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Tools for SREs and DevOps Roles

Table of Contents

Top Tools Used by DevOps and SREs

Containerization and Orchestration

These are essential.
Almost every DevOps/SRE job will require experience with these.

  • Docker: Core tool for building, running, and managing containers.
  • Kubernetes (K8s): The industry standard for container orchestration.
    • Learn kubectl well.
  • Helm: Kubernetes package manager for deploying and managing K8s apps.
  • Podman: A Docker alternative, increasingly popular in enterprise environments.
  • kind (Kubernetes-in-Docker) or Minikube: For running Kubernetes locally in development environments.

CI/CD Tools (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery)

CI/CD experience is critical for automating deployment pipelines.

  • Jenkins: The most popular CI/CD tool, though heavy.
  • GitLab CI/CD: Integrated pipelines in GitLab.
  • ArgoCD: GitOps-based continuous delivery for Kubernetes.
  • FluxCD: Lightweight GitOps alternative to ArgoCD.
  • GitHub Actions: Great for automating workflows directly in GitHub.
  • Tekton: Kubernetes-native CI/CD framework.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

IaC is a core skill for DevOps engineers to manage infrastructure reliably.

  • Terraform: The most popular tool for provisioning and managing infrastructure.
  • Pulumi: IaC using modern programming languages (Python, Go, etc.).
  • Ansible: Configuration management and orchestration tool for automating system setup.
  • Helm: Kubernetes-focused "IaC" for packaging apps.
  • CloudFormation: AWS-native IaC tool.

Monitoring and Observability

Understanding metrics, logging, and tracing is a must for SREs.

  • Prometheus: Leading tool for monitoring and alerting.
  • Grafana: Visualizes Prometheus metrics with dashboards.
  • ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana): Used for centralized logging.
  • Loki: Grafana's lightweight log aggregation tool.
  • Jaeger or OpenTelemetry: Distributed tracing for debugging microservices.
  • Datadog / New Relic: Paid all-in-one monitoring tools often used in larger orgs.

Version Control & Collaboration

  • Git: Essential for source control (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket).
  • GitOps: Modern approach to infrastructure management using Git as a single source of truth.
  • Slack or MS Teams: DevOps/SREs use these for communication and incident alerts.

Security and Compliance

DevSecOps is a growing requirement.

  • Trivy: Container image vulnerability scanner.
  • Falco: Runtime security for Kubernetes.
  • Kube-hunter: Identifies security issues in Kubernetes clusters.
  • OpenSCAP: Security compliance scanning for Linux systems.
  • Vault (HashiCorp): Secure secrets and credentials management.

Cloud and Hybrid Tools

Cloud platforms dominate DevOps/SRE roles.
Get familiar with at least one.

  • AWS, GCP, or Azure: Cloud providers that host infrastructure and services.
  • AWS CLI, az cli (Azure), gcloud CLI (GCP): Learn how to interact with cloud APIs.
  • K3s: Lightweight Kubernetes for edge computing and small clusters.

Automation and Scripting

  • Bash: Essential for Linux automation scripts.
  • Python: Most DevOps tools use Python for automation, APIs, or tooling.
  • Go: Increasingly important for building reliable tooling, especially Kubernetes tools.

Key Tools to Start With

If you're just starting out, focus on these essentials first:

  1. Docker - Containerize applications.
  2. Kubernetes - Orchestrate and manage those containers.
  3. Terraform - Provision infrastructure.
  4. Ansible - Automate system configuration.
  5. Prometheus & Grafana - Monitor your systems.
  6. Git & GitHub Actions - For version control and automation workflows.
  7. Bash & Python - Write automation scripts.

Practice

  • Practice in Your Homelab: Use your Proxmox setup to spin up VMs, deploy Kubernetes (K3s), and practice these tools.
  • Build CI/CD Pipelines: Use GitHub Actions or Jenkins to automate builds and deployments.
  • Set Up Monitoring: Integrate Prometheus and Grafana for cluster monitoring.
  • Learn Terraform: Provision cloud infrastructure or virtual machines on your homelab with Terraform.
  • Containerize Everything: Start converting scripts, services, and apps into Docker containers.