CI/CD

Hands-on CI/CD Course

This course is intended to teach the fundamentals of CI/CD using the GitLab and GitLab CI tools. You'll learn what continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) are, and how they're used to automate software development and deployment processes.

We'll look at how to create a project in GitLab and configure GitLab CI to automatically run tasks such as building, testing, and deploying your code. You'll learn how to install and configure GitLab Runner, the application that works with GitLab CI to run CI/CD tasks.

A key part of the course will be studying the .gitlab-ci.yml configuration file, which defines your project's pipeline. We'll look at how to define the various pipeline stages and use various directives to configure GitLab CI behavior.

We'll also dive into GitLab Services to learn how they can be used to extend the functionality of your pipeline. We'll look at how to use GitLab CI in a Kubernetes environment, and how to create a universal pipeline that can be used across many projects.

In addition, we'll look at more advanced GitLab CI syntax and discuss security concerns related to CI/CD. Finally, we'll conclude the course with a discussion of GitOps - an approach to software development and deployment based on using Git as the single source of truth for the entire project, which will be the final stage of the course. This approach makes it possible to automate and simplify many aspects of development and deployment, including configuration management, deployment, and rollback of changes.

This course will be useful for both beginners and experienced developers who want to improve their CI/CD skills and learn more about the capabilities of GitLab and Git

Step-by-step instructions

Progressing from simple to complex, following instructions step by step with a detailed description of the result

Automatic validation

After completing each task, you can check your solution right away without contacting an instructor

Ask a question anytime

Feedback from the course author at every step. A list of the most common questions with answers

Trained AI assistant

Available 24x7 to answer all your questions, conduct a technical interview, and provide a list of common questions on the topic

Hands-on tasks (10 lessons)

FAQ

What do I get after completing the course?

• An understanding of what a pipeline, CI and CD are
• The ability to run a GitLab runner in different modes
• How to build a universal pipeline for deploying to production and test environments
• Best practices and the most valuable takeaways from real hands-on work, no fluff
• An important line on your resume

Who is this course for?

For DevOps engineers, developers and other IT professionals who want to learn how to automate the build, test and deployment of applications.

How does automatic validation of a task work?

Depending on the task, a dedicated algorithm checks that the pipeline is configured correctly, that the configuration files are valid and that the CI/CD stages run successfully

What baseline knowledge do I need to complete the tasks?

You will need basic knowledge of Git, an understanding of Docker fundamentals and experience working with the Linux command line

How long is this course expected to take?

The estimated time to complete this course is 15-20 hours. There are no fixed schedules; you learn at your own pace and always continue from where you left off.

If I can't find an answer to my question, will you help?

We will! If something is unclear at any step, just ask. If some information is missing altogether, ask as well. We may add a new section.

Can I skip some tasks and jump straight to an arbitrary one?

Yes, you can. However, keep in mind that some tasks depend on one or more previous ones. In that case, you need to complete those first.

How is this different from similar courses on well-known educational platforms?

To begin with, this is not a classic course but a hands-on practicum. Theory is given in the context of tasks. Employers today don't particularly value graduates of well-known courses; what they need first and foremost is experience. And experience can only be gained through real work.