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Top 21 DevOps Interview Questions

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DevOps interview questions can be tricky and involve some prior preparation. One of the most profitable careers in recent times, DevOps presents myriad opportunities with jobs skyrocketing over the last few years. 

According to revenue impact company MarketsandMarkets, the DevOps industry is expected to grow from USD 2.90 billion in 2017 to USD 10.31 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 24.7% during the forecast period.

An increasing need for fast application delivery with high quality is expected to result in huge demand for DevOps solutions and services among enterprises. Whether you are a DevOps engineer or thinking of getting into DevOps – the future is yours. 

Here are some of the most frequently asked DevOps interview questions along with the possible responses that you can give to create a remarkable first impression and break into the up-and-coming industry. 

DevOps Interview Questions and Answers

1. What are the differences between DevOps and Agile?

Even though this seems like one of the more easier DevOps interview questions, you need to have specific key points in mind. Here are the primary differences between DevOps and Agile.

Features

DevOps

Agile

Agility

Present in both development & operations

Present only in Development

Processes

Involves processes such as CI, CD, and CT.

Involves practices such as Agile Scrum, Agile Kanban, etc.

Focus Area

Timeliness & quality have equal priority

Timeliness is the main priority

Source(s) of Feedback

Feedback provided by self-monitoring tools

Feedback from customers

Scope of Work

Agility & need for Automation

Agility only

2. What is the need for DevOps?

The response to this DevOps interview question should start with an explanation of the general market trends. Companies are trying to see if small features can be quickly transported to their customers as this has several advantages like quick feedback from customers and better quality of software, which in turn leads to high customer satisfaction.

To achieve this, companies need to increase deployment frequency, a lower failure rate of new releases, shorten the lead time between fixes, and speed-up mean time to recovery in the event of a new release crashing. 

DevOps helps fulfill all these requirements and provides smooth software delivery. Etsy, Google, and Amazon are examples of some companies that have adopted DevOps to achieve levels of performance that were unimaginable a couple of years back.

These billion-dollar enterprises execute thousands of code deployments per day while delivering world-class stability, reliability, and security.

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3. What the key aspects or principles behind DevOps?

To answer DevOps interview questions, you need to understand and revise its fundamental basics. Given below are the key aspects or principle behind DevOps:

  • infrastructure as a code
  • continuous-integration
  • continuous deployment
  • automation
  • continuous monitoring
  • security

4. Explain a few prerequisites that are useful for DevOps implementation.

DevOps interview questions are framed in a manner that they test your knowledge. It is important to give precise and correct answers. 

The following are a few important prerequisites that are useful for DevOps implementation:

  • commitment at the senior level in an organization
  • need for change to be communicated across the organization
  • version control software
  • automated tools for compliance to process
  • automated-testing
  • automated deployment

5. Which are the top DevOps tools? Which tools have you worked on?

This is a frequently asked DevOps interview question. To give a correct response, refer to our answer given below.

The DevOps model relies on effective tooling to provide rapid and reliable deployment. Given below are the most popular DevOps tools:

  • Jira
  • GIT/SVN
  • Bitbucket
  • Jenkins
  • Bamboo
  • SonarQube
  • Artifactory/Nexus
  • Docker
  • Chef/Puppet /Ansible
  • IBM Urbancode Deploy/CA-RA
  • Nagios/Splunk

You can add more tools to this list, but make sure you include the ones mentioned herein your answer.

The second part of this DevOps interview question has two possible answers:

(i) If you have experience with all the aforementioned tools then you can say that you have worked on them to develop high-quality software and deploy the software easily, frequently and reliably.

(ii) In case you have experience working only on some, then mention those tools and give an overview of the remaining.

4. How do all these tools work together?

To answer DevOps interview questions such as this one, first frame a clear answer in your mind and then respond.

Given below is a generic logical flow where everything gets automated for seamless delivery. This flow may vary from one organization to another.

Stage 1

Developers create code and source code is managed via version control tools like GIT.

Stage 2

Transmission of code to the GIT repository. 

Stage 3

Jenkins pulls code from the repository using the GIT plugin and builds it using tools like Ant or Maven.

Stage 4

Deploying of configuration management tools like Puppet and provision of the testing environment. 

Stage 5

Jenkins releases code on the test environment. Testing is done using tools like Selenium.

Stage 6

Once the code is tested, Jenkins sends it for deployment on the production server, which is provisioned & maintained by tools like Puppet.

Stage 7

After deployment, it is continuously monitored by tools like Nagios.

Stage 8

Docker containers provide a testing environment to test the build features.

Devops interview questions
Source – medium

7. What is Version Control System?

Version Control System (VCS) is a software that helps developers to work together and maintain a complete history of their work.

Some features of VCS are as follows:

  • Allows developers to work simultaneously
  • Does not allow overwriting on each other’s changes
  • Maintains the history of every version

8. What are some technical challenges with Selenium?

DevOps interview questions will test your knowledge of several tools. Therefore, you must know the inside out of different tools.

Given below are some technical challenges with Selenium.

