Beginner tierDevOps Beginner Bootcamp

Developers write code. Users get features. You run everything
in between.

No IT experience needed. Linux, Git, the cloud, Terraform, CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes, monitoring, security and SRE: eleven lessons from “what is infrastructure?” to running production like a working DevOps engineer.

Was €599 Now €299 −50% One-time payment · lifetime access · no subscription
See all 141 chapters
  • Self-paced, fully written
  • Mentor Bob in every section
  • 3 capstones + portfolio
port-of-production simulated
The DevOps loop Changes travel like shipping containers around an infinity-shaped lane: plan, code, build and test on the development side, then release, deploy, operate and monitor on the operations side, and back to planning. DEV OPS PLAN CODE BUILD TEST RELEASE DEPLOY OPERATE MONITOR
Deploys today23
Lead time38min
Change fail rate2%
Time to restore14min
The DevOps loop: every change is planned, coded, built, tested, released, deployed, operated and monitored — then it starts again. The four numbers are the DORA metrics you’ll learn to read in Lesson 1.

By the numbers

Everything aboard. Nothing held back.

Every lesson, chapter, exercise and quiz on this board is unlocked the moment you enroll. No tiers, no upsells, no drip-feed.

DEPARTURES Port of Production · all lessons included
  • 11 lessons: 8 core lessons, an install lab, capstones and a portfolio lesson.
  • 141 chapters: 120 core chapters plus 21 hands-on chapters.
  • 870 lesson pages, all written, no video.
  • 3,570 quiz questions with an answer key and explanations.
  • More than 1,000 practice exercises, a practice set in every core chapter.
  • 3 capstone projects, plus 8 portfolio modules.
  • Access: lifetime, for one payment.

The job

What a DevOps engineer actually does

Developers build features. Someone has to get those features to users quickly, safely and repeatedly — and keep them running afterwards. That’s the DevOps engineer: you automate the road from a developer’s laptop to production, build the cloud infrastructure it runs on, watch it, and fix it when it breaks.

Platform team · sprint boardEvery ticket is a task the syllabus teaches — the lesson is on the card.live

To do 3

  • OPS-130Alert on the 5xx error rate before customers noticeMonitoringLesson 6
  • OPS-133Move the database password out of Git and into VaultSecurityLesson 7
  • OPS-139Write the blameless postmortem for Friday’s outageSRELesson 8

In progress 3

  • OPS-115Rebuild the staging VPC in TerraformIaCLesson 3
  • OPS-121Turn the 5-hour manual deploy into one pipelineCI/CDLesson 4
  • OPS-124Containerize the checkout API with a multi-stage buildContainersLesson 5

Done 2

  • OPS-108Disk 95% full on web-02: find it, fix it, rotate the logsLinuxLesson 1
  • OPS-112Right-size the EC2 fleet to cut the AWS billCloudLesson 2

A day on shift

Based on Lesson 1 · Chapter 2 · Section B — Daily Tasks and Workflows
  1. Morning checkDashboards, overnight alerts, pipeline status
  2. Stand-upWhat shipped, what’s blocked
  3. Code reviewA teammate’s Terraform change
  4. AutomationScript away a manual task
  5. Pipeline careFix a flaky build stage
  6. IncidentAn alert fires: triage, fix, explainResolved ✓ — rolled back in 11 min
  7. Write it downUpdate the runbook

Who it’s for

Is this bootcamp for you?

Check the status page. Every row is backed by what’s actually in the syllabus.

Fully operational for beginnersWritten for people who have never worked in IT.

Good fitstatus

  • You’re switching careers into techIt assumes zero IT experience. Lesson 1 starts with what infrastructure even is.
    Operational
  • Docker, Kubernetes and AWS are just words to youLesson 2 opens with what cloud computing is. Lesson 5 starts at what a container is.
    Operational
  • You learn best by reading and doing870 written lesson pages and over 1,000 exercises, at your own pace.
    Operational
  • You’re a developer or sysadmin who wants the DevOps layerSkim what you know, then go deep on pipelines, infrastructure as code and observability.
    Operational
  • You want proof, not just knowledgeThree capstones and an eight-module portfolio lesson turn your work into interview material.
    Operational

