What DevOps tools do you use?

GitLab CI or Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes when you already need it, Ansible, and Terraform. I pick what fits the stack you have.

How long until the team can ship without me?

A first pipeline is weeks, not a six-month program. After that it's your team using it.

How do you tell if it worked?

How often you ship, how long a change takes, and how often it fails. I write those down before and after.

Does this only work at a software company?

If you ship software, yes. The industry doesn't change the pipeline.

Where does security fit?

Security checks go in the pipeline. Dependency scans, and secrets that never land in the log.

DevOps

CI, infrastructure as code, and a release path the team can run without me in the room.

What I do

A release is a button

I set up the pipeline that builds, tests, and ships, so a release is a button instead of a checklist.

Infrastructure as Code

I put the infrastructure in Terraform or Ansible, so the next change is a review instead of a console click.

Alarms before users write in

I add the metrics and the alarms that page someone before users write in.

What you get

The stack you already have

I use the tools that fit the stack you already have.

Fit to the repo

I fit the pipeline to the repo and the deploy you already use.

Less manual release work

The point is a release your team can run without me in the room.

A number you can watch

I track how often you ship, how long a change takes, and how often it fails.

How the work goes

From pull request to production

I look at how a change gets from a pull request to production.

A short list

You get a short list: the pipeline, the infrastructure code, and what to measure.

Small changes in the repo

I wire the tools into the repo you already have, in small changes.

Notes for the next change

I walk the team through the pipeline and leave notes for the next change.

DevOps Tools I Use

These are the tools I use when they fit the job.

Jenkins

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

AWS

GitHub Actions

Ansible

Prometheus

Grafana

GitLab

Puppet

Chef

Nagios

Splunk

ELK Stack