Top 50 DevOps Interview Questions with Answers

Here are the top 50 DevOps interview questions with answers:

1. What is DevOps?

Ans: DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten the systems development life cycle while delivering high-quality software.

2. What are the key principles of DevOps?

Ans: The key principles of DevOps include:

• Culture: DevOps is about creating a culture of collaboration and communication between Dev and Ops teams.
• Automation: DevOps relies heavily on automation to streamline processes and reduce manual errors.
• Continuous delivery: DevOps teams release software changes continuously and frequently to ensure that they are always working on the latest version.
• Monitoring: DevOps teams use monitoring tools to track the performance of their systems and identify any problems early on.
• Agility: DevOps teams are able to adapt quickly to change and respond to customer needs in a timely manner.

3. What are the benefits of DevOps?

Ans: The benefits of DevOps include:

• Increased speed and agility: DevOps teams can release software changes more frequently and with fewer errors.
• Improved quality: DevOps teams can continuously monitor their systems and identify problems early on.
• Reduced costs: DevOps can help to reduce the cost of software development and operations.
• Increased customer satisfaction: DevOps teams can deliver software that meets the needs of customers more quickly and with fewer problems.

4. What are the challenges of DevOps?

Ans: The challenges of DevOps include:

• Culture change: DevOps requires a cultural shift in the way that Dev and Ops teams work together.
• Technical skills: DevOps requires a deep understanding of both software development and IT operations.
• Tools: There are a number of DevOps tools available, but it can be difficult to choose the right ones for your organization.
• Security: DevOps can introduce new security risks, so it is important to have a strong security culture in place.

5. What are the most popular DevOps tools?

Ans: The most popular DevOps tools include:

• Version control systems: Git, Subversion, Mercurial
• Continuous integration (CI) tools: Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity
• Continuous delivery (CD) tools: Docker, Kubernetes, Ansible
• Configuration management tools: Chef, Puppet, SaltStack
• Monitoring tools: Nagios, Prometheus, Grafana

6. What is the difference between Agile and DevOps?

Ans: Agile and DevOps are both approaches to software development that focus on delivering value to customers quickly and efficiently. However, there are some key differences between the two approaches.

• Agile is a methodology: Agile is a set of principles and practices that guide software development. DevOps is a broader term that encompasses the entire software development lifecycle, from development to operations.
• Agile is focused on individuals and interactions: Agile emphasizes the importance of communication and collaboration between team members. DevOps also emphasizes collaboration, but it also focuses on the automation of processes and the continuous delivery of software.
• Agile is incremental: Agile projects are delivered in increments, or sprints. DevOps teams release software changes continuously.

7. What is the role of a DevOps engineer?

Ans: A DevOps engineer is a role that combines the skills of a software developer and a system administrator. DevOps engineers are responsible for automating the software development and deployment process, monitoring the performance of systems, and responding to incidents.

8. What are some of the tasks that a DevOps engineer might perform?

Ans: Some of the tasks that a DevOps engineer might perform include:

• Setting up and configuring version control systems
• Automating the build and deployment process
• Configuring and monitoring infrastructure
• Responding to incidents
• Troubleshooting problems
• Working with other teams to improve the software development process

09. What are some of the skills that a DevOps engineer should have?

Ans: Some of the skills that a DevOps engineer should have include:

• Strong programming skills
• Experience with version control systems
• Experience with cloud computing technologies
• Experience with automation tools
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

10. What are some of the certifications that a DevOps engineer can get?

Ans: Some of the certifications that a DevOps engineer can get include:

• Certified DevOps Engineer – Foundation Level (CDevOps-FL)
• Certified DevOps Engineer – Expert Level (CDevOps-EL)
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• Certified Cloud DevOps Engineer (CCDE)
• Certified Cloud Solution Architect – Professional (CCSA-P)

11. Explain Blue-Green Deployment.

Ans: Blue-Green Deployment involves maintaining two identical environments: one for production (blue) and one for staging/testing (green). You switch traffic from one to the other to perform a deployment without downtime.

12. What is a microservices architecture?

Ans: Microservices architecture is an approach where a complex application is built as a collection of small, loosely coupled services that communicate over the network.

13. What is Jenkins?

Ans: Jenkins is an open-source automation server used for continuous integration and continuous delivery.

14. How does a Load Balancer work?

Ans: A Load Balancer distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers to ensure efficient utilization and prevent overload.

15. What is monitoring in DevOps?

Ans: Monitoring involves tracking the performance and availability of applications and infrastructure to identify issues and ensure optimal functioning.