Probably not a fitstatus

  • You already work as a DevOps or cloud engineerLook at the Fundamental-tier bootcamps instead: DevSecOps, AIOps and MLOps.
    Wrong tier
  • You need a live instructorThere are no classes or instructors. Mentor Bob answers questions about the section you’re reading.
    Not included
  • You want video lessonsEverything is written. There are no recordings.
    Not included
  • You want a certification cramIt teaches the skills behind exams like the CKA or AWS certifications, not exam drills or vouchers.
    Out of scope
  • You want to become an app developerThis covers delivering and running software, not writing it. AI-Powered Full-Stack Developer is the bootcamp for that.
    Wrong service

Uptime bars are decorative. Status checked against the syllabus.

Curriculum

11 containers. 141 chapters.

Every lesson is a container in the yard. Open one to read its cargo manifest: every chapter and section title, exactly as you’ll get them.

Inside every chapter

Seven flags. Same signal, every chapter.

All 120 core chapters fly the same seven sections: five deep-dive readings, a hands-on practice set and a quiz with an explained answer key. Pick a flag to open that section of a real chapter — 5.3, Building Docker Images.

Section A · Alfa · Lesson 5.3

Dockerfile Syntax and Instructions

How a Dockerfile becomes an image, then every core instruction in turn: FROM, RUN, COPY and ADD, WORKDIR, CMD and ENTRYPOINT, ENV and ARG.

10,848 wordsReading section

Chapter 5.3 at a glance

  1. Dockerfile Syntax and Instructions
  2. Layer Caching and Optimization
  3. Multi-Stage Builds
  4. Best Practices for Dockerfile Creation
  5. Build Arguments and Build Contexts
  6. Hands-on practice: 10 exercises
  7. 30-question quiz with answer key

Flag A (Alfa) in the International Code of Signals: “I have a diver down — keep well clear.”

Toolbelt

The periodic table of your new job.

39 tools and platforms, each taught in the chapter shown on its tile. You’ll actually use them, not just see them in a list.

  • 1L1·C5LxLinux
  • 2L1·C5ShShell scripting
  • 3L1·C4GtGit
  • 4L1·C6NxNginx
  • 5L2·C2AwAWS
  • 6L2·C9CwCloudWatch
  • 7L2·C11AzAzure
  • 8L2·C12GcGoogle Cloud
  • 9L3·C2TfTerraform
  • 10L3·C10CfCloudFormation
  • 11L3·C11BiBicep
  • 12L3·C12AnAnsible
  • 13L3·C13PuPulumi
  • 14L4·C3GlGitLab CI/CD
  • 15L4·C5GaGitHub Actions
  • 16L4·C6JkJenkins
  • 17L4·C9TvTrivy
  • 18L4·C14HmHelm
  • 19L4·C14ArArgo CD
  • 20L4·C14FxFlux
  • 21L5·C2DkDocker
  • 22L5·C6DcDocker Compose
  • 23L5·C8K8Kubernetes
  • 24L5·C8Kdkind (local cluster)
  • 25L5·C11IsIstio
  • 26L6·C3PmPrometheus
  • 27L6·C5GfGrafana
  • 28L6·C8EsElasticsearch
  • 29L6·C9LsLogstash
  • 30L6·C10KbKibana
  • 31L6·C11JgJaeger
  • 32L6·C11OtOpenTelemetry
  • 33L7·C3VtVault
  • 34L7·C5SqSonarQube
  • 35L7·C6ZpOWASP ZAP
  • 36L7·C7SnSnyk
  • 37L8·C7CmChaos Monkey
  • 38L8·C7GrGremlin
  • 39L9·C10KcKillercoda
FoundationsCloudInfrastructure as codeCI/CD & GitOpsContainersObservabilitySecurityReliabilityPractice lab

Lesson 9 · Your lab

Set it up once, on the machine you already have.

Ten install guides cover everything the bootcamp uses, for Windows, macOS and Linux: Git, a Linux shell, VS Code and a package manager, the AWS, Azure and Google Cloud CLIs, Terraform, Ansible and Pulumi, Docker with a free local Kubernetes cluster, the CI/CD tools, Prometheus, Grafana and the ELK stack, and Vault.

