What you will learn in this path
Linux foundation
Boot, kernel/user space, shell, permissions, filesystems, processes, storage, performance, automation, security and recovery.
Container layer
Docker architecture, images, layers, runtimes, networking, storage, Compose, security, build pipelines, observability and production troubleshooting.
Kubernetes layer
Cluster architecture, Pods, scheduling, networking, storage, Services, RBAC, GitOps, observability, upgrades, DR, platform engineering and production scenarios.
Infrastructure as Code layer
Terraform workflow, state, backends, locking, variables, modules, drift, testing, security, CI/CD automation and enterprise operating model.
CI/CD automation layer
Jenkins architecture, controller/agent model, pipelines, credentials, plugins, Kubernetes agents, GitOps delivery, backup, security and scaling.
Total mapped practice items
This path now connects operating system knowledge to application packaging, orchestration, infrastructure provisioning and delivery automation.
Your recommended 60-day learning journey
Build confidence in boot, command execution, users, permissions, filesystems, processes, logs, storage and performance troubleshooting.
Move from traditional server thinking to image-based delivery, container runtime behavior, networking, volumes, security and CI/CD-ready image builds.
Practice Pods, Deployments, Services, scheduling, probes, storage, RBAC, traffic routing, NetworkPolicy and cluster-level production issues.
Learn how DevOps engineers provision cloud infrastructure safely using Terraform workflow, state, remote backends, modules, drift detection, CI/CD plan review and production governance.
Learn how source code moves through checkout, build, test, artifact/image publishing, security checks, approvals and deployment using Jenkins pipelines, agents, credentials and external integrations.
Combine Linux + Docker + Kubernetes + Terraform + Jenkins + Terraform + Jenkins into senior-style troubleshooting stories: failed deployment, image pull issue, Pod Pending, Terraform drift, state lock, pipeline failure, credentials issue and rollback planning.
Mapped practice content inside SkillUpWorks
This is the practical mapping learners need. Each phase points to existing SkillUpWorks topic content, question IDs and practice areas.
Linux phase mapping
Processes, storage, performance and automation
Practice IDs: Q20-33
Open Linux topicDocker phase mapping
Advanced build, security, observability and DR
Practice IDs: Q31-49
Open Docker topicTroubleshooting, migration and incident response
Practice IDs: Q50-67
Open Docker topicKubernetes phase mapping
Kubernetes foundation and architecture
Practice IDs: Q1-13
Open Kubernetes topicNetworking, storage and workload primitives
Practice IDs: Q14-23
Open Kubernetes topicCore production objects and access control
Practice IDs: Q24-33
Open Kubernetes topicScheduling, traffic, security and GitOps
Practice IDs: Q34-46
Open Kubernetes topicObservability, operations, DR and platform engineering
Practice IDs: Q47-60
Open Kubernetes topicTerraform phase mapping
Modules, variables, data sources and lifecycle
Practice IDs: Q11-20
Open Terraform topicProduction Terraform, drift, CI/CD, security and governance
Practice IDs: Q21-30
Open Terraform topicJenkins / CI-CD phase mapping
Jenkins architecture, jobs and pipeline basics
Practice IDs: Q1-10
Open Jenkins topicCredentials, agents, tools, plugins and security
Practice IDs: Q11-20
Open Jenkins topicMultibranch, shared libraries, GitOps and dynamic agents
Practice IDs: Q21-30
Open Jenkins topicJenkins as Code, observability and incident response
Practice IDs: Q31-40
Open Jenkins topicEnterprise CI/CD, supply chain, backup, scaling and HA
Practice IDs: Q41-50
Open Jenkins topicHow Linux knowledge converts into DevOps knowledge
Linux process troubleshooting → Container troubleshooting
A container is still a process with isolation. Linux process, logs, ports, signals, cgroups and filesystem knowledge directly helps when containers exit, restart, consume memory or fail health checks.
Linux networking → Kubernetes networking
Ports, DNS, routes, NAT and interfaces become easier to understand when learning Services, EndpointSlices, Ingress, NetworkPolicy and Pod-to-Pod communication.
Linux storage → Volumes and PVCs
Filesystems, mounts, ownership and disk pressure prepare learners for Docker volumes, Kubernetes PersistentVolumes, PVC binding, StorageClasses and CSI troubleshooting.
Linux security → RBAC and workload hardening
Users, permissions, SELinux and least privilege become the base for container non-root users, capabilities, seccomp, AppArmor, ServiceAccounts, RBAC and Pod Security.