16. Explain the concept of “Infrastructure as Code” (IaC).

Ans: IaC is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure using code and automation tools, making infrastructure setup reproducible and version-controlled.

17. What is the role of configuration management tools in DevOps?

Ans: Configuration management tools help automate the management of software configurations, ensuring consistency across different environments.

18. Describe the concept of “Immutable Infrastructure.”

Ans: Immutable Infrastructure is an approach where infrastructure components are never modified after they are deployed; instead, they are replaced with new instances when changes are needed.

19. How can you ensure security in a DevOps environment?

Ans: Security can be ensured through code reviews, vulnerability scanning, access controls, and automated security testing integrated into the CI/CD pipeline.

20. What is the “Three-Way Handshake” in networking?

Ans: The Three-Way Handshake is a three-step process (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK) used to establish a reliable connection between a client and a server in a TCP/IP network.

20. What is a Puppet Module?

Ans: A Puppet Module is a set of manifests and data, such as files, templates, and facts, that are organized in a certain directory structure.

21. What role do Dockers play in DevOps?

Ans: Dockers are used in DevOps to design, deploy, and run container-based applications. Developers may use Dockers to generate all components of containers, store them in libraries or other dependencies, and then distribute them out as a single package.

22. What is the difference between Git rebase and Git merge?

Ans: Git rebase differs from Git merge in that the feature branch is migrated to the master branch’s finishing point in Git rebase. In the case of Git merge, however, the merging creates a new commit in the history, which does not modify the history but does affect the master branch.

23. Is it possible to copy or transfer Jenkins from one server to another?

Ans: Yes, Jenkins may be moved or copied from one server to another. The Jenkins jobs directory, for example, maybe copied from the old server to the new server. By copying in the correct job directory, an installation may be relocated from one installation to another.

24). What distinguishes the Puppet Module from the Puppet Manifest?

Ans: The .pp extension is used by Puppet Manifests. They’re Puppet programs made out of the Puppet Code. Puppet Modules, on the other hand, collect numerous types of Puppet Manifests that may be used to separate Puppet code.

25. What makes Ansible and Puppet so different?

Ans: DevOps experts nowadays are responsible for managing and controlling a large number of servers, necessitating an exponential increase in computing as well as new technologies such as virtualization and cloud computing. As a result, Puppet and Ansible are the tools used to manage a huge number of servers.

26. Define git Stash

Ans: It is used to temporarily save changes in the working directory. This provides a clean working environment for developers. They may use the git procedure to merge the modifications. The changes in the tracked files are merged in the working directory when this command is performed. In the git directory, the stash command can be used several times.

27. What types of web applications may be launched using Azure?

Ans: The web apps that can be launched using Azure are PHP, WCF, and ASP.NET.

28. Microservices are an essential component of DevOps. Which two prominent Java development frameworks for constructing microservices can you name?

Ans: Microservices may be built with a variety of Java frameworks. However, Eclipse MicroProfile and Spring Boot stand out as the two most popular Java development frameworks for building microservices in DevOps.

29. What’s the difference between fetch and pull in Git?

Ans: Git pull is a typical command that updates the target branch with any new commits from a branch of the central repository. On the other hand, Git fetch fetches any new commits from only the specified branch and puts them in a new local repository brand.

30. What is Azure DevOps Release?

Ans: Releases, also known as Release Pipelines, allow you to provide software to clients quickly while reducing risk. Release pipelines will enable you to fully automate the testing and distribution of your software at several phases before it is released to the public. Approvals or on-demand deployments can be used to govern these automated processes.

31. What is the meaning of forks?

Ans: Forks allow you to separate sensitive, risky, or innovative changes from the source codebase. A fork creates a new copy of the code repository, including branches, commits, and files. A fork seems to be a cloned repository that has been pushed to a new, empty repository. Once you’ve established a fork, you can’t exchange fork files or branches with the original codebase unless you use a pull request.

32. What are the main areas where DevOps tools are used?

Ans: DevOps technologies have a stronghold in planning, code management, development and testing, and release management. In the DevOps ecosystem, DevOps technologies also contain functionality for deployment and monitoring activities.

33. What are some of the most widely used DevOps technologies for continuous integration and deployment?

Ans: Jenkins, GitLab CI, TeamCity, Bamboo, Codeship, CircleCI, and Travis CI are the most well-known DevOps tools for continuous integration. Azure Pipelines for Deployment, Jenkins, Bamboo, DeployBot, Shippable, ElectricFlow, and TeamCity are the most popular DevOps technologies for continuous deployment.

