DEVOPS Full Roadmap for 2026 Complete article by Shiva Sir

Complete DevOps Roadmap for 2026 – From Beginner to Advanced

PHASE 1 — FOUNDATION (MONTH 1)

1️⃣ Learn Linux (MANDATORY)

Companies will reject you immediately if you don’t know Linux basics.

✔ Must Learn:

• Commands: ls, cd, rm, cp, mv, diff, cat, grep, find
• Users & Permissions (chmod, chown, groups)
• Package Management (apt, yum)
• Systemctl, services, logs
• Shell scripting (bash loops, variables, functions)

✔ Practice Tasks:

• Create a script that installs packages automatically
• Write a script for daily backup
• Monitor CPU & Memory using shell

2️⃣ Networking Basics

You don’t need deep networking, but MUST know:

• IP, DNS, Subnet, Ports
• HTTP/HTTPS
• SSH, FTP
• Load Balancing basics

3️⃣ Git & GitHub (Version Control)

• Branching strategies
• Merge, Rebase, PR workflow
• GitHub Actions basics (optional)
• Webhooks

👉 Companies test Git in interviews 90% of the time.

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PHASE 2 — CORE DEVOPS

4️⃣ CI/CD using Jenkins (MOST IMPORTANT for JOB)

Must Learn Topics

• Freestyle jobs
• Pipeline (Declarative + Scripted)
• Jenkinsfile creation
• Integrate Git + Maven + Docker
• Build triggers (webhook, schedule, poll SCM)
• Jenkins credentials management
• Distributed node setup
• Jenkins on Docker

CI/CD for:

• Java
• .NET
• Node
• Python

Your first CI pipeline:
Git → Jenkins → Build → Test → Artifacts → Email notification

5️⃣ Build Tools

Learn minimum one of these:

• Maven (Java)
• Gradle (Android/Java)
• npm/yarn (Node.js)
• pip (Python)
• dotnet CLI (.NET)

Companies LOVE when you know multi-tech CI/CD.

6️⃣ Artifact Management

Choose one:

• AWS ECR
• Docker Hub

7️⃣ Docker (Most used skill in India)

Must Learn:

• Dockerfile
• CMD vs ENTRYPOINT
• Volumes, Networks
• Multi-stage builds
• Private Registry
• Best practices

Build & containerize:

• Node app
• Java Spring Boot
• Python Flask
• .NET API

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PHASE 3 — ADVANCED DEVOPS

8️⃣ Kubernetes (K8s) (MANDATORY IN 2026)

Must Learn K8s:

• Pods, Deployment, ReplicaSet
• Service (NodePort, ClusterIP, LoadBalancer)
• Ingress
• ConfigMaps, Secrets
• Persistent Volume, PVC
• Helm (very important)
• Autoscaling (HPA)
• Rolling / Blue-Green deployments

Practice tasks:

• Deploy a full e-commerce app
• Use Helm for packaging
• Setup monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)

9️⃣ Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Terraform (Most demanded skill)

• Providers
• Workspace
• Modules
• Variables, Outputs
• EC2, VPC, S3 creation
• Best practices (very important)

🔟 Cloud — AWS is BEST in India

Learn these AWS services:

• EC2
• S3
• IAM
• VPC
• EKS
• CloudWatch
• CloudTrail
• RDS
• Lambda
• Elastic Load Balancer
• Autoscaling

AWS DevOps Tools:

• CodeCommit
• CodeBuild
• CodeDeploy
• CodePipeline

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PHASE 4 — FULL ENTERPRISE CI/CD PIPELINE 

🚀 Complete CI/CD Architecture for 2026 Job

Pipeline Flow:

• Developer pushes code → GitHub
• Jenkins triggers pipeline
• Code Build (Maven / npm / dotnet)
• Unit Testing
• Docker Build
• Push image → ECR/Nexus
• Deploy to Kubernetes using Helm
• Monitoring via Prometheus
• Alerts to Slack / Email
• Logging with ELK stack

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PHASE 5 — MONITORING & LOGGING

Observability Stack for 2026

• Prometheus → metrics
• Grafana → dashboards
• Alertmanager → alerts
• ELK Stack for logs

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🔥 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS REQUIRED TO GET A DEVOPS JOB IN 2026

• Linux expertise
• End-to-end CI/CD project (Full pipeline)
• Docker + Kubernetes
• Terraform + AWS
• Monitoring (Grafana + Prometheus)
• Strong Git knowledge
• Projects + Portfolio + GitHub activity
• Clear communication & problem-solving

TOP PROJECTS THAT GUARANTEE JOB

• Complete CI/CD pipeline with Kubernetes & Helm
• E-commerce microservices deployment
• Real-time monitoring dashboard
• Terraform multi-environment AWS setup
• Secure DevSecOps pipeline (SonarQube + Trivy)
• ArgoCD GitOps automated delivery

If you build even 2 out of 6, your job chances become 90–95%.

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🔥 FINAL ADVICE TO GET A DEVOPS JOB IN 2026

1️⃣ Learn → Build → Deploy

Projects will get you hired, not theory.

2️⃣ Make a strong GitHub profile

Upload pipelines, Dockerfiles, Helm charts.

3️⃣ Build a LinkedIn brand

Post your learning daily for 60 days.

4️⃣ Crack interviews with the right answers

Focus on CI/CD, Docker, K8s, AWS, Terraform.

5️⃣ Learn from mentors

Speeds up your progress by 70%.

6️⃣ Apply to 50+ companies every month

7️⃣ Improve communication skills

Clear explanation = higher selection chance.