Infrastructure as Code & DevOps Mini-Projects¶

A collection of hands-on projects for building expertise in modern infrastructure automation, container orchestration, and configuration management. These projects support certification preparation for HashiCorp Terraform Associate, Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD), and Red Hat Ansible Automation.

🎯 Project Goals¶

Build practical skills in Terraform, Kubernetes, and Ansible
Gain hands-on experience with infrastructure automation
Prepare for industry-recognized certifications
Create a portfolio demonstrating DevOps capabilities
Target fully remote DevOps, SRE, Cloud Engineering, and Platform Engineering roles

📚 Project Structure¶

This repository contains 7 progressive projects organized into three skill areas:

Beginner Projects (1-3)¶

Introduction to core concepts and basic workflows

Intermediate Projects (4-6)¶

Integration of multiple tools and more complex scenarios

Advanced Project (7)¶

Complete CI/CD pipeline combining all technologies

🗂️ Projects Overview¶

Project 1: Terraform + Docker¶

Status: ✅ Complete
Difficulty: Beginner
Technologies: Terraform, Docker
Description: Learn Terraform fundamentals by provisioning Docker containers locally.

Key Concepts: - Terraform configuration language (HCL) - Provider management - Resource declaration and dependencies - Variables, outputs, and state management - Terraform workflow: init → plan → apply → destroy

Certification Focus: HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate

📁 Location: /project1-terraform-docker/

Project 2: Kubernetes + Minikube¶

Status: ✅ Complete
Difficulty: Beginner
Technologies: Kubernetes, Docker, Minikube, Python, Flask
Description: Deploy a containerized Python Flask application to a local Kubernetes cluster.

Key Concepts: - Kubernetes architecture (Pods, Deployments, Services) - Container orchestration and replica management - kubectl command-line tool - YAML manifests for declarative configuration - Health checks (liveness and readiness probes) - Service discovery and load balancing

Certification Focus: Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) / CKAD

📁 Location: /project2-k8s-python-app/

Project 3: Ansible + Docker¶

Status: ✅ Complete
Difficulty: Beginner
Technologies: Ansible, Docker, SSH
Description: Use Ansible to automate configuration management across multiple Docker containers.

Key Concepts: - Ansible inventory and playbooks - Idempotent automation - Configuration management at scale - Jinja2 templating for dynamic configurations - Handlers for service management - Ad-hoc commands for quick tasks - Variables and facts

Certification Focus: Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation

📁 Location: /project3-ansible-docker/

Project 4: Terraform + Kubernetes Integration¶

Status: 🔄 Planned
Difficulty: Intermediate
Technologies: Terraform, Kubernetes
Description: Use Terraform to provision a Kubernetes cluster and deploy applications declaratively.

Key Concepts: - Terraform Kubernetes provider - Managing k8s resources as code - Combining infrastructure and application deployment - State management for k8s resources - Terraform modules for reusability

Certification Focus: Terraform Associate + CKA/CKAD

📁 Location: /project4-terraform-k8s/

Project 5: Ansible + Docker Advanced¶

Status: 🔄 Planned
Difficulty: Intermediate
Technologies: Ansible, Docker, Docker Compose
Description: Create Ansible playbooks to automate Docker host setup and containerized application deployment.

Key Concepts: - Ansible roles for organization - Docker container management with Ansible - Multi-container orchestration - Ansible Vault for secrets management - Dynamic inventories - Advanced playbook patterns

Certification Focus: Ansible Automation

📁 Location: /project5-ansible-docker-advanced/

Project 6: Full Stack - Terraform + Ansible + Kubernetes¶

Status: 🔄 Planned
Difficulty: Intermediate
Technologies: Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes
Description: Build a complete infrastructure solution integrating all three tools.

Key Concepts: - Infrastructure provisioning with Terraform - Configuration management with Ansible - Application deployment to Kubernetes - Tool integration and workflow orchestration - End-to-end automation pipeline

Certification Focus: All three certifications

📁 Location: /project6-full-stack/

Project 7: Complete CI/CD Pipeline¶

Status: 🔄 Planned
Difficulty: Advanced
Technologies: Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, Git, CI/CD
Description: Design and implement a complete CI/CD pipeline using all three automation tools.

Key Concepts: - Git-based workflow - Automated testing - Infrastructure as Code best practices - Continuous deployment to Kubernetes - Monitoring and observability - Production-ready patterns

Certification Focus: All three certifications + DevOps practices

📁 Location: /project7-cicd-pipeline/

🎓 Certification Targets¶

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (003)¶

Covered in: Projects 1, 4, 6, 7
Key Topics: Configuration language, providers, state, modules, workflows
Resources: HashiCorp Learn

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)¶

Covered in: Projects 2, 4, 6, 7
Key Topics: Cluster architecture, workloads, services, storage, troubleshooting
Resources: Kubernetes Docs, CNCF Training

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)¶

Covered in: Projects 2, 4, 6, 7
Key Topics: Application design, deployment, observability, services
Alternative to CKA: More development-focused

Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation¶

Covered in: Projects 3, 5, 6, 7
Key Topics: Playbooks, roles, modules, variables, Ansible Vault
Resources: Ansible Docs, Red Hat Training

🛠️ Technology Stack¶

Core Tools: - Terraform - Infrastructure as Code - Kubernetes - Container orchestration - Ansible - Configuration management - Docker - Containerization - Minikube - Local Kubernetes development

Languages: - HCL - Terraform configuration - YAML - Kubernetes manifests, Ansible playbooks - Python - Example applications - Jinja2 - Ansible templating - Bash - Scripting and automation

Development Environment: - WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) - VS Code - Code editor with Claude Code integration - Git - Version control

📋 Prerequisites¶

Required Software¶

Docker Desktop or Docker Engine
```
docker --version
```
Terraform
```
terraform --version
```
Kubernetes CLI (kubectl)
```
kubectl version --client
```
Minikube (for local k8s development)
```
minikube version
```
Ansible
```
ansible --version
```

Installation Guides¶

See individual project READMEs for detailed installation instructions specific to your operating system.

