🌱 Year 1: Foundations in Cloud Computing, DevOps, and CI/CD

🛠️ Core Components: CI/CD and Automation with GitHub Actions and Terraform

In the first year, the goal is to set up CI/CD pipelines and start automating tasks using GitHub Actions and Terraform to deploy applications across multiple cloud providers.

🖥️ Step 1: Set Up GitHub Pro, Copilot, and Actions

1. Set Up GitHub Pro:

   • Sign up for GitHub Student Developer Pack to get free GitHub Pro.
   • Benefit: Unlimited private repositories, advanced collaboration tools, and access to GitHub Actions.

2. Enable GitHub Copilot:

   • Activate GitHub Copilot for AI-powered code suggestions.
   • Benefit: Autocomplete and AI-driven code generation will help you write code faster and smarter.

3. Set Up GitHub Actions:

   • Navigate to your GitHub repository and create a .github/workflows/ci.yml file to set up your first CI/CD pipeline.
   • Sample CI/CD Workflow:

     name: CI Pipeline
     
     on:
       push:
         branches:
           - main
     
     jobs:
       build:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
         steps:
           - name: Checkout code
             uses: actions/checkout@v2
           - name: Set up Node.js
             uses: actions/setup-node@v2
             with:
               node-version: '14'
           - name: Install dependencies
             run: npm install
           - name: Run tests
             run: npm test
     

   • Benefit: Automate testing and deployments every time you push changes to your repository.

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☁️ Step 2: Create Cloud Accounts and Use Free-Tier Services

Leverage free cloud services from AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Heroku, and DigitalOcean in Year 1.

1. Create Microsoft Azure Account:

   • Sign up for Azure Free for Students.
   • Use $100 in credits and access Azure App Services, Azure Functions, and Blob Storage.
   • Tip: Deploy simple web apps or serverless functions to practice cloud development.

2. Create AWS Educate Account:

   • Sign up for AWS Educate to receive $100 in credits.
   • Set up AWS Lambda for serverless applications, S3 for storage, and DynamoDB for databases.
   • Tip: Deploy small apps using Lambda and store files in S3 to learn cloud storage and function-based architectures.

3. Create Google Cloud Account:

   • Sign up for Google Cloud Free Tier and receive $300 in free credits for 90 days.
   • Use Compute Engine micro-instance (0.25 vCPU, 1 GB RAM) and experiment with Google Cloud Functions.
   • Tip: Set up a micro-instance to run a simple web server or test containerized apps.

4. Create DigitalOcean Account:

   • Get DigitalOcean $200 credits for one year and use them to create droplets (VMs).
   • Tip: Deploy basic websites or apps on lightweight VMs to compare performance with other cloud providers.

5. Create Heroku Account:

   • Sign up for Heroku and enjoy $13/month in credits for 24 months.
   • Tip: Deploy web apps easily by connecting your GitHub repository to Heroku’s pipelines.

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🛠️ Step 3: Automate Infrastructure with Terraform

1. Install Terraform:

   • Install Terraform on your local machine to begin managing infrastructure as code (IaC).
   • Benefit: Automate cloud resource provisioning and avoid manual configuration errors.

2. Create a Simple Terraform Script for AWS:

   • Example AWS EC2 Instance:

     provider "aws" {
       region = "us-west-2"
     }
     
     resource "aws_instance" "my_instance" {
       ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"  # Amazon Linux 2 AMI
       instance_type = "t2.micro"
     
       tags = {
         Name = "TerraformEC2"
       }
     }
     

   • Tip: Use the AWS free-tier to spin up EC2 instances, and test infrastructure automation.

3. Create a Simple Terraform Script for Azure:

   • Example Azure VM:

     provider "azurerm" {
       features {}
     }
     
     resource "azurerm_resource_group" "my_rg" {
       name     = "myResourceGroup"
       location = "West US"
     }
     
     resource "azurerm_linux_virtual_machine" "my_vm" {
       name                = "myVM"
       resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.my_rg.name
       location            = azurerm_resource_group.my_rg.location
       size                = "Standard_B1s"
       admin_username      = "azureuser"
     
       os_disk {
         caching              = "ReadWrite"
         storage_account_type = "Standard_LRS"
       }
     
       source_image_reference {
         publisher = "Canonical"
         offer     = "UbuntuServer"
         sku       = "18.04-LTS"
         version   = "latest"
       }
     
       admin_ssh_key {
         username   = "azureuser"
         public_key = file("~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub")
       }
     }
     

   • Tip: Use free credits in Azure to provision virtual machines and gain hands-on experience.

4. Create a Simple Terraform Script for Google Cloud:

   • Example Google Cloud Compute Engine:

     provider "google" {
       project = "my-gcp-project"
       region  = "us-central1"
     }
     
     resource "google_compute_instance" "my_instance" {
       name         = "my-instance"
       machine_type = "f1-micro"
       zone         = "us-central1-a"
     
       boot_disk {
         initialize_params {
           image = "debian-cloud/debian-9"
         }
       }
     
       network_interface {
         network = "default"
         access_config {}
       }
     }
     

   • Tip: Use Google Cloud's free-tier VM to experiment with deployments using Terraform.

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🚀 Step 4: Deploy a Simple Multi-Cloud Web Application

1. Deploy the Web App:

   • Create a simple web application (Node.js, Python, or static site) and deploy it to Heroku and DigitalOcean for initial testing.
   • Use GitHub Actions to automate deployment on commit:

     name: Deploy to Heroku
     
     on:
       push:
         branches:
           - main
     
     jobs:
       deploy:
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     
         steps:
           - name: Checkout code
             uses: actions/checkout@v2
     
           - name: Deploy to Heroku
             run: git push heroku main
     

2. Use Terraform for Multi-Cloud Infrastructure:

   • Deploy different components (e.g., database, compute) on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud using Terraform.
   • Tip: Use Terraform's multi-provider functionality to provision resources across multiple clouds from a single configuration file.

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🏆 Summary of Year 1 Goals:

• Set up core cloud accounts and free-tier services on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, and Heroku.
• Build a simple CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions to automate application deployments.
• Start using Terraform to automate infrastructure on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
• Deploy a simple web app across multiple clouds and gain practical hands-on experience.