34. Describe IaC in detail.

Ans: Infrastructure as Code is abbreviated as IaC. It enables improved and scalable infrastructure setup by managing and tracking infrastructure settings in files. It guarantees that changes are tracked transparently using the versioning system.

35. What exactly is a chef?

Ans: Chef is a powerful platform for automating the transformation of infrastructure into code, and it also aids in the creation of scripts for the automation of IT activities.

36. What role does QA testing play in DevOps?

Ans: Before submitting the codes to the codebase, QA testing functions as a bridge between the developers and operations by completing many tests in each process or step. They actively test each phase and fix the code as needed along the process.

37. What exactly do you mean by configuration drift?

Ans: Configuration drift is when a set of servers or virtual machines running on an identical server grow progressively dissimilar over time due to updates or manual modifications to each node.

38. In DevOps, what does “shift leave” mean?

Ans: In DevOps, the term “shift left” refers to authorizing application testing at an earlier stage, before the DevOps process cycle begins.

39. Can you describe the role of Git branching strategies?

Ans: You can use Git branching in the following scenarios:

• In which condition should a new branch be created?
• From which of the previous branch will the new branch be generated?
• When will the newly established branch’s updates be merged?
• What should be the target branch for the modifications to be merged into?

40. What exactly is Docker Swarm?

Ans: A Docker swarm is a collection of virtual or physical computers on which Docker apps are executing in a cluster.

41. What are the key differences between git fetch and git pull?

Ans: Git fetch and git pull are two important commands in GitHub that are often confused with each other. Git fetch retrieves the latest data from the remote repository, but without integrating this data into the working branches. Git pull, on the other hand, retrieves and updates local branches with the new information from their corresponding remote branches.

42. What are the key differences between git merge and git rebase?

Ans: Git merge and git rebase are two commands in GitHub used to integrate changes from one branch into another. However, they integrate these changes in different ways.

A git merge creates a new commit from the head branch, whereas a git rebase rewrites the changes of one branch onto another without creating a new commit.

43. What are the key differences between containerization and virtualization?

Ans: Containerization and virtualization are the two most popular methods for hosting applications in a computer system.

Virtualization allows developers to run multiple operating systems on the hardware of a single physical server. Containerization enables developers to deploy multiple applications under the same operating system on a single virtual machine or server.

44. How is regression testing implemented?

Ans: Regression testing assesses how an application behaves after a new change has been implemented. It should be performed between integration testing and user testing.

Regression testing can be implemented by checking the original code after new changes have been made or by evaluating how updates affect performance. It can also be automated.

45. What are the key differences between cloud and on-premises services in DevOps?

Ans: Cloud and on-premises services are the two main data hosting pathways available to DevOps teams. With on-premises services, data is stored on in-house servers. With cloud services, data is hosted remotely by a third-party provider.

There are strengths and weaknesses to both strategies, which can be summarized as:

• Cloud services offer less security control over data and infrastructure, but they scale better, offer extra services, and typically incur lower costs
• On-premises services come with large maintenance costs and unique security threats, but they provide greater control and customization scope

46. What is load balancing?

Ans: Load balancing is the process of evenly distributing incoming network traffic across a group of backend servers. It occurs during the deployment phase of the DevOps lifecycle and is usually automated by developers.

47. How can the DevOps troubleshooting process be optimized?

Ans: Every DevOps team should have an established troubleshooting framework. Some of the best practices for troubleshooting are to:

• Set troubleshooting responsibilities within the team
• Gather relevant information including metrics, logs, and errors
• Hypothesize potential causes and tick them off one by one
• Closely monitor behavior after the issue has been fixed
• Report on issue resolution

48. What are the three main types of cloud computing services?

Ans: The three main types of cloud services are:

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), which provides internet-based access to storage and computing power, while the developer is responsible for managing everything else
• Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS), which helps developers build web applications without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure, such as networks, servers, and storage
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which hosts all components of the software application, including servers, storage, data, and the application itself

49. What is the difference between monitoring and observability?

Ans: Monitoring is a process of tracking and data collection that helps DevOps teams better understand the current state of their systems. Observability, on the other hand, uses these findings to diagnose problems and actively resolve them through debugging.

50. What are the key differences between centralized version control and distributed version control?

Ans: With centralized version control, the server’s remote repository provides the latest code to client machines. With decentralized, or distributed, version control, the complete codebase is made available on each computer’s own local repository.