One of the hottest buzzwords in the tech world today is Devops. But it is much more than just a buzz, especially considering how its popularity is increasing even as you read this DevOps interview questions blog. It comes as an amalgamation of two words – development and operations – the two departments in it work to maintain coordination.

There is a lot of scope for growth for those who complete their DevOps certification. If you too want to learn DevOps, then there are ample options including a DevOps tutorial or an online class.

When you step out to work in the company of your dreams, it is important you give a stellar interview. And this blog will guide you to make it happen.

Top DevOps Interview Questions and Answers

Depending upon the business type and your previous experience, what you get asked during an interview may vary. However, to help you increase your chances of getting hired, here is a list of top DevOps interview questions and answers.

We have segregated these questions for general DevOps engineers, Azure DevOps, and AWS DevOps. Let’s begin!

DevOps Engineer Interview Questions

Once you complete your DevOps training online or offline and get certified, it is time to put that certification to good use. Here are some of the top DevOps engineer interview questions.

Q1. Name some of the most popular DevOps tools.

Answers. DevOps has a wide range of tools including-

• Docker
• Puppet
• Jenkins
• Selenium
• Ansible
• Git
• Chef 

Q2. How do companies benefit from DevOps?

Answers. There are both technical and business benefits of DevOps.

Technical benefits-

• Early error detection 
• Faster defect correction
• Simpler problems to manage
• Continuous software delivery

Business benefits-

•  Stable operating environments
• Rapid delivery of features
• Improved collaboration and communication between different teams

Q3. Explain the phases of DevOps.

Answers. The DevOps lifecycle has these phases –

• Plan: planning is a crucial aspect of having a clear picture of what needs to be done so that you can plan how it can be done. 
• Code: the coding process begins by closely following the requirements of the end user.
• Build: the multiple codes that are formed in the previous step are integrated to build a website. 
• Test: a very crucial phase in the application development process. Test the application that’s built, and rebuild or alter it as needed. 
• Integrate: various codes from various programmers are all integrated into one. 
• Deploy: the code is then deployed to a cloud environment for future use. This step ensures that any change to the code does not affect the working of a high-traffic website. 
• Operate: if the need arises, operations are performed on the code. 
• Monitor: it is important to monitor the performance of the application and then make changes to meet the end-user requirements.

Q4. What role does configuration management play in DevOps?

Answers. Configuration management plays a big role in DevOps. 

• It aids in managing and administering various servers
• It helps in standardizing resource configuration that further manages IT infrastructure
• It aids in maintaining the integrity of the complete infrastructure
• It facilitates both managing and changing multiple systems

Q5. Name any four important DevOps KPIs.

Answers. Four important DevOps KPIs are –

• Mean time to recover (MMTR)
• Percentage of failed deployment
• Change failure rate
• Lead time for changes

Q6. What do you understand by the “shift left to reduce failure” concept used in DevOps?

Answers. The “shift left” concept used in DevOps is implemented with the aim of reducing the time between identifying bugs and fixing them. 

The simple practice of moving testing is promoted earlier in the stage rather than once the entire integration is done. As errors and bugs are found earlier on in the development stage, less time, money, and effort are wasted later. 

Q7. What is Automation Testing and how is it beneficial?

Answers. When a manual process is automated to test a system or an application, it is referred to as automation testing. It includes using independent testing tools that aid the user in developing test scripts. These can be run endlessly without any human interaction. 

There are dozens of benefits of using Automation Testing. Some of them are –

• Helps in saving a lot of time and money
• Allows easy testing of huge test metrics
• Improves accuracy by reducing human-generated errors
• Facilitates easy unattended execution 
• Enables parallel execution
• Supports repeated test tasks 

Q8. Which GIT command is used to download any repository from GitHub to the computer?

Answers. Git clone

Q9. What do you understand by Git stash? 

Answers. When a developer working with a branch is thinking about switching to another branch to work on another task but is unwilling to commit any changes to the current work, they use Git stash. It helps the developer by saving their modified tracked files. 

Q10. Name some ways in which a build can both be scheduled and run in Jenkins. 

Answers. Some ways in which a Build can be run/ scheduled in Jenkins are –

• Manual build requests
• By source code management commits
• Scheduled to run at a certain time
• After other builds are completed

Azure DevOps Interview Questions 

Now that we have covered the basic questions asked to a DevOps engineer, let us see what Azure DevOps interview questions can be asked. 

Q11. What is Azure DevOps? 

Answers. Azure Devops is an application lifecycle management tool, earlier called Microsoft VSTS (Visual Studio Team Services). It aids in project planning via various templates and tools. Azure DevOps also aids with solution deployments across multiple platforms using Azure Pipelines. It allows CI/CD. 

Q12. What is Azure Repos?

Answers. Azure Repos manages the various code versions and even the code itself across the lifecycle of development. This version control system makes it easy to track all the changes in the code. The entire history of changes is kept in detail to be merged at a later stage. 

Q13. Which containers are supported by Azure DevOps?