Windows
  • WSL2 for a real Linux shell
  • winget or Chocolatey
  • Docker Desktop on the WSL2 backend
macOS
  • Terminal and Homebrew
  • Docker Desktop
  • kubectl and a kind cluster
Linux
  • Your native shell
  • apt or dnf
  • Docker, kubectl and kind
Can’t install anything?

Lesson 9 also shows you Killercoda: free browser sandboxes that hand you a real Linux terminal, or a real multi-node Kubernetes cluster, to break safely.

Lesson 10 · Capstones

Three voyages. Rough seas included.

Each capstone drops you into a fictional company with a messy, realistic problem. You work it in three phases (assess, design, roll out), then compare your plan with a reference solution that explains each key decision and the alternative it rejected.

VOYAGE 01CI/CD · Containers

NorthGate Retail

E-commerce monolith → CI/CD + container migration

A mid-size apparel retailer, online and in 30 stores across the UK and Ireland, deploys by rsync and SSH to six servers: about five hours, overnight, every two weeks. A mistyped step has twice taken all six down. Get it under 30 minutes, containerized and ready for Black Friday, with no rewrite and an ops team new to containers.

You decide: the CI/CD platform, the containerization approach, secrets and compliance.

~5 hmanual deploy today
<30 mintarget
4×normal peak traffic
VOYAGE 02Observability

Vellocity

Multi-region observability rollout

A B2B SaaS project-management platform with about 2,600 paying customer accounts across the US and EU runs 12 microservices on Kubernetes (EKS). Last quarter brought a string of multi-hour incidents, and customers noticed several of them before Vellocity did. Roll out metrics, logs, tracing and alerting, region by region.

You decide: the metrics stack, logging, tracing and the alerting design.

12microservices on EKS
2regions: US and EU
~2,600customer accounts
VOYAGE 03IaC · GitOps

Anchorline Logistics

Manual infrastructure → Terraform + GitOps

A freight company with about 450 employees built its AWS estate by hand over 8 years, through the console and ad hoc scripts. An audit ahead of SOC 2 Type II found config drift on 40% of production security groups, with no change history. Turn it into reviewable, version-controlled Terraform.

You decide: the state backend, the PR-based workflow, secrets and the import strategy.

8 yrsof console-built AWS
40%of security groups drifted
SOC 2Type II audit ahead

Lesson 11 · Portfolio

Then you publish the proof.

Eight modules turn your capstone work into a public, interview-ready portfolio. They include how to anonymize anything sensitive and how to explain your decisions out loud.

$ portfolio push --all
  1. strategy · portfolio strategy & personal brand✓ pushed
  2. case-study · case study write-up✓ pushed
  3. diagrams · technical diagram production✓ pushed
  4. runbook · runbook & playbook documentation✓ pushed
  5. impact · metrics & impact storytelling✓ pushed
  6. github-site · repository & portfolio site setup✓ pushed
  7. interview · explaining your work✓ pushed
  8. review · portfolio review & presentation prep✓ pushed
8/8 modules pushed · portfolio ready for review

Salaries

What the job pays in 2026.

Gross annual base salary for DevOps engineers, by experience, from public salary data. Pick a country.

salary_eur_gross{role="devops-engineer"}
Junior€48k–€62k0–2 years
Mid-level€60k–€78k2–5 years
Senior€75k–€100k5+ years

Indeed’s 1,200 reported DevOps salaries in Germany average €68.9k, with a typical range of €49.9k–€95.3k. Berlin and Hamburg pay toward the top of each band.

Sources: Indeed Germany (Sep 2026), jobrise.io (May 2026), PayScale Germany (Jul 2026).

Junior€41k–€48k0–3 years
Medior€48k–€62k3–7 years
Senior€62k–€87k7+ years

Dutch salaries are usually quoted per month, so these are monthly figures × 12. Most contracts add an 8% holiday allowance on top. Amsterdam pays the most: Indeed’s Amsterdam average is €5,319 a month.

Sources: Indeed Netherlands (Sep 2026, 1,300 salaries), wr.nl level breakdown, PayScale Netherlands (Mar 2026).