Detailed Docker content map
Docker content is strong enough to support the container phase. It includes beginner foundations, internals, production operations, security, CI/CD, observability, troubleshooting, migration and incident response.
| ID | Subtopic | Question | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Docker Fundamentals | What is Docker, why was it created, and how is it different from traditional virtualization? | easy |
| Q2 | Docker Architecture | Explain the complete Docker architecture, including Docker CLI, Docker daemon, containerd, runc, images, containers, registries, networks, and volumes. | easy |
| Q3 | Container Runtime Internals | What exactly happens internally when you run a docker run command? | easy |
| Q4 | Docker Images and Layers | What is a container image, what are image layers, and how does Docker use copy-on-write storage? | easy |
| Q5 | Image vs Container | What is the difference between a Docker image and a Docker container? | easy |
| Q6 | Container Lifecycle | Explain the complete lifecycle of a Docker container from create, start, running, paused, stopped, restarted, killed, and removed. | easy |
| Q7 | Linux Namespace Internals | What are Linux namespaces and how does Docker use them for container isolation? | medium |
| Q8 | Cgroups and Resource Control | What are Linux cgroups and how does Docker use them to control CPU, memory, processes, and I/O? | medium |
| Q9 | Docker Daemon | What is the role of Docker daemon, and how do you troubleshoot Docker daemon startup failures? | medium |
| Q10 | Docker Networking | Explain Docker networking end to end: bridge networks, user-defined networks, container DNS, port publishing, host networking, and troubleshooting. | medium |
| Q11 | Docker Compose & Orchestration | Explain Docker Compose internals: multi-container orchestration, service networks, volumes, dependencies, and storage orchestration. | medium |
| Q12 | Docker Advanced Troubleshooting | Describe advanced Docker troubleshooting: container lifecycle issues, image corruption, storage failures, networking problems, and runtime debugging strategies. | hard |
| Q13 | Docker Swarm & Multi-Host Orchestration | Explain Docker Swarm internals: multi-host orchestration, overlay networks, service discovery, scaling, and advanced troubleshooting. | hard |
| Q14 | Docker Runtime Security | Explain Docker runtime security: Linux capabilities, seccomp, AppArmor, SELinux, privileged containers, Docker socket risks, rootless mode, user namespaces, and container escape prevention. | hard |
| Q15 | Dockerfile & Image Build Internals | Explain Dockerfile and Docker image build internals: layers, build context, cache, BuildKit, multi-stage builds, .dockerignore, image optimization, and build troubleshooting. | hard |
| Q16 | Docker Registry, Tags, Digests & Image Distribution | Explain Docker registries, repositories, image tags, digests, authentication, push/pull flow, private registries, signing/trust, and troubleshooting image pull/push failures. | hard |
| Q17 | Docker Logging & Observability | Explain Docker logging and observability: logging drivers, stdout/stderr flow, docker logs, json-file, local driver, log rotation, docker stats, docker events, metrics, and troubleshooting missing or huge logs. | hard |
The full Docker topic contains 67 questions. The table above shows the starting set; the path cards map the remaining production and advanced Docker phases.
Detailed Kubernetes content map
Kubernetes content is strong enough to support the cluster foundation and troubleshooting phase. It includes core architecture, Pods, control plane, worker node components, networking, storage, workloads, RBAC, security, GitOps, observability and production operations.
| ID | Subtopic | Question | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Kubernetes Fundamentals | What is Kubernetes, why was it created, and how does it manage containerized applications in production? | easy |
| Q2 | Kubernetes Architecture | Explain the complete Kubernetes architecture and what happens internally when a user creates a Pod. | easy |
| Q3 | Control Plane Components | What are the main Kubernetes control plane components, and what is the responsibility of each component? | easy |
| Q4 | Worker Node Components | What are worker nodes in Kubernetes, and how do kubelet, kube-proxy, and container runtime work together? | easy |
| Q5 | Pods | What is a Pod in Kubernetes, why is it the smallest deployable unit, and what happens internally inside a Pod? | easy |
| Q6 | Pod Lifecycle | Explain the complete Pod lifecycle from Pending to Running, Succeeded, Failed, Unknown, and Terminating. | easy |
| Q7 | Kubernetes API Flow | What happens internally when you run kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml? | medium |
| Q8 | kube-apiserver | What is the Kubernetes API server, and why is it considered the front door of the cluster? | medium |
| Q9 | etcd | What is etcd in Kubernetes, what data does it store, and why is etcd backup critical for disaster recovery? | medium |
| Q10 | kube-scheduler | How does the Kubernetes scheduler work internally, and how does it decide which node should run a Pod? | medium |
| Q11 | Controllers and Reconciliation | What are Kubernetes controllers, what does kube-controller-manager do, and how does reconciliation work internally? | medium |
| Q12 | kubelet | What is kubelet in Kubernetes, and how does it run and manage Pods on a worker node? | medium |
| Q13 | Container Runtime and CRI | What is a container runtime in Kubernetes, how does CRI work, and how do containerd or CRI-O actually run containers? | medium |
| Q14 | Kubernetes Networking Internals | Explain Kubernetes networking internals: Pod networking, CNI, Services, kube-proxy, DNS, NetworkPolicy, and packet flow troubleshooting. | medium |
| Q15 | Kubernetes Services and EndpointSlices | How do Kubernetes Services work internally, and how do ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, ExternalName, headless Services, and EndpointSlices route traffic to Pods? | medium |
| Q16 | Ingress and Ingress Controller | What is Kubernetes Ingress, how does an Ingress Controller work internally, and how do you troubleshoot external HTTP/HTTPS routing issues? | medium |
| Q17 | NetworkPolicy | How do Kubernetes NetworkPolicies work, and how do you design, enforce, and troubleshoot ingress and egress traffic restrictions between Pods? | medium |
| Q18 | Kubernetes DNS and CoreDNS | How does Kubernetes DNS work internally, what is CoreDNS, and how do you troubleshoot DNS resolution issues inside Pods? | medium |
| Q19 | Kubernetes Storage, PV, PVC, StorageClass and CSI | How does Kubernetes storage work internally, including Volumes, PersistentVolumes, PersistentVolumeClaims, StorageClasses, CSI, dynamic provisioning, access modes, reclaim policies, and troubleshooting? | medium |
| Q20 | StatefulSet | How do Kubernetes StatefulSets work internally, and how do they provide stable Pod identity, ordered deployment, persistent storage, and safe recovery for stateful applications? | medium |
The full Kubernetes topic contains 60 questions. The table above shows the starting set; the path cards map the advanced troubleshooting and production architecture phases.