Answers. Azure DevOps supports the following containers –

• Azure Container Registry (ACR)
• Azure Container Instances (ACI)
• Docker
• Kubernetes 

Q14. What are Azure Test Plans?

Answers. A service offered by Azure DevOps, Azure Test Plans offers a browser-based test management solution. It also provides important capabilities in planned manual testing, user acceptance testing, and exploratory testing. Azure Test Plans include a browser extension to have provision for stakeholder feedback and exploratory testing. 

Q15. How is Azure DevOps Services different from Azure DevOps Server?

Answers. Azure DevOps Server is an on-premises that is built on an SQL Server backend. Customers who wish to retain their data within their network tend to choose this version. Similarly, those who wish to access the SQL Server reporting services that integrate with Azure DevOps Server tools and data. 

Azure DevOps Services, on the other hand, offers a reliable and scalable hosted service that is available globally. It is present in local data centers across the globe, is monitored by Microsoft’s 24*7 operations team, and is backed by 99.9% SLA.

There are some additional benefits of using Azure DevOps Services including –

• Simplified server management
• Better connectivity with remote sites
•  Rapid access to the best and newest features 
• Transitions from capital expenditure to operational expenditure 

Q16. How will you use Azure DevOps to enable communication amongst the various members of the development team that are working in all parts of the world? 

Answers. Azure DevOps offers a myriad of tools to enable communication among various members of the development team who are working in all parts of the world. Some of the best ones are –

• Azure Repos: It offers collaboration and version control features for code development. 
• Azure Test Plans: It helps in planning, managing, and tracking the entire testing process. 
• Azure Boards: It facilitates team members to track project tasks, work items, issues, and bugs. 
• Azure Artifacts: It aids in managing dependencies and packages that are used by the application. 
• Azure Pipelines: This tool helps in automating the processes of building, testing, and deploying applications. 
• Email Notifications: Using email to receive and send updates on build and release status, work item changes, etc. 
• Microsoft Teams Integration: Microsoft Teams Integration facilitates team members to engage in real-time chat for collaboration. 

Q17. What is the scope of Scrum Master in Azure boards?

Answers. The Scrum Master is tasked with many responsibilities within the Scrum process of the development team. A Scrum Master’s job in Azure Boards is to ensure the team understands and sticks to the Scrum framework. This person is also responsible for the entire team’s efficiency and effective working. 

Specific responsibilities shouldered by a Scrum Master in Azure Boards include –

• They make sure that the team is adhering to the definition of done
• Making sure the team is following Scrum practices and principles
• They facilitate Scrum ceremonies including Sprint Retrospective, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Daily Scrum
• They aid the team in identifying and prioritizing backlog items and user stories
• Work to remove any obstacles faced by the team during the sprint
• Track and report on the team’s progress during the sprint 

In Azure Boards, a Scrum Master does a lot of other things as well. This includes using the built-in backlogs, dashboards, and Scrum boards to track the progress and manage the sprint. They are also tasked with communicating with the stakeholders. 

Q18. Explain VNet.

Answers. VNet or Virtual Network is a service offered by Microsoft’s cloud computing platform named Azure. VNet enables users to create their private network, connect it with different Azure resources or their on-premises infrastructure, and manage virtual networks in the cloud. 

It comprises a lot of features including VPN connectivity, subnet creation, IP address assignment, and network security, among others. 

Q19. What is the Dogpile effect? How can it be prevented?

Answers. The Dogpile effect is a vastly occurring phenomenon that occurs in caching systems as a result of multiple requests for one resource arriving at the same time while the cache for the said resource has expired. The result is a spike in traffic as a lot of requests arrive at the origin server at the same time. This can lead to an overload of the origin server.

However, this effect is preventable by using a technique known as “cache key lock” or “cache stampede protection.” With this technique, a lock is used on the cache key that makes sure only a single request is able to regenerate the cache at a time. Any other request made at the same time is made to wait for the lock’s release. 

Q20. Name a few benefits of Azure pipelines. 

Answers. Microsoft Azure DevOps offers a service named Azure Pipelines that facilitates the user in automating their software testing, deploying, and building processes. It has a lot of benefits for those who use it including –

• Cross-platform support
• Secure and compliant 
• Advanced testing capabilities
• Extensibility
• Collaboration and reporting
• Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
• Pricing model
• Deployment to multiple environments

AWS DevOps Interview Questions 

When it comes to pinning down AWS DevOps interview questions, the task is quite humongous. There are many questions that can be asked during an interview and you should be prepared to answer all of them. Of course, the one thing that will help you a lot in preparing you for that part of a good DevOps training. Additionally, these interview questions will help you a lot. 

Q21. What is AWS in DevOps?

Answers. AWS is a cloud platform by Amazon that facilitates the user in carrying out DevOps practices with ease. It offers a bunch of amazing tools that help in the automation of manual tasks. Thus, aiding engineers to work efficiently and teams to manage complex environments.

Q22. Why do companies need to use AWS for DevOps?

