AWS (for DevOps Learners) — Build Pipelines. Ship Faster. Operate Safely.

Level up from ad-hoc deployments to repeatable, policy-gated DevOps on AWS. Each topic-wise set includes 20 Basic, 20 Intermediate, and 10 Advanced hands-on questions so learners can practice deliberately and get production-ready.

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Why practice with these assignments?

  • Go beyond theory—provision compute, wire storage, containerize, automate with serverless, and push through CI/CD with real AWS services and the CLI.
  • Master modern delivery: ECR→ECS/EKS, blue-green/canary rollouts, pipeline approvals, and environment promotion.
  • Build infrastructure the DevOps way with Terraform & CloudFormation, remote state, and reusable modules.
  • Operate like a pro using CloudWatch, CloudTrail, and X-Ray dashboards, alarms, and queries across accounts.

How it works

  • Open any assignment and attempt questions in order: Basic → Intermediate → Advanced.
  • Use the AWS Console + AWS CLI; keep a running notes file of commands, policies, and diagrams.
  • Verify every step (instance reachability, artifact presence, pipeline status, deployment health, alarms triggered).
  • Capture “what I learned” after each task—syntax, gotchas, and ops checklists.

What you’ll achieve

  • Compute fluency: EC2/ALB/ASG patterns, user data, and runners (Jenkins/GitLab/GitHub Actions) on AWS.
  • Artifact & storage workflows: S3/ECR/EBS/EFS for caching, workspaces, logs, and long-term artifacts.
  • Serverless automation: Lambda with API Gateway, events, IaC, aliases, canaries, and observability.
  • DevOps toolchain on AWS: CodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline, Cloud9—end-to-end CI/CD.
  • Containers at scale: ECR→ECS (Fargate/EC2) and EKS (Kubernetes), ALB/Ingress, autoscaling, and dashboards.
  • Networking & identity: VPC design, IAM least privilege, secrets in SSM/Secrets Manager, and policy governance.
  • IaC skills: CloudFormation + Terraform side-by-side, modules, workspaces, and pipelines.
  • Observability: multi-account CloudWatch, CloudTrail analytics, X-Ray traces, and alerting playbooks.

Browse the Assignments

  • Assignment 1 — AWS Compute for DevOps
    EC2 via CLI & templates, user data, Security Groups/ALB/ASG, Jenkins/GitLab runners, Docker on EC2, Prometheus/Grafana, and rolling updates.
  • Assignment 2 — Storage & Artifact Management
    S3 versioning/encryption/lifecycle/CRR, CodeBuild/CodePipeline artifacts, ECR logs to S3, EBS for CI data, EFS for shared workspaces, and backup strategies.
  • Assignment 3 — AWS Lambda for DevOps
    IaC (Terraform/CloudFormation), event sources, IAM roles, aliases/canary, layers, API Gateway, observability (CloudWatch/X-Ray), and compliance helpers.
  • Assignment 4 — DevOps & CI/CD Services
    CodeCommit → CodeBuild → CodeDeploy → CodePipeline, approvals, rollbacks, caching, multi-environment pipelines, notifications, and CloudFormation-as-pipeline.
  • Assignment 5 — Containerized Deployments (ECS & EKS)
    ECR images, ECS services with ALB & autoscaling, EKS Deployments/Ingress, IRSA, Prometheus/Grafana, and blue-green/canary strategies.
  • Assignment 6 — VPC, IAM & Secrets
    VPC modules, peering, Security Groups & routes, IAM roles/policies/SCPs/Access Analyzer, and Secrets Manager & Parameter Store usage in CI/CD.
  • Assignment 7 — Infrastructure as Code
    CloudFormation stacks/exports/nested sets, Terraform modules/remote state/workspaces, drift detection, and multi-region & multi-account patterns.
  • Assignment 8 — Monitoring, Logging & Alerts
    CloudWatch dashboards, alarms, composite alarms, Container Insights, CloudTrail + Organizations, Athena queries, X-Ray tracing, and incident workflows.

Tips for success

  • Tag everything (env, app, owner); it powers cost, policies, and dashboards.
  • Prefer roles over static keys; fetch secrets from SSM/Secrets Manager in pipelines.
  • Keep artifacts tidy: use S3 versioning + lifecycle and publish build metadata.
  • Treat IaC as code: modules, remote state + locking, workspaces, CI plan-gates.
  • Ship safely: pipeline approvals/rollbacks, blue-green/canary rollouts, and alarms that page humans.

Ready to build real confidence in AWS for DevOps? Pick a set below and start solving!

Assignment – 1 (AWS Compute)

Assignment – 2 (Storage & Artifact Management)

Assignment – 3 (AWS Lambda)

Assignment – 4 (CI-CD Services)

Assignment – 5 (Containerized Deployments)

Assignment – 6 (VPC, IAM & Secrets)

Assignment – 7 (Infrastructure as Code)

Assignment – 8 (Monitoring, Logging & Alerts)

FAQs

Q1. I’m new to AWS DevOps—where do I start?
Begin with Compute to grasp EC2/ALB/ASG and runners, then add Storage/Artifacts (S3/ECR/EFS/EBS), CI/CD services, and Lambda for automation. Move on to containers, VPC/IAM, IaC, and monitoring.

Q2. Which pipeline stack should I use—AWS Developer Tools or Jenkins/GitLab/GitHub?
Use CodeCommit/Build/Deploy/Pipeline for a native AWS path, or integrate Jenkins/GitLab/GitHub Actions where your team already works. The assignments cover both approaches.

Q3. How do I choose between ECS and EKS?
Pick ECS (Fargate) for simpler operations, and EKS when you need Kubernetes features and portability. You’ll practice both with ALB/Ingress, scaling, and observability.

Q4. Where should my artifacts and build data live?
Use S3 for versioned artifacts/logs, ECR for container images, EBS for CI servers, and EFS for shared workspaces across agents.

Q5. What’s “good” IAM for DevOps?
Model least-privilege roles for pipelines, use IRSA for EKS Pods, task roles for ECS, and centralize secrets in Secrets Manager/SSM with rotation enabled.

Q6. CloudFormation vs Terraform—do I need both?
You’ll see both in action. Many teams use CloudFormation for AWS-native stacks and Terraform for cross-cloud modules. Both support CI-driven plans, parameters, and drift detection.

Q7. How do I implement safe releases?
Use blue-green/canary deployments with CodeDeploy (EC2/ECS) or Lambda aliases. Add approval gates and automatic rollbacks triggered by alarms.

Q8. How do I monitor pipelines and workloads?
Create CloudWatch dashboards & composite alarms, enable Container Insights, analyze activity with CloudTrail + Athena, and trace latency with X-Ray.

Q9. What about multi-account/multi-region setups?
Use AWS Organizations, cross-account roles, StackSets/remote state, and centralized logging/alarms. The monitoring and IaC assignments include these governance patterns.

Q10. How much time should I allocate per assignment?
Plan 30–60 minutes per difficulty band. Containers, multi-environment pipelines, and cross-account governance may take longer—opt for correctness and observability first.