Platform Engineering Bootcamp

Goal: Equip engineers with essential and advanced Platform Engineering and DevOps skills using industry-standard tools and best practices.

Learning Stages and Weekly Breakdown

Foundational Stage

• Week 1: Overview of DevOps & Platform Engineering
• Week 2: Linux Essentials
• Week 3: Version Control with Git & GitHub
• Week 4: Networking Basics for Platform Engineers
• Week 5: Shell Scripting Essentials

Containers and Kubernetes Stage

• Week 6: Introduction to Containers with Docker
• Week 7: Kubernetes Fundamentals
• Week 8: Advanced Kubernetes

Cloud Infrastructure and Automation Stage

• Week 9: Introduction to Cloud Computing
• Week 10: Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
• Week 11: Configuration Management with Ansible

Platform Engineering Stage

• Week 12: Internal Developer Portals
• Week 13: GitOps with ArgoCD

Observability and Security Stage

• Week 14: Monitoring & Observability
• Week 15: Secrets Management
• Week 16: Introduction to Service Mesh

Capstone Project Stage

• Weeks 17–18: Capstone Project

Course Breakdown

Course 1: Foundations of DevOps and Platform Engineering

1. Overview of DevOps & Platform Engineering

   • Concepts: DevOps principles, Platform Engineering overview, CI/CD basics.
   • Hands-On: Create a simple CI pipeline with GitHub Actions.
   • Deliverable: Understand DevOps culture and Platform Engineering.

2. Linux Essentials

   • Concepts: Filesystem, permissions, processes, SSH.
   • Hands-On: Set up a Linux server and navigate using essential commands.
   • Deliverable: Configured Linux server.

3. Version Control with Git & GitHub

   • Concepts: Branching, merging, pull requests, Git workflows.
   • Hands-On: Set up a GitHub repository and integrate it into workflows.
   • Deliverable: Functional GitHub repository ready for collaboration.

4. Networking Basics for Platform Engineers

   • Concepts: Subnetting, CIDR, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, load balancing basics.
   • Hands-On: Configure basic network rules and DNS for an application.
   • Deliverable: Networking configurations for a sample application.

5. Shell Scripting Essentials

   • Concepts: Automate tasks using bash (loops, conditionals, variables).
   • Hands-On: Write and execute a script to automate server tasks.
   • Deliverable: Functional shell script for automation.

Course 2: Containers and Kubernetes

6. Introduction to Containers with Docker

   • Concepts: Containerization basics, Docker Compose, building images.
   • Hands-On: Containerize a multi-service web application.
   • Deliverable: Dockerized application deployed using Docker Compose.

7. Kubernetes Fundamentals

   • Concepts: Pods, services, deployments, namespaces, and ingress basics.
   • Hands-On: Deploy a containerized application in Kubernetes.
   • Deliverable: Application running in a Kubernetes cluster.

8. Advanced Kubernetes

   • Concepts: Helm charts, scaling, RBAC, networking.
   • Hands-On: Manage Kubernetes deployments with Helm and implement RBAC.
   • Deliverable: Kubernetes app deployed and managed with Helm.

Course 3: Cloud Infrastructure and Automation

9. Introduction to Cloud Computing

   • Concepts: IaaS, cloud networking, storage (focus on AWS).
   • Hands-On: Deploy AWS resources (EC2, S3, VPC).
   • Deliverable: Cloud-based application environment.

10. Infrastructure as Code with Terraform

    • Concepts: Terraform basics, state management, reusable modules.
    • Hands-On: Automate cloud infrastructure setup with Terraform.
    • Deliverable: Cloud infrastructure provisioned and managed with Terraform.

11. Configuration Management with Ansible

    • Concepts: Configuration automation, playbooks, and roles.
    • Hands-On: Use Ansible to configure cloud resources and deploy an app.
    • Deliverable: Application deployed using Ansible-managed configurations.

Course 4: Platform Engineering Essentials

12. Internal Developer Portals

    • Concepts: Importance of developer portals, platform engineering workflows.
    • Hands-On: Set up a Backstage developer portal and integrate GitHub and ArgoCD.
    • Deliverable: Fully functional internal developer portal.

13. GitOps with ArgoCD

    • Concepts: GitOps principles, syncing Kubernetes manifests from Git.
    • Hands-On: Automate deployments using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions.
    • Deliverable: Kubernetes app managed using GitOps.

Course 5: Observability and Security

14. Monitoring & Observability

    • Concepts: Metrics, logging, alerting, visualization.
    • Hands-On: Set up Prometheus and Grafana for Kubernetes apps.
    • Deliverable: Functional monitoring dashboard.

15. Secrets Management

    • Concepts: Importance of secrets, HashiCorp Vault basics.
    • Hands-On: Manage application secrets securely with Vault.
    • Deliverable: Securely managed secrets for a deployed application.

16. Introduction to Service Mesh

    • Concepts: Traffic management, observability, security.
    • Hands-On: Deploy and configure Istio for microservices.
    • Deliverable: Microservices app with Istio-enabled security.

Course 6: Capstone Project

17. Capstone Project

    • Goal: Apply all skills to design and deploy a complete platform engineering solution.

    • Deliverable: Fully documented and deployed project integrating:

      • CI/CD with GitHub Actions and ArgoCD
      • Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and Ansible
      • Kubernetes Orchestration
      • Monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana
      • Secure secrets management with Vault.