book

Fundamentals of DevOps and Software Delivery

by Yevgeniy Brikman

May 2025

Intermediate to advanced

552 pages

14h 57m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Why I Wrote This BookThe Impact of World-Class Software DeliveryWhere DevOps Came FromWatch Out for SnakesWho Should Read This BookWhat You’ll Find in This BookWhat You Won’t Find in This BookOpen Source Code ExamplesOpinionated Code ExamplesYou Have to Get Your Hands DirtyUsing Code ExamplesConventions Used in This BookO’Reilly Online LearningHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
Example: Deploy the Sample App LocallyDeploying an App on a ServerOn-Prem and Cloud HostingExample: Deploy an App via PaaS (Render)Example: Deploy an App via IaaS (AWS)Comparing Deployment OptionsOn Prem Versus the CloudIaaS Versus PaaSThe Evolution of DevOpsAdopting DevOps PracticesConclusion
The Benefits of IaCAd Hoc ScriptsExample: Deploy an EC2 Instance by Using a Bash ScriptHow Ad Hoc Scripts Stack UpConfiguration Management ToolsExample: Deploy an EC2 Instance by Using AnsibleExample: Configure a Server by Using AnsibleHow Configuration Management Tools Stack UpServer Templating ToolsExample: Create a VM Image by Using PackerHow Server Templating Tools Stack UpProvisioning ToolsExample: Deploy an EC2 Instance by Using OpenTofuExample: Update and Destroy Infrastructure by Using OpenTofuExample: Deploy an EC2 Instance by Using an OpenTofu ModuleExample: Deploy an EC2 Instance by Using an OpenTofu Registry ModuleHow Provisioning Tools Stack UpUsing Multiple IaC Tools TogetherProvisioning Plus Configuration ManagementProvisioning Plus Server TemplatingProvisioning Plus Server Templating Plus OrchestrationAdopting IaCConclusion
An Introduction to OrchestrationServer OrchestrationExample: Deploy an App Securely and Reliably by Using AnsibleExample: Deploy a Load Balancer by Using Ansible and nginxExample: Roll Out Updates with AnsibleVM OrchestrationExample: Build a VM Image by Using PackerExample: Deploy a VM Image in an Auto Scaling Group by Using OpenTofuExample: Deploy an Application Load Balancer by Using OpenTofuExample: Roll Out Updates with OpenTofu and Auto Scaling GroupsContainer OrchestrationExample: A Crash Course on DockerExample: Create a Docker Image for a Node.js AppExample: Deploy a Dockerized App with KubernetesExample: Deploy a Load Balancer with KubernetesExample: Roll Out Updates with KubernetesExample: Deploy a Kubernetes Cluster in AWS by Using EKSExample: Push a Docker Image to ECRExample: Deploy a Dockerized App into an EKS ClusterServerless OrchestrationExample: Deploy a Serverless Function with AWS LambdaExample: Create a Lambda Function URLExample: Roll Out Updates with AWS LambdaComparing Orchestration OptionsConclusion
Version ControlExample: Turn Your Code into a Git RepoExample: Store Your Code in GitHubVersion-Control RecommendationsBuild SystemExample: Configure Your Build by Using npmDependency ManagementExample: Add Dependencies in npmAutomated TestingExample: Add Automated Tests for the Node.js AppExample: Add Automated Tests for the OpenTofu CodeTesting RecommendationsConclusion
Continuous IntegrationDealing with Merge ConflictsPreventing Breakages with Self-Testing BuildsMaking Large ChangesExample: Run Automated Tests for Apps in GitHub ActionsMachine User Credentials and Automatically Provisioned CredentialsExample: Configure OIDC with AWS and GitHub ActionsExample: Run Automated Tests for Infrastructure in GitHub ActionsContinuous DeliveryDeployment StrategiesDeployment PipelinesDeployment Pipeline RecommendationsConclusion
Breaking Up Your DeploymentsWhy Deploy Across Multiple EnvironmentsHow to Set Up Multiple EnvironmentsChallenges with Multiple EnvironmentsExample: Set Up Multiple AWS AccountsBreaking Up Your CodebaseWhy Break Up Your CodebaseHow to Break Up Your CodebaseChallenges with Breaking Up Your CodebaseExample: Deploy Microservices in KubernetesConclusion
Public NetworkingPublic IP AddressesDomain Name SystemExample: Register and Configure a Domain Name in Amazon Route 53Private NetworkingPhysical Private NetworksVirtual Private NetworksAccessing Private NetworksCastle-and-Moat ModelZero Trust ArchitectureSSHRDPVPNService Communication in Private NetworksService DiscoveryService Communication ProtocolService MeshExample: Istio Service Mesh with Kubernetes MicroservicesConclusion
Cryptography PrimerEncryptionHashingSecure StorageSecrets ManagementEncryption at RestSecure CommunicationTransport Layer SecurityExample: HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt and AWS Secrets ManagerEnd-to-End EncryptionConclusion
Local Storage: Hard DrivesPrimary Data Store: Relational DatabasesReading and Writing DataACID TransactionsSchemas and ConstraintsExample: PostgreSQL, Lambda, and Schema MigrationsCaching: Key-Value Stores and CDNsKey-Value StoresCDNsFile Storage: File Servers and Object StoresFile ServersObject StoresExample: Serving Files with S3 and CloudFrontSemistructured Data and Search: Document StoresReading and Writing DataACID TransactionsSchemas and ConstraintsAnalytics: Columnar DatabasesColumnar Database BasicsAnalytics Use CasesAsynchronous Processing: Queues and StreamsMessage QueuesEvent StreamsScalability and AvailabilityRelational DatabasesNoSQL and NewSQL DatabasesDistributed SystemsBackup and RecoveryBackup StrategiesBackup RecommendationsExample: Backups and Read Replicas with PostgreSQLConclusion

LogsLog LevelsLog FormattingStructured LoggingLog Files and RotationLog AggregationMetricsTypes of MetricsUsing MetricsExample: Metrics in CloudWatchEventsObservabilityTracingTesting in ProductionAlertsTriggersNotificationsOn CallIncident ResponseExample: Alerts in CloudWatchConclusion
InfrastructurelessGenerative AISecure by DefaultPlatform EngineeringThe Future of Infrastructure CodeConclusion

Content preview from Fundamentals of DevOps and Software Delivery

Chapter 1. How to Deploy Your App

In the Preface, you read that DevOps consists of dozens of concepts. But it almost always starts with just one question: “I wrote an app. Now what?”

You and your team have spent months putting together an app. You picked a programming language, implemented the backend, designed and built a user interface (UI), and finally, it’s time to expose the app to real users. How, exactly, do you do that?

There are so many questions to figure out here. Should you use AWS or Azure? (And what about Heroku or Vercel?) Do you need one server or multiple servers? (Or serverless?) Do you need to use Docker? (Or Kubernetes?) Do you need a VPC? (Or a VPN?) How do you get a domain name? (And what about a TLS certificate?) What’s the right way to set up your database? (And how do you back it up?) Why did that app crash? Why does nothing seem to be working? Why is this so hard?

OK, easy now. Take a deep breath. If you’re new to software delivery—you’ve worked as an app developer your whole career, or you’re just starting out in operations—it can be overwhelming, and you can get stuck in analysis paralysis. This book is here to help. I will walk you through each of these questions—and many others you didn’t think to ask—and help you figure out the answers, step-by-step.

The first step will be to deploy the app on a server and get it running in the most basic way you can. In this chapter, you’ll work through examples to deploy the same app on your own computer, on Render ...