Answers. Companies throughout the globe are benefiting greatly as they use AWS for DevOps. Here are some of the reasons why every leading company or a company that wants to be a leading name is going for it –

• The future is Cloud: The entire world is in for a joyous ride because cloud computing is bound to become a lot bigger than it is today. A Good certification will take you a long way. 
• Easy learning curve: When it comes to learning DevOps with AWS, a logical mindset is essential. If you have your Linux basics clear and have knowledge of a scripting language, then you can easily move ahead and learn as you go. Enrolling in a good AWS DevOps course will help you. 
• High-paying jobs: AWS DevOps engineers are well-paid everywhere. The average salary of such an engineer in India is ₹ 6.5 LPA. The bracket ranges between ₹3.7 LPA – ₹11.3 LPA. 
• Increasing need for DevOps: DevOps has become an integral part of companies that require agility in upgrades, serve clients 24*7, or need to adapt to changes quickly. Companies like Netflix benefit greatly by adopting both DevOps and cloud. 
• Increasing demand: As more and more companies realize the need to adopt AWS DevOps, the demand for professionals rises too. The growth rate for this industry is brilliant and depicted in the graph below. 

Image Resource- Market.us 

Q23. What is a CodePipeline?

Answers. A service offered by AWS, Codepipeline offers CI/CD services. It also boasts provisions of infrastructure. It allows the user to swiftly model and configure various phases of a software release process. 

Q24. What is AWS Lambda in AWS DevOps?

Answers. AWS Lambda is AWS DevOps is a computation service that facilitates the user to run their code but without the need to manage or provision servers explicitly. No prior integration is needed to run a code for their services or applications. 

Q25. How can you view prior build results in AWS CodeBuild?

Answers. Viewing prior build results in AWS CodeBuild is quite easy. We can either make use of the API or the console to do it. The result we receive will include-

• Build duration
• Output log
• Output artifact location
• Outcome (Failure or Success)

Q26. What do you understand about Microservices in AWS DevOps?

Answers. Microservices refer to organizational and architectural approaches to software development. Here, software is made of small independent services that can carry out communication via well-defined APIs. 

Microservices Architectures render the applications faster to develop and easier to scale. Both factors enable innovation. 

Q27. What does AMI mean?

Answers. AMI or Amazon Machine Image is a maintained and supported image offered by AWS. It provides all the necessary information for launching an instance. The user has to specify the AMI when launching an instance. If the user requires various instances having the same configuration, then multiple instances can be launched from a single AMI. 

Q28. What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?

Answers. Infrastructure as Code or IaC is when the infrastructure is managed and provisioned through code rather than through manual processes.

Editing and distributing configurations are made easy with configuration files containing your infrastructure specifications. Undocumented configuration changes can be avoided with configuration management. 

Q29. What is a hybrid cloud?

Answers. A hybrid cloud is a computing environment that amalgamates an on-premises data center (or a private cloud) and a public cloud to facilitate the sharing of applications and data between them. There are dozens of benefits of a hybrid cloud and that is probably why so many businesses are adopting it. 

When a business experiences heightened processing and computing demand that the on-premises data centers cannot take care of, they can switch to the cloud instantly. 

Q30. How do Kubernetes containers communicate with one another in AWS DevOps?

Answers. Pod is a simple entity that is used to map between containers in Kubernetes. Each of these pods can consist of one or more containers at a time. These pods have a flat network hierarchy that facilitates straightforward communication between these pods in the overlay network. 

Conclusion

The topic of DevOps is never-ending. There are hundreds of questions that the hiring manager can ask you during your interview. But if we are being honest, we don’t even need to mention all of them here. Why? Because once you complete your DevOps training online from a good institute, you will be able to get all the answers by yourself. 

Of course, it is extremely important you pick the right institute to learn from and give it your all when it comes to preparing for the interview. 

DevOps Interview Questions FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q1. Do DevOps engineers code from scratch?

Ans. DevOps engineers are hardly ever required to code from scratch. However, it is still essential for them to have a good understanding of top software development languages. They should have working knowledge about development tools used to create new code and even update existing code. 

Q2. Who is eligible to learn DevOps?

Ans. To become a DevOps engineer, one must at least have a relevant degree in computer engineering, computer science, etc. Additionally, a certification is important. There are a plethora of certifications in the market. Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer Expert and Amazon Web Services Certified DevOps Engineer are considered good ones. 

Q3. How long does it take to become a DevOps Engineer?

Ans. It usually takes somewhere around six months to become a DevOps Engineer. Even after that, it is a field where you will have to learn constantly and grow as technology and tools advance. 

Q4. What are the four categories of DevOps goals?

Ans. DevOps goals are often divided into four categories together called CAMS.

• Culture
• Automation
• Measurement 
• sharing

Q5. Which is the most popular language for  DevOps?

Ans. Python has turned out to be the most popular and widely used language for DevOps.

The post 30 Top DevOps Interview Questions and Answers appeared first on IgmGuru - Online Training Courses with Certificates.