Junior€36k–€45k0–2 years
Mid-level€45k–€60k2–5 years
Senior€58k–€75k5+ years

Belgian packages usually add a 13th month, double holiday pay and meal vouchers, so total pay is higher than base salary. Income tax is higher too.

Sources: Indeed Belgium (Sep 2026), PayScale Belgium (Jan 2026), Paylab Belgium.

Job titles that use these skills DevOps EngineerCloud EngineerPlatform EngineerBuild & Release EngineerSite Reliability EngineerInfrastructure Engineer Career paths in DevOps and SRE are covered in Lesson 8, Chapter 15.

Mentor Bob

Stuck on a section? Page Mentor Bob.

Self-paced doesn’t mean on your own. Mentor Bob is an AI study assistant built into every section of the bootcamp. He has already read the section you have open, so you can ask him to explain it another way, give you a different example or walk you through an error — any time.

  • Reads the exact section you’re on before you ask
  • Explains a concept differently, or with a fresh example
  • Sits in the corner of every lesson page, 24/7

Included free — not an upsell

#l5-building-docker-imagesBob is reading: 5.3 · Section C — Multi-Stage Builds

  1. You

    @mentor-bob my image is 1.1 GB but the app itself is tiny. What am I doing wrong?

  2. Mentor Bob AI

    You’re shipping your whole build toolchain along with the app. This section’s fix is a multi-stage build: build in one stage, then copy only the output into a small runtime image.

    FROM node:18-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN npm ci && npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=builder /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html

  3. You

    Why does that make it smaller, though?

  4. Mentor Bob AI

    Each FROM starts a fresh image. The final one only holds nginx plus the files you COPY into it, so node_modules, the build tools and your source stay behind in the builder stage. It’s like shipping a container: you send the finished goods, not the factory.

FAQ

The runbook for your questions.

The things people ask before they enroll.

RB-01Do I need any IT experience?

No. This is the Beginner tier, written for people who have never worked in IT. Lesson 1 starts with what infrastructure is and the problem DevOps solves, then covers Linux, Git and networking basics before anything else builds on them.

RB-02What computer do I need?

Windows, macOS or Linux all work. Lesson 9 has install guides for each; on Windows you’ll use WSL2 for the Linux parts. If you can’t install software on your machine, Killercoda gives you free browser-based Linux and Kubernetes sandboxes.

RB-03Do I have to pay for AWS, Azure or Google Cloud?

The bootcamp price doesn’t include any cloud provider costs. Lesson 2 covers account setup, billing and cost management before you build anything there, and much of the hands-on work, like Docker, a local Kubernetes cluster, Ansible and Git, runs on your own machine.

RB-04Is there any video?

No. Everything is written: 870 lesson pages with explanations, examples, code and exercises. You read at your own speed and can search back through it any time.

RB-05How long does it take?

There’s no deadline, and access never expires. The core is 120 chapters, each with five long-form reading sections, a practice set and a quiz, so plan in months rather than weeks.

RB-06What exactly is Mentor Bob?

An AI study assistant that sits in the corner of every lesson page. He reads the section you have open, so you can ask him to re-explain it, give you a different example or help with an error. He’s an AI, so check anything important against the lesson itself.

RB-07Will this get me a job?

No course can promise that. What you do get is hands-on skill across the whole DevOps toolchain, three capstones worked end to end, and Lesson 11’s guided process for turning them into a portfolio and explaining your work in interviews.

RB-08Is this exam prep for the CKA or AWS certifications?

No. It teaches the skills those certifications test, but it isn’t an exam-drill course and doesn’t include vouchers.

RB-09Is it really a one-time payment?

Yes. You pay €299 once and keep access for life. There’s no subscription.

RB-10I already work in DevOps. Is this for me?

Probably not. The Fundamental-tier bootcamps (DevSecOps, AIOps and MLOps) assume you already have these basics and build on them.

Boarding pass · Port of Production

Final call for DevOps Beginner.

From
Zero IT experience
To
Running production
Route
11 lessons · 141 chapters
Valid
For life
  • 870 written lesson pages
  • 3,570 quiz questions, explained
  • 1,000+ hands-on exercises
  • 3 capstones + 8 portfolio modules
  • Mentor Bob in every section
  • One payment, lifetime access
Was €599Now €299One-time · 50% off

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