intermediate · No code
DevOps Refresher
Refresh the operational fundamentals behind software delivery, including Linux processes, shell commands, logs, environment variables, Git workflows, Docker images, CI checks, and deployment basics. Progress from system understanding to diagnosing deployment failures through a simple build-and-deploy pipeline.
What you'll be able to do
- Interpret a Linux process lifecycle, process state, shell arguments, exit status, and command output to narrow down a runtime failure.
- Use logs and environment-variable context to reason about where a running service is failing.
- Trace a change from a Git branch and pull request through CI checks to the container image selected for deployment.
- Explain how image tags and runtime configuration influence what actually runs after deployment.
- Diagnose a delivery or deployment failure by connecting Git workflow, CI results, image selection, and runtime evidence.
Who this is for
This course is for developers, technical learners, and junior engineers who have encountered Linux, Git, Docker, CI, or deployments but want to reconnect the pieces. It fits learners preparing to diagnose routine delivery and runtime failures without treating DevOps as a collection of isolated commands.
What you should already know
- Basic familiarity with software development concepts such as source code, services, and deployments.
- Some experience using a command-line shell, including running commands and reading their output.
- A general understanding of what a Git repository is; detailed Git workflow knowledge is covered in the course.
How a lesson actually goes
Written from this course's first lesson to show the format — not a recording of a real session.
Course content
marks each module's capstone lesson.
01Operational Foundations4 lessons
Establish the core operational understanding needed for DevOps work by learning how Linux processes run, how shell commands interact with the system, and how to reason about basic runtime behavior.
Course Introduction
Welcome and orientation to the DevOps refresher. Review the learning path from system fundamentals through source control, containers, CI checks, and deployment troubleshooting.
Linux Processes
Learn how Linux represents running programs as processes, including process identifiers, parent-child relationships, states, and termination.
Shell Commands
Understand the shell as an interface for invoking programs and inspecting system behavior. Focus on command arguments, standard output and error, exit codes, and command composition.
Runtime Diagnosis
Synthesize process and shell fundamentals to reason through a command that does not behave as expected. Interpret observable process state, command output, and exit status to distinguish execution, termination, and invocation problems.
02Reliable Software Delivery4 lessons
Trace software changes from version control through automated validation and container packaging, then reason about how those inputs affect deployment outcomes and failure diagnosis.
Git Workflows
Git workflows organize changes so they can be reviewed, integrated, and traced through delivery. Learners connect common Git actions with the states a change passes through before it is released.
CI Checks
Continuous integration checks automatically validate changes when they are proposed or integrated. Learners distinguish a failed check caused by the change from one caused by the execution environment.
Container Images
A container image packages application code, dependencies, and runtime instructions into a versioned unit. Learners reason about image layers, tags, and the difference between an image's contents and its runtime configuration.
Delivery and Deployment Diagnosis
This synthesis assessment connects version control, automated validation, container packaging, and deployment behavior. Learners identify the earliest failing stage, use relevant evidence to explain the failure, and distinguish packaging, configuration, and runtime causes.
Questions
Is this course suitable if I am completely new to DevOps?
It is designed as a refresher rather than a first introduction to software development. You should recognize basic programming and command-line concepts, but you do not need deep prior experience with CI, Docker, or deployments.
Will I learn Kubernetes or a specific cloud platform?
No. The course focuses on portable operational fundamentals: Linux processes, shell behavior, logs, environment variables, Git workflows, CI checks, container images, and deployment diagnosis.
Do I need to know Docker and CI before starting?
No. The course explains what container images, image tags, and CI checks mean. Prior exposure may help you move faster, but advanced Docker or CI configuration is not assumed.
What kinds of deployment problems does the course cover?
You will reason through failures such as a change not reaching the expected branch, a failed CI check, the wrong image tag being selected, or runtime configuration causing the deployed service to fail.
How does the one-on-one AI tutor fit into the course?
The tutor guides you through one concept at a time, asks you to interpret commands or operational evidence, and adjusts its explanations when your reasoning is incomplete or points to the wrong failure stage.
The first lesson is ten minutes away.
Free while codeset is early. You choose what you're building before the first lesson starts, and the course is taught around it.