--- title: "DevOps Basics" lang: "en" author: "Mohammad Abu Mattar" canonical: https://mkabumattar.com/post/devops-basics --- [Home](/)›[Glossary](/glossary)›[All Categories](/glossary/categories)›[Devops](/glossary/categories/devops) Glossary [Prev in DevopsContainers & Kubernetes](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) # DevOps Basics Essential terms every DevOps and cloud engineer should know. 33 TermsPublished: 01 Apr 2026 [Devops](/glossary/categories/devops)[#basics](/glossary/tags/basics)[#ci-cd](/glossary/tags/ci-cd)[#kubernetes](/glossary/tags/kubernetes)[#docker](/glossary/tags/docker)[#terraform](/glossary/tags/terraform) [Markdown for AI(opens in a new tab)](/post/devops-basics/index.md "Open the plain-Markdown version of this page, for pasting into an AI tool") [Facebook](https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics "Share on Facebook")[Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?text=DevOps%20Basics&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics "Share on Twitter")[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics&title=DevOps%20Basics&summary=Essential%20terms%20every%20DevOps%20and%20cloud%20engineer%20should%20know.&source=https://mkabumattar.com "Share on LinkedIn")[WhatsApp](https://wa.me/?text=DevOps%20Basics%20https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics "Share on WhatsApp")[Telegram](https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics&text=DevOps%20Basics "Share on Telegram")[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics&title=DevOps%20Basics "Share on Reddit")[Hacker News](http://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics&t=DevOps%20Basics "Share on Hacker News")[Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fdevops-basics&media=&description=Essential%20terms%20every%20DevOps%20and%20cloud%20engineer%20should%20know. "Share on Pinterest")[Email]() This glossary covers foundational terms used in DevOps and cloud engineering, spanning containerization, orchestration, infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and deployment strategies. Series [DevOps & Infrastructure as Code](/series/devops--infrastructure-as-code)1/1 All posts in this series (1) Glossary1 1. [DevOps BasicsYou are here](/glossary/post/devops-basics) ### Architecture - [Microservices](#term-microservices) ### Automation - [CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery)](#term-ci-cd--continuous-integration---continuous-delivery-) - [Pipeline](#term-pipeline) - [GitOps](#term-gitops) - [Version Control](#term-version-control) - [Artifact](#term-artifact) ### Cloud - [Cloud Provider](#term-cloud-provider) - [AWS (Amazon Web Services)](#term-aws--amazon-web-services-) ### Configuration - [Environment Variable](#term-environment-variable) ### Containerization - [Container](#term-container) - [Docker](#term-docker) - [Dockerfile](#term-dockerfile) - [Docker Image](#term-docker-image) - [Container Registry](#term-container-registry) ### Deployment Strategies - [Blue/Green Deployment](#term-blue-green-deployment) - [Canary Deployment](#term-canary-deployment) - [Rollback](#term-rollback) ### Infrastructure - [Infrastructure as Code (IaC)](#term-infrastructure-as-code--iac-) - [Terraform](#term-terraform) - [Ansible](#term-ansible) ### Networking - [Load Balancer](#term-load-balancer) ### Observability - [Monitoring](#term-monitoring) - [Logging](#term-logging) - [Alerting](#term-alerting) ### Orchestration - [Kubernetes (K8s)](#term-kubernetes--k8s-) - [Pod](#term-pod) - [Deployment](#term-deployment) - [Service (Kubernetes)](#term-service--kubernetes-) - [Namespace](#term-namespace) - [Ingress](#term-ingress) - [Helm](#term-helm) ### Reliability - [SLA (Service Level Agreement)](#term-sla--service-level-agreement-) ### Security - [Secret Management](#term-secret-management) No terms found Try adjusting your search query ## Architecture 1 ### Microservices An architectural style that structures an application as a collection of small, independently deployable services, each responsible for a specific business function. #### Example Splitting a monolithic e-commerce app into separate services for orders, payments, and inventory. #### Code Snippet ``` 1# Each service runs in its own container and communicates via HTTP or message queues ``` ## Automation 5 ### CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery) A set of practices that automate the building, testing, and deployment of applications, enabling teams to release software faster and more reliably. #### Example A GitHub Actions workflow that runs tests on every pull request and deploys on merge to main. #### Code Snippet ``` 1on: [push] jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest ``` ### Pipeline An automated sequence of steps that takes source code from version control through build, test, and deployment stages. #### Example A Jenkins pipeline that builds a Docker image, runs unit tests, and pushes to a registry. #### Code Snippet ``` 1pipeline { stages { stage("Build") { steps { sh "docker build ." } } } } ``` ### GitOps An operational framework that applies DevOps best practices like version control, collaboration, and CI/CD to infrastructure automation, using Git as the single source of truth. #### Example Using ArgoCD to sync Kubernetes manifests stored in a Git repository to a live cluster. #### Code Snippet ``` 1argocd app create my-app --repo https://github.com/org/repo --path k8s/ ``` ### Version Control A system that records changes to files over time so you can recall specific versions later, enabling collaboration and change tracking across a team. #### Example Using Git to track changes to application code and infrastructure configurations. #### Code Snippet ``` 1git commit -m "feat: add Kubernetes deployment manifest" ``` ### Artifact Any file produced during a CI/CD pipeline (such as a compiled binary, Docker image, or test report) that is stored and used in subsequent pipeline stages. #### Example A JAR file produced by a Maven build step and archived for deployment. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v33 with:4 name: build-output5 path: ./dist6``` ``` ## Cloud 2 ### Cloud Provider A company that offers on-demand computing resources and services over the internet, including compute, storage, networking, and managed services. #### Example AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure are the three largest cloud providers. #### Code Snippet ``` 1aws ec2 describe-instances --region us-east-1 ``` ### AWS (Amazon Web Services) Amazon's cloud platform offering over 200 services including compute (EC2), storage (S3), databases (RDS), and container orchestration (EKS). #### Example Hosting a static website using an S3 bucket with CloudFront as a CDN. #### Code Snippet ``` 1aws s3 sync ./dist s3://my-bucket --delete ``` ## Configuration 1 ### Environment Variable A dynamic named value that can affect the way running processes behave, commonly used to store configuration settings and secrets outside of source code. #### Example Storing a database connection string as an environment variable rather than hardcoding it. #### Code Snippet ``` 1export DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb ``` ## Containerization 5 ### Container A lightweight, standalone, executable package that includes everything needed to run a piece of software: code, runtime, libraries, and settings. #### Example Running an Nginx web server inside a Docker container. #### Code Snippet ``` 1docker run -d -p 80:80 nginx ``` ### Docker An open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications inside containers, enabling consistent environments across development and production. #### Example Building a custom application image using a Dockerfile. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```dockerfile2FROM node:183WORKDIR /app4COPY . .5RUN npm install6CMD ["node", "index.js"]7``` ``` ### Dockerfile A text file containing a set of instructions used by Docker to automatically build a container image. #### Example A Dockerfile that sets up a Python Flask application. #### Code Snippet ``` 1FROM python:3.112COPY requirements.txt .3RUN pip install -r requirements.txt ``` ### Docker Image A read-only template used to create Docker containers. Images are built from a Dockerfile and stored in a container registry. #### Example Pulling the official PostgreSQL image from Docker Hub. #### Code Snippet ``` 1docker pull postgres:15 ``` ### Container Registry A storage and distribution system for Docker images, allowing teams to push and pull images for use in deployments. #### Example Pushing a built image to Amazon ECR or Docker Hub. #### Code Snippet ``` 1docker push myrepo/myapp:latest ``` ## Deployment Strategies 3 ### Blue/Green Deployment A release strategy that runs two identical production environments (blue and green) simultaneously, routing traffic to the new version only after it passes validation. #### Example Deploying v2 to the green environment while v1 is live on blue, then switching the load balancer. #### Code Snippet ``` 1# Switch traffic by updating the load balancer target group to the green environment ``` ### Canary Deployment A deployment technique that gradually rolls out a new version to a small subset of users before releasing it to everyone, reducing the risk of widespread failures. #### Example Routing 5% of traffic to a new service version and monitoring error rates before a full rollout. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2spec:3 strategy:4 type: RollingUpdate5 rollingUpdate:6 maxSurge: 17 maxUnavailable: 08``` ``` ### Rollback The process of reverting an application or infrastructure to a previous stable state after a failed or problematic deployment. #### Example Reverting a Kubernetes deployment to the previous revision after a production error. #### Code Snippet ``` 1kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app ``` ## Infrastructure 3 ### Infrastructure as Code (IaC) The practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files rather than manual processes or interactive tools. #### Example Defining an AWS VPC and subnets in a Terraform configuration file. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```hcl2resource "aws_vpc" "main" {3 cidr_block = "10.0.0.0/16"4}5``` ``` ### Terraform An open-source IaC tool by HashiCorp that lets you define cloud and on-prem resources in human-readable configuration files that can be versioned and shared. #### Example Provisioning an EC2 instance on AWS using a Terraform resource block. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```hcl2resource "aws_instance" "web" {3 ami = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"4 instance_type = "t2.micro"5}6``` ``` ### Ansible An open-source automation tool used for configuration management, application deployment, and task automation using human-readable YAML playbooks. #### Example Installing and starting Nginx on a remote server using an Ansible playbook. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2- name: Install nginx3 apt:4 name: nginx5 state: present6``` ``` ## Networking 1 ### Load Balancer A device or service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple backend servers, so no single server is a bottleneck or a single point of failure. #### Example An AWS ALB distributing HTTPS traffic across three EC2 instances running the same application. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```hcl2resource "aws_lb" "main" {3 load_balancer_type = "application"4}5``` ``` ## Observability 3 ### Monitoring The practice of continuously collecting, tracking, and analyzing metrics from systems and applications to detect issues and understand performance. #### Example Using Prometheus to scrape CPU and memory metrics from Kubernetes nodes. #### Code Snippet ``` 1kubectl top nodes ``` ### Logging The process of recording events, errors, and informational messages generated by applications and infrastructure to support debugging and auditing. #### Example Aggregating logs from all containers in a cluster into a central Elasticsearch index. #### Code Snippet ``` 1kubectl logs -f deployment/my-app --all-containers=true ``` ### Alerting A mechanism that automatically notifies engineers when monitored metrics exceed defined thresholds or when critical events occur in a system. #### Example A Grafana alert that sends a Slack notification when pod CPU usage exceeds 80%. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2alert: HighCPU3expr: container_cpu_usage_seconds_total > 0.84for: 5m5``` ``` ## Orchestration 7 ### Kubernetes (K8s) An open-source container orchestration platform that automates deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications across a cluster of machines. #### Example Deploying a web application across three replicas using a Kubernetes Deployment. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2apiVersion: apps/v13kind: Deployment4metadata:5 name: my-app6spec:7 replicas: 38``` ``` ### Pod The smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes, consisting of one or more containers that share the same network namespace and storage. #### Example A pod running a single Nginx container. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2apiVersion: v13kind: Pod4metadata:5 name: nginx6spec:7 containers:8 - name: nginx9 image: nginx10``` ``` ### Deployment A Kubernetes resource that declaratively manages a set of identical pods, handling rollouts and rollbacks automatically. #### Example Updating an application to a new image version using a rolling update strategy. #### Code Snippet ``` 1kubectl set image deployment/my-app my-app=myrepo/myapp:v2 ``` ### Service (Kubernetes) A Kubernetes abstraction that defines a logical set of pods and a policy to access them, providing stable networking and load balancing. #### Example Exposing a backend deployment on port 80 via a ClusterIP Service. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2kind: Service3spec:4 selector:5 app: backend6 ports:7 - port: 808``` ``` ### Namespace A Kubernetes mechanism that partitions cluster resources between multiple users or teams, providing scope for names and resource isolation. #### Example Creating separate namespaces for staging and production environments. #### Code Snippet ``` 1kubectl create namespace production ``` ### Ingress A Kubernetes API object that manages external HTTP/HTTPS access to services within a cluster, typically providing routing rules and TLS termination. #### Example Routing traffic to different services based on URL path using an Nginx Ingress controller. #### Code Snippet ``` 1```yaml2kind: Ingress3spec:4 rules:5 - host: app.example.com6``` ``` ### Helm A package manager for Kubernetes that allows you to define, install, and upgrade complex Kubernetes applications using reusable charts. #### Example Installing a Prometheus monitoring stack with a single Helm command. #### Code Snippet ``` 1helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack ``` ## Reliability 1 ### SLA (Service Level Agreement) A formal commitment between a service provider and a customer that defines the expected level of service, including uptime guarantees and response times. #### Example An AWS SLA guaranteeing 99.99% uptime for EC2 instances in a given region. #### Code Snippet ``` 1# SLA is a business contract, not a code construct ``` ## Security 1 ### Secret Management The practice of securely storing, accessing, and auditing sensitive information such as API keys, passwords, and certificates used by applications and pipelines. #### Example Storing database credentials in AWS Secrets Manager and injecting them into pods at runtime. #### Code Snippet ``` 1aws secretsmanager get-secret-value --secret-id prod/db/password ``` ## Comments Was this useful? ## You might also enjoy More posts on similar topics [![Containers & Kubernetes](/_astro/hero.DB88aS20_vaQF6.webp)](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) ## [Containers & Kubernetes](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) - 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