  • It supports only web-based applications.
  • It does not support the Bitmap comparison.
  • No vendor support is available for Selenium compared to commercial tools like HP UFT.
  • As there is no object repository concept, the maintainability of objects becomes very complex.
Devops interview questions
Source – upnetix

9. What are the advantages of DevOps?

To answer this DevOps interview question, you can use your experience. In case you don’t have any experience, you can mention the following advantages:

Technical benefits –

  • continuous software delivery
  • fewer complex problems to fix
  • faster resolution of problems

Business benefits –

  • faster delivery of features
  • stable operating environment
  • more time available to add value (rather than maintenance)

10. What does DevOps help us achieve?

Provide a small brief about the basics of DevOps and then elaborate its positive aspects to answer this DevOps interview question

DevOps helps us achieve changes in production as swiftly and smoothly as possible while minimizing risks in software quality assurance and compliance. Other positive effects of DevOps include clearer communication and better working relationship between teams. Both the operations team and development team collaborate to deliver good quality software which in turn leads to higher customer satisfaction.

11. Explain with a use case where DevOps can be used in industry/real life.

Numerous companies use DevOps. To answer this DevOps interview question, you can mention a case you are familiar with  or refer to the example given below:

Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies supporting independent creators. It faced several issues due to slow website updates that frequently caused crashes. This adversely affected millions of users who sold their goods on the online sales & marketing platform.

It transitioned from a waterfall model that produced four-hour full-site deployments twice weekly to a more agile approach with the help of a new technical management team. Today, it has a fully automated deployment pipeline. Its continuous delivery practices have reportedly resulted in more than 50 deployments per day with minimal disruptions.

12. What are the anti-patterns of DevOps?

If a pattern adopted by others does not work for your organization and you continue to blindly follow it, you are essentially adopting an anti-pattern. To help you answer this DevOps interview question, given below is a list of a few anti-patterns.

  • DevOps is a process
  • DevOps is merely merging development and operations teams
  • Agile and DevOps are the same
  • DevOps is all about the tools
  • DevOps is only about automation
  • DevOps and security are foes
  • DevOps isn’t feasible with legacy systems

13. What is configuration management in terms of infrastructure? Mention a few popular tools used.

Configuration management consists of practices and the various tools involved to automate the delivery and infrastructure operations. It includes keeping the server ready for application deployment once the application is developed. To answer the second part of this DevOps interview question, mention some popular tools used in this space to automate the tasks of configuration management such as Chef, Puppet, and Ansible.

14. Which scripting tools are used in DevOps?

Python and Ruby are scripting tools used in DevOps.

15. Name three important DevOps KPIs.

To help you answer this DevOps interview question, three common DevOps KPIs are mentioned below: 

  • meantime to failure recovery
  • deployment frequency
  • percentage of failed deployments

16. Have you been involved in DevOps development of a cloud-based platform? If yes, which cloud computing platform?

You can answer this DevOps interview question based on whether or not you have been involved in DevOps development of a cloud-based platform. If you have, provide the following examples of popular cloud computing platforms:

  • AWS – Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud

17. What are the types of HTTP requests?

Give below are types of HTTP requests:

  • GET
  • HEAD
  • PUTT
  • POST
  • PATCH
  • DELETE
  • TRACE
  • CONNECT
  • OPTIONS

18. What is GIT? Explain the difference between GIT and SVN.

GIT is a source code management (SCM) tool that efficiently handles small as well as large projects. It is used to store repositories in remote servers such as GitHub.

  GIT

SVN

GIT is a decentralized version control tool.

SVN is a centralized version control tool.

Push and pull operations are fast.

Push and pull operations are relatively slower. 

It belongs to the third-generation version control tool.

It belongs to the second-generation version control tool.

Commits can be done offline as well as online.

Commits can only be done online.

19. What are the advantages of using GIT?

Some advantages of using GIT are as follows:

  • one GIT directory per repository
  • superior disk utilization and network performance
  • collaboration friendly
  • can be used for various sorts of projects
Devops interview questions
Source – dzone

20. Explain your understanding and expertise on both the software development side and technical operations side of an organization you have worked within the past.

For this DevOps interview question, you should use your valuable experience from previous jobs. Provide input about your role as a DevOps engineer and how you were working in a twenty-four-seven environment. Hence, gaining expertise in successfully automating processes to support continuous software deployments. Besides, discuss your experience with public/private clouds, tools like Chef or Puppet, scripting and automation with tools like Python and PHP, and high-level proficiency in Agile.

21. What are your expectations from a career perspective of DevOps?

Your response to this particular DevOps interview question must showcase your keenness towards being involved in end-to-end delivery processes and your willingness to improve the process. Including aspects such as your aspiration for the development and operations teams to work together and understand each other’s point of view, will prove that you are a team player and can improve your chances in job selection.

Devops interview questions
Source – linkedin

Conclusion

DevOps Engineers require an in-depth knowledge of Data Analytics tools, processes and relevant technology. You should be proficient in the Agile process and all the tools mentioned in this article. You must also have a holistic understanding of the products, services, and systems in place.

The DevOps questions in this tutorial will help you ace a DevOps interview with confidence and set you up on the track towards a great career in this field. If your answers closely matched the ones given here, then you are good to go and prepared to crack an interview as a DevOps professional.

Moreover, with Digital Vidya’s Python Programming Course, you can now become an expert in one of the most popular scripting tools used in DevOps.

We wish you success and good luck

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Gayatri Singh
A keen Creative Writer, Editor, Content Curator & Marketer with about 6 years of experience in writing & communications in various sectors such as publishing companies, corporates, and non-profit organizations. She is well-versed in creating magazine content, website content, technical articles, newsletters, press releases, blogs, product descriptions, case studies, and digital marketing content.

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