Detailed Terraform content map
After Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform and Jenkins, Terraform teaches learners how DevOps teams manage cloud and platform infrastructure safely as code.
Q1-Q5: Terraform basics and workflow
What Terraform is, how it works internally, how it compares with Ansible/CloudFormation/Pulumi, and what happens during init, validate, fmt, plan and apply.
Q6-Q10: State, backends and variables
Why state is critical, local vs remote state, backend choices, state locking, tfvars, validation and sensitive variables.
Q11-Q20: Reusable Terraform design
Locals, outputs, modules, count/for_each, lifecycle, data sources, import, workspaces, provisioners, functions and dynamic blocks.
Q21-Q30: Production Terraform
Dependency graph, drift, CI/CD workflow, security, testing, refactoring, moved blocks, state migration, governance and enterprise operating model.
Detailed Jenkins / CI-CD content map
Jenkins connects code changes to build, test, artifact/image publishing and deployment workflows. For a Linux admin, this is the bridge from server operations to delivery automation.
Q1-Q10: Architecture and pipeline foundation
Controller, agents, nodes, executors, jobs, builds, workspaces, Jenkinsfile, pipeline lifecycle, SCM and webhook flow.
Q11-Q20: Production Jenkins basics
Credentials, distributed builds, tools, plugins, security, backup, monitoring, logs and performance troubleshooting.
Q21-Q30: Modern CI/CD patterns
Multibranch pipelines, shared libraries, credentials governance, pipeline performance, GitOps deployment flow, Kubernetes/OpenShift agents and Jenkins as Code.
Q31-Q40: Jenkins platform operations
Job DSL, JCasC, security hardening, backup/restore, observability, advanced incident troubleshooting, HA limitations, upgrades and plugin lifecycle.
Q41-Q50: Enterprise CI/CD architecture
Reusable pipeline architecture, Kubernetes dynamic agents, Argo CD deployment strategy, artifact management, SBOM, supply-chain security and scaling.
Interview scenarios this path now supports
Scenario 1: Container exits immediately
Expected thinking: check main process, exit code, logs, CMD/ENTRYPOINT, environment, permissions, image contents and runtime configuration.
Scenario 2: Docker image works locally but fails in CI/CD
Expected thinking: dependency pinning, build context, multi-stage build, secrets handling, registry access, image tags, cache and platform architecture.
Scenario 3: Kubernetes Pod is Pending
Expected thinking: events, scheduler, node capacity, taints, tolerations, node selectors, affinity, PVC binding, image pull constraints and quotas.
Scenario 4: Application is running but Service has no traffic
Expected thinking: labels/selectors, EndpointSlices, targetPort, readiness probe, NetworkPolicy, DNS, Ingress and application listener.
Scenario 5: Pod is CrashLoopBackOff
Expected thinking: previous logs, exit code, probes, config, secrets, resource limits, startup timing, recent rollout and application dependency failure.
Scenario 6: Node pressure affects workloads
Expected thinking: Linux resource pressure, kubelet status, eviction, requests/limits, disk pressure, memory pressure, logging growth and capacity planning.
Scenario 7: Terraform plan wants to replace production resources
Expected thinking: state mapping, lifecycle rules, provider behavior, drift, dependency graph, plan review, backup, maintenance window and safe rollback plan.
Scenario 8: Jenkins pipeline fails after code merge
Expected thinking: webhook, branch source, agent label, workspace, SCM credentials, build tool, Docker/registry access, Kubernetes deploy permission and artifact traceability.
Content gaps still to map next
- GitOps / ArgoCD: desired state delivery, sync, drift, rollback, app-of-apps and cluster deployment workflows.
- Observability: metrics, logs, traces, dashboards, alerts, Kubernetes visibility and production debugging.
- SRE: incident response, SLOs, error budgets, reliability thinking, postmortems and production support scenarios.
- Projects: end-to-end project stories that help learners explain practical experience in interviews.
Start this path inside SkillUpWorks
Start with the readiness test, then practice Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform and Jenkins in order. This gives the learner a real path instead of random interview preparation.
Official references to verify concepts
- Linux kernel documentation
- systemd manuals
- Docker documentation
- Kubernetes documentation
- Kubernetes concepts
References are included so learners can validate Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform and Jenkins concepts from official documentation.