are the hardest tasks you had to complete during your career?

What are the hardest tasks you had to complete during your career? I am curious to know what one might expect as DevOps engineer. I am not a DevOps engineer, but I did take a bunch of courses just in case the job market becomes really competitive since people tend to prefer people with a wide array of skills.

https://redd.it/1mnvau9
@r_devops

Switching inter-service calls from HTTPS to STOMP over WebSockets - Bad idea for enterprise?

**TL;DR:** My team builds software for high-security clients (banks, government). We're considering replacing our inter-cluster HTTPS (REST) calls with STOMP over WebSockets (wss://) for a more message-driven architecture. I have some serious reservations and would love the community's opinion.

**Current Setup:** Multiple Kubernetes clusters, potentially in different regions, communicating via standard HTTPS.

**Proposed Change:** Move to persistent WebSocket connections running the STOMP messaging protocol, all secured by TLS.

**My Concerns:**

* **Security Inspection:** Our customers' Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) can inspect HTTP traffic for threats which won't be true of the new approach.
* **Monitoring & Logging:** With HTTPS, customers get rich access logs (path, status code, etc.) from our ingress controllers and service mesh. With WebSockets, the logs will just show "connection opened" and "connection closed," making it less transparent.
* **Operational Overhead:** Routing and load balancing is harder due to persistent connections.

This change will make our application much more performant, but will it be a blocker for our customers? Is there something that could be done to mitigate these concerns. I was thinking that we could reduce the duration of the persistent connections to a few minutes. It seems like this would at least help with the load balancing problem. What other things can be done? Is this acceptable or a no-go?

https://redd.it/1mnwl0r
@r_devops

Has anyone deployed AI generated stacks with Autocoder?

I’ve been exploring ways to streamline deployment workflows for small projects, and I've seen an Autocoder cc, which auto generates both code and infrastructure files. I’m curious how this compares to manual infrastructure setup from a DevOps perspective, especially in terms of reliability, security, and CI/CD integration. Has anyone here tried deploying something generated by tools like this? What was your experience?

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

From QA to DevOps, is it possible and worth it?

Hello everyone! Need an advice, because I feel a little confused. I work as a AQA Python and I’ve noticed, that DevOps is very interesting for me, I’ve talked to some people who are in it and I liked their stories, I feel that I really need to dive into it. I’m not really experienced (1 year as a QA, 3-4 months as AQA) so I got some questions and if someone can answer them and clear my misunderstanding I would be so thankful!

1. Does it matter If I have no development background? In university I studied it, but i have no real experience
2. Does programming matter for DevOps and what’s the best choice: Python or Go, or maybe something else?
3. Is it even possible to make such switch or better don’t go into it? And is it worth it? I don’t think I like QA that much, but I have a fear that I wouldn’t be able to find job in DevOps without development experience
4. What’s the best pet projects a newbie in devops can do?

By the way, I have an experience with Docker (not that deep, basics), VM’s and a less with writing YAML files for CI/CD (even tried with secrets). And if there are people who did such switch, share your experience, it would be very interesting to know!

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

DevOps. 10yrs from now

What do you think it's going to look like? the basic need to deploy code is probably going to stay, but perhaps way more automated and diverse? Is it going to be focused on vis and governance?

what's your take and intuition?

https://redd.it/1mo04or
@r_devops

AWS Lambda Now Seamlessly Integrates with GitHub Actions for Automated Deployments

https://medium.com/@csmax/aws-lambda-now-seamlessly-integrates-with-github-actions-for-automated-deployments-8b38217739b7


I read this article and now going to test the lamda integration. What do you think?

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

Want to Become a DevOps Engineer - Should I Start in TechOps or Dev Role as a fresher?

I’m a recent CSE graduate, currently deciding between waiting for a delayed software development offer or joining a TechOps role right now (L1/L2 production support, monitoring, incident/ticket handling, basic scripting). Which path is better if my goal is to become a DevOps engineer starting in TechOps or waiting for a dev role and transitioning from there?

My long-term goal is to move into a full-fledged DevOps role. I want to understand from people already in the field:

\- How feasible is it to move from TechOps to DevOps within 2–3 years?

\- What are the exact skills, tools, and certifications I should be focusing on from day 1 to make myself a strong DevOps candidate?

\- Which areas in my current TechOps work should I double down on to align with DevOps practices?

\- Are there common pitfalls I should avoid so I don’t get stuck in pure support work forever?

I’d really appreciate guidance from folks who’ve made this what worked for you, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently if you were starting over today.

Any insights or advice will mean a lot for me now.
Thanks in advance :)

https://redd.it/1mo21vp
@r_devops

Folder level access github

Hi guys,
I wanted to understand in github
We don't have option for folder level access.
What are the other ways?
In large enterprises how is this managed?
Can someone give ideas to explore more.
Apart from submodules what options we have.
Even if we use submodules, do we have to make changes in github workflow too?
Thanks for your time

https://redd.it/1mo4er9
@r_devops

Need suggestion on DevOps tech stack.

I have recently switched company . I have a total of 4 years of experience AWS DevOps. The company i have joined is a retail industry and the team i am part of purely works on aws networking.

I want to know is pure networking beneficial considering future growth. I am much more interested to work on application side and kubernetes, deployments etc.

They do have some level of terraform automation in place for the networking stuff, but i still feel pure networking is not my cup of tea, atleast for now.

Can anyone suggest on this?

https://redd.it/1mo7c3v
@r_devops

How do you measure automation effects?

I'm sure many of you are implementing agentic AI, AI assisted workflows, copilots, and so on, with the goal to improve labor efficiency. How do you measure that actually for your teams? Anything more intelligent and somewhat automated, beyond just manually capturing human efforts & satisfaction rates before and after?

https://redd.it/1mo8b92
@r_devops

[Question] CI/CD Design - Architecture Book Request

Hello fellow devops enthusiast

I’m looking for a solid book (or even an eBook) that goes beyond CI/CD basics and covers design patterns and architecture for real-world setups and could help me face the corporate BS i am facing with the Infra and system teams about environment and security and dev/prod segregation.

Ideally, it should include:

* Production vs development environment design.
* Jenkins agent-controller architecture and best practice.
* Patterns for scaling and securing Jenkins

Examples of integrating Jenkins with Git, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.

I’ve already read Continuous Delivery by Jez Humble, but I’m looking for something more practical, it doesn't matter if it covers Gitlab Runner or Github action, tbh i'm more interested in the architecture and design aspect.


Thank you.

https://redd.it/1mo7p5q
@r_devops

A move to AgentOps Organizations

The focus of many organizations will become human-driven orchestration of agentic agents vs human-driven execution. Our jobs will become the trainers and auditors of these agents fine tuning to fit the needs of the org. This will create flatter looking org charts, where small teams will have dedicated agents as the nucleolus of that department. Example:

Marketing agent,

Operations agent,

Research agent,

Finance agent,

DevoOs agent,

Security agent,

HR agent,

Compliance Agent, etc,

Us humans will be the crew members of those agents. Working cross-departments will be done between the agents not just us picking up the phone or holding a TEAMs meeting with long drawn out 30-60-90 day plans. Our focus will completely be on the agent making sure it operates well in creativity, ethics, judgement and relationship management.

We are at the cusp of this movement. The startups will have the easier time establishing this organizational model, followed by companies with robust r/D departments and finally older modeled organizations like government/federal agencies will eventually migrate.

What are your thoughts?

https://redd.it/1moawl0
@r_devops