LPI DevOps Tools Engineer study plan

LPI DevOps Tools Engineer · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 7 hours per week

Week 1

Software Engineering & Application Container

Set up a local lab with Git, a CI runner, and a container runtime, and verify each toolchain end to end
Create a Git repository with a branching model, protected main branch, and conventional commit messages
Write a parameterized CI pipeline that builds, tests, and publishes a container image artifact
Explain and demonstrate the difference between build-time layers and runtime configuration for one sample app

A public or local Git repo whose CI pipeline builds and pushes a tagged multi-stage image, plus a README documenting the branch and release flow

Week 2

Refactor a sample app into a minimal multi-stage Dockerfile and justify each layer
Add automated unit tests to the pipeline and fail the build on coverage regression
Implement semantic versioning tags and an automated changelog step in CI
Diagnose and fix at least three deliberately broken pipeline runs

A pipeline run history showing a passing build, a failing test gate, and a tagged release, with a short written post-mortem of each failure

Week 3

Author a Compose file that runs the app with a database, persistent volume, and healthcheck
Persist data across container recreation and verify it survives a full teardown
Configure container networking so services resolve by name and only one port is published
Harden the image by running as a non-root user with a read-only root filesystem

A single Compose stack that starts cleanly from scratch, survives restart, and passes a scripted smoke test

Week 4

Build a local single-node Kubernetes cluster and confirm kubectl context switching
Deploy the week-3 app as a Deployment with ConfigMap, Secret, and Service
Expose the app and verify rolling updates and rollbacks with zero downtime
Compare Compose and Kubernetes manifests for the same app and list the operational differences

A manifest set that deploys, updates, and rolls back the app on a local cluster, with a one-page comparison note

Week 5

Write liveness, readiness, and startup probes tuned to a real app and prove each behaves correctly
Attach a PersistentVolumeClaim and confirm data survives pod deletion
Configure resource requests and limits and observe scheduling and eviction behavior
Use namespaces and labels to isolate two environments in one cluster

A Helm chart or Kustomize overlay that deploys the app into two namespaces with environment-specific config and working probes

Week 6

Define RBAC roles and bindings that grant least privilege to a CI service account
Store secrets outside manifests and inject them at runtime
Collect application and cluster logs into one queryable place
Expose basic metrics and build one dashboard with an alert rule

A cluster where a restricted service account can deploy only to its namespace, with a dashboard and one firing alert demonstrated

Week 7

Scan images for vulnerabilities in CI and block builds above a severity threshold
Add static analysis and dependency checks to the pipeline with a documented policy
Trace one request across service boundaries and identify a latency bottleneck
Write an incident runbook covering detection, triage, rollback, and communication

A security-gated pipeline plus a runbook, with evidence of one blocked build and one traced slow request

Week 8

Complete two timed full-length practice sets and score each domain separately
Rework every missed objective into a corrected lab exercise
Rebuild the whole stack from an empty repo to a running, monitored deployment without notes
Write a one-page cheat sheet of commands and concepts you repeatedly got wrong

A scored practice log with per-domain breakdown, a from-scratch rebuild completed inside 90 minutes, and a final cheat sheet

Week 2: CI pipeline builds, tests, and tags a container image automatically, and you can explain every Dockerfile layer

Week 4: The same app runs under Compose and on a local Kubernetes cluster, and you can articulate the trade-offs

Week 6: A namespace-scoped service account deploys the app, secrets are injected at runtime, and logs and metrics are queryable

Week 8: Practice scores are at or above 70 percent in every domain, and a from-scratch rebuild is completed without reference material