🚀 Getting Started¶

Clone the Repository¶

git clone <repository-url>
cd mini-projects

Start with Project 1¶

cd project1-terraform-docker
# Follow the README.md instructions

Progress Through Projects Sequentially¶

Projects build on each other, so it's recommended to complete them in order: 1. Project 1 - Terraform basics 2. Project 2 - Kubernetes basics 3. Project 3 - Ansible basics 4. Project 4 - Terraform + Kubernetes 5. Project 5 - Advanced Ansible 6. Project 6 - Full integration 7. Project 7 - Complete pipeline

📖 Learning Approach¶

For Each Project:¶

Read the README thoroughly - Understand concepts before coding
Follow step-by-step instructions - Don't skip steps
Experiment with variations - Try the suggested experiments
Document your learnings - Keep notes on challenges and solutions
Build incrementally - Start simple, add complexity
Practice repeatedly - Destroy and rebuild to reinforce learning

Best Practices:¶

Version control everything - Commit often with clear messages
Use descriptive names - Make code self-documenting
Add comments - Explain non-obvious logic
Test thoroughly - Verify each component works
Clean up resources - Don't leave containers/VMs running unnecessarily

🎯 Career Focus¶

These projects target the following remote positions:

Target Roles:¶

DevOps Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
Cloud Engineer (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Platform Engineer
Infrastructure Engineer
Kubernetes Administrator
Automation Engineer

Target Industries:¶

Financial Services
Healthcare Technology
Aerospace & Defense
Enterprise SaaS
Manufacturing
Government Contracting

Why These Skills Matter:¶

High demand - Infrastructure automation is critical for modern operations
Remote-friendly - These roles commonly offer fully remote options
Well-compensated - Strong market value for these skill combinations
Career growth - Foundation for senior and architect-level positions

📊 Progress Tracking¶

Completed Projects: 3/7 (43%)¶

Project 1: Terraform + Docker
Project 2: Kubernetes + Minikube
Project 3: Ansible + Docker
Project 4: Terraform + Kubernetes
Project 5: Ansible + Docker Advanced
Project 6: Full Stack Integration
Project 7: CI/CD Pipeline

Skills Acquired:¶

Terraform: - [x] Basic configuration and syntax - [x] Provider management - [x] Resource dependencies - [x] Variables and outputs - [ ] Modules and workspaces - [ ] Remote state management - [ ] Advanced patterns

Kubernetes: - [x] Pods, Deployments, Services - [x] kubectl basics - [x] Health checks - [x] Load balancing - [ ] ConfigMaps and Secrets - [ ] Persistent storage - [ ] Advanced networking

Ansible: - [x] Playbooks and tasks - [x] Inventory management - [x] Idempotency - [x] Templates (Jinja2) - [x] Handlers - [ ] Roles - [ ] Ansible Vault - [ ] Dynamic inventories

🔗 Additional Resources¶

Official Documentation¶

Learning Platforms¶

Practice & Certification¶

Terraform Associate Practice
Killer.sh - CKA/CKAD practice exams
Ansible Galaxy - Reusable roles

Community¶

r/Terraform
r/Kubernetes
r/Ansible
[DevOps Slack/Discord communities]

🤝 Contributing¶

This is a personal learning repository, but feedback and suggestions are welcome!

If You Find Issues:¶

Document the problem clearly
Include error messages and logs
Note your environment (OS, versions)
Suggest a fix if possible

📝 Notes & Lessons Learned¶

Key Takeaways So Far:¶

Project 1 (Terraform): - Always use eval $(minikube docker-env) when building images for Minikube - Variables make configurations reusable and maintainable - Terraform state is critical - handle with care

Project 2 (Kubernetes): - WSL networking requires special consideration for accessing services - imagePullPolicy: Never requires images to exist in Minikube's container runtime - Use minikube image load to make Docker images available to Kubernetes - Health checks are essential for production-ready deployments

Project 3 (Ansible): - Idempotency is a core principle - design tasks to be safely repeatable - Templates (Jinja2) enable dynamic, host-specific configurations - Handlers ensure services restart only when necessary - Ad-hoc commands are powerful for quick tasks

Common Patterns:¶

Start simple, add complexity incrementally
Test each component independently before integration
Documentation is as important as code
Clean up resources after experimentation

🗓️ Project Timeline¶

Week 1-2: Projects 1-3 (Basics) ✅ Complete
Week 3-4: Projects 4-5 (Intermediate) 🔄 In Progress
Week 5-6: Project 6 (Integration) 🔄 Planned
Week 7-8: Project 7 (CI/CD) 🔄 Planned

📧 Contact & Portfolio¶

GitHub: [Your GitHub Profile]
LinkedIn: [Your LinkedIn Profile]
Portfolio: [Your Portfolio Site]

📄 License¶

This project is for educational purposes. Individual tools and technologies are subject to their respective licenses.

Last Updated: January 22, 2025
Status: Active Development (3/7 projects complete)
Next Milestone: Project 4 - Terraform + Kubernetes Integration