Career

What Skills Are Required For A DevOps Engineer?

Skills Are Required For A DevOps Engineer

Published on July 2nd, 2022

“DevOps engineer- only because multitasking ninja is not an official job title.” Although this is just a humorous quote on a T-shirt on the Amazon website, the reality is somewhat similar.

A DevOps engineer is a multitasker who coordinates the activities of both the development and operations teams to deliver a software product on time and in an efficient manner.

With leading companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Walmart adopting DevOps and many other companies preparing to embrace the DevOps culture, it is no wonder DevOps is the buzzword lately.

As a result, skilled DevOps professionals who can carry out the necessary functions are an asset to any organization.

So, do you aspire to be a DevOps engineer? Then enrolling in a DevOps engineer course is the quickest way to validate your skills and show recruiters your knowledge of DevOps practices and skill set.

Top Skills Required For A Devops Engineer

A DevOps engineer’s toolkit must include an eclectic mix of core technical and soft skills because he is responsible for ensuring the smooth sailing of software development projects.

The following is a comprehensive list of the top skills that hiring managers look for in a DevOps engineer.

Core Technical Skills

1. Programming Languages

A DevOps engineer must collaborate closely with developers and system administrators to automate development and operations tasks, so they should be comfortable with scripting and coding.

Small scripts may be required to automate tasks such as backups, system monitoring, network management, and so on.

As a result, a DevOps engineer should be familiar with the most commonly used programming languages, which are operating system independent, such as Python, Node.js, and Ruby.

Python is a popular and in-demand programming language that is simple to learn and allows you to create applications and tools quickly.

2. Version Control Systems

A DevOps engineer should be familiar with source control and how to manage code as well as store changes to scripts and infrastructure configurations.

The Git and Git hub tools, which are used in code repositories, are the two most important source control tools.

3. Linux Basics And Operating Systems

Applications must be deployed on a server before they can be accessed by end-users. On-premise or cloud servers must be created and configured to run the application.

As a DevOps engineer, you may need to prepare the infrastructure to run the application, and most organizations run their applications on Linux servers.

As a result, understanding Linux, basic Linux commands, software installation, Linux file system permissions, and directory structure facilitates learning about operating systems and how they work.

Since DevOps is essentially an operations role, one may need to manage many servers, which requires knowledge of SSH key management as well as BASH.

4. Networking And Security Basics

Most services rely heavily on DNS Name Resolution to function properly. A DevOps engineer must understand DNS troubleshooting concepts and tools, IP addresses, basic networking, firewalls, proxy servers, load balancers, and HTTP/HTTPS.

5. Cloud Providers And Services

Cloud computing and DevOps go hand in hand. As a result, any DevOps engineer must have a basic understanding of various cloud providers, such as Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure, as well as the services they provide.

Knowledge of the above five core technical skills is required for any DevOps engineer because they are mandatory for any DevOps role and serve as the foundation for further knowledge of DevOps tools or technology.

6. Knowledge About DevOps Tools

DevOps is carried out in stages, with different tools for each stage to ensure its smooth operation.

A DevOps engineer must be proficient in the tools and technologies used in the development, testing, deployment, and monitoring of applications.

Build tools such as Maven and Gradle combine code from various repositories to create the application. To ensure software quality, applications are tested using automation tools such as Selenium and JUnit.

Configuration management tools such as Ansible, Puppet, CHEF, and Salt stack are used to keep track of software and operating systems. Nagios, Zabbix, Splunk, and other tools are used to monitor applications continuously.

7. Infrastructure As Code (IaC)

Systems and environments can become quite complex and deviate from their original design. The documentation is updated, and as a DevOps engineer, you need to make sure everyone in the team is informed of the changes.

The goal of IaC is to codify the entire infrastructure, allowing teams involved in the software development cycle to understand the changes incorporated into the code, thus providing error-free and reliable infrastructure.

8. Containers

Containers are quickly becoming the de facto model for software packaging. Most businesses run their applications as containers on a server.

As a result, a DevOps engineer must understand virtualization and container concepts, as well as be able to manage containerized applications on a server. Docker is the most popular tool used in container technology.

9. Continuous Integration (CI) And Continuous Delivery (CD)

The essence of DevOps is a continuous integration and continuous delivery, also known as a CI/CD pipeline.

The act of integrating QA (quality assurance) of new code is known as continuous integration. When a new command is added to a code repository, a CI tool can launch it in a container and run tests for it.

If the tests fail, the developer is notified, and the code is corrected. If the tests pass, the code is automatically deployed during the continuous delivery phase.

The code can be deployed to any environment, including QA, staging, and production. The use of CI/CD pipelines automates code testing and delivery, saving significant time. A CI/CD pipeline employs numerous tools, including Jenkins, Gitlab, and Travis CI.

Non-Technical Skills

Organizations are always on the lookout for DevOps engineers with a wide range of soft skills, including integrity, flexibility, people skills, and communication skills, to name a few.

DevOps is more than just a set of tools and processes; it is a way of life centered on ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining team spirit.

Remember that in the DevOps culture, there is no separation between the development and operations teams; rather, the team members share mutual trust and cooperation. As a result, a DevOps engineer must have empathy and leadership skills.

Feature Image: unsplash