Top DevOps Interview Questions Plus Answers to Land a Job! – Part 1

DevOps is a role that has currently gained a huge demand in the IT industry, and if you are interested in building a career in DevOps, then there isn’t a better time than now! With all major software companies adopting DevOps, the chances of getting a high-paying job look promising.

If you haven’t noticed this already, the term DevOps has two constituents- Development and Operations- that summarize its meaning. In the world of software engineering, DevOps is the role that makes the development team and the operations team come together and work to accelerate the efficiency of ongoing product development projects. This must give you an idea of why this role has become one of the most sought-after roles in the IT industry. Also check out the DevOps Couse by Hero Vired.

Top DevOps interview questions with sample answers

Here are some of the top DevOps interview questions whose answers you should know while applying for the DevOps engineer role: 

DevOps Interview Questions for Beginners

• What is DevOps according to your understanding?

  One of the most common DevOps engineer interview questions is where interviewers try to check your fundamental understanding of the role. The interviewer aims to know what you know about DevOps through this question. Your answer should be as precise as possible so that the interviewer gets the impression that you clearly understand the role. You explain the term as an amalgamation of the responsibilities of the Development and Operations team to improve the efficiency of the projects related to products or services. DevOps aims to decrease the chances of errors in a project, which fosters user trust and accelerates the company’s ability to grow and meet its business goals.

• In your opinion, why is DevOps important?

  Through this question, an interviewer tries to get an idea of your understanding of the utility of DevOps. You can state its importance by highlighting that by bringing the development and operations team together, DevOps helps an organization build and deploy software-based products at a much faster pace than the old methods used for developing software. You can further state the reasons why you think organizations are keen on adopting DevOps:

  • It brings more stability to the process of development
  • It reduces the time taken to develop a product
  • Lesser chances of error during a project
  • It boosts good teamwork by improving communication 
  • It fosters an atmosphere for innovation
  • It enhances the productivity of the organization
  • It reduces the cost of product development significantly 

• What is the difference between Agile and DevOps?

  DevOps is a practice that involves both, the development and operations teams, simultaneously on a project. This means that the process consists of a non-stop development process that involves testing, deployment, and constant monitoring of the project till its delivery. Some of the tools used in DevOps are- AWS, Puppet, and Chef.

  Agile is an iterative software development process that helps handle complex projects. It focuses on the swifter release of software and managing the feedback from customers as well. It helps identify and reduce the gap between the customer and the developers. Some of the tools used in Agile approach are- Kanboard, Jira, and Bugzilla. 

• Which are the most popular DevOps tools?

  Another one of the top DevOps interview questions is related to its tools. Below are some of the top tools that you must know about:

  • Git- used for source code management
  • Jenkins- used to implement CI/CD workflow
  • Docker- used for the containerization of an application
  • Puppet- used for automating the configuration management process 
  • Ansible- used for configuration management, application deployment, etc. 

• What are the important phases in DevOps?

  Some of the most crucial phases in DevOps are mentioned below:

  • Planning is the starting point in getting an idea of the type of software or application required for development. It gives a roadmap of the process. 
  • The coders take over the process and work on the requirements of the client or users. 
  • Integration of the codes from the above-mentioned phase is done to build the application. 
  • Testing is the most essential phase where errors are identified and sent for rectification if required. 
  • The next phase is integration, where numerous codes from various programmers are integrated into one to form a function. 
  • To manage high traffic, the code is later deployed into a cloud going forward in the process.  
  • Further operations are performed on the code to increase its precision on the basis of requirements. 
  • In the end, the performance is monitored in order to match the requirements of the client or the end user. 

• What are some of the KPIs used for measuring the success of DevOps?

  Here are some of the important Key Performance Metrics for measuring the success of DevOps:

  • Availability of the application
  • Usage of the application and its performance
  • Frequency of successful deployments
  • Failures related to deployment  
  • Change lead time
  • Requests related to change volume
  • Meantime to detection (MTTD)
  • Meantime to recovery (MTTR)
  • Adoption of Pipeline 

• What is the DevOps toolchain?

  A DevOps toolchain is a series of tools combined to function as a single unit. It automates the process of designing, building, testing, and measuring. With the rise of complexity in the DevOps process, the need for automation arises to help the development and operations team work more efficiently throughout the product life cycle, making it essential for continuous delivery. One of the most important components of the DevOps toolchain is GitHub.    

• What are the roles and responsibility of a DevOps Engineers?

  As a DevOps engineer, you will be expected to manage multiple responsibilities and juggle technical and operational aspects simultaneously. Below are some of the responsibilities of a DevOps engineer-

  • Handling the requirements of the customer 
  • Keeping track of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Invigilating the development of the code for a particular product
  • Identifying errors in the codes and fixing bugs 
  • Utilizing every opportunity to automate systems 
  • Communicating with internal and external stakeholders
  • Helping the team members with projects
  • Tracking the experience of customers
  • Updating the customer and company’s management regarding the progress of projects 

  Since DevOps currently is one of the most in-demand roles in the industry, there is huge competition among job seekers for this role. In a competitive scenario like this, it is important for you to be well-prepared in order to land a job. If you wish to get into this role, continue reading this article to find out some of the commonly asked DevOps interview questions and their answers that will aid you in preparing for it. Along with DevOps engineer interview questions, we have also included certain AWS DevOps interview questions for your benefit.   

• What do you know about the anti-patterns of DevOps?

  When a large chunk of people in a given circle follows a particular process, it becomes a pattern. If a company begins using a specific pattern without analyzing its utility in the organization, it can be termed as an anti-pattern. Some of the major misbeliefs that can lead to anti-patterns are:

  • There is no difference between DevOps and Agile
  • DevOps is nothing but a process 
  • DevOps can resolve every issue
  • DevOps require a special set of people for implementation
  • DevOps is not development-oriented

• What are some of the advantages of DevOps?

  The advantages of DevOps can be divided into two aspects- Technical advantages and Business advantages. You can go through the benefits listed down below:

  Technical Advantages

  • Uninterrupted delivery of software
  • Reduction in complexity of problems  
  • Errors can be identified earlier and resolved

              Business Advantages

  • More efficient utilization of resources
  • Stable operating environment
  • Better collaboration between teams

• What will be your approach toward a project that requires the implementation of DevOps?

  To implement DevOps in a project, the following steps should be taken:

  • The first step in the process should understand the process that is supposed to be followed. In this phase, the engineer needs to check for the areas where certain improvements can be made. 
  • The next step involves getting the proof of concept approved and placing a plan of action in place for the execution of the project.
  • In this step, the plan of action is ready to be executed. A part of the execution process would be the monitoring of the project. 

              By following these steps, we can utilize DevOps in any particular project. 

• What is the role of configuration management in DevOps?

  Configuration management is responsible for performing tasks under certain categories necessary for DevOps transformation. These categories are mentioned below:

  • Identification- It is the process of identifying the configurational needs of the system.
  • Control- The configuration needs often change over time, and hence there is a requirement to keep these changes in control so that the existing infrastructure doesn’t suffer. Configuration control checks the changes so that they do not impact any integrations.
  • Audit- It is a process of reviewing the existing system to comply with regulations and validations. 

DevOps Interview Questions for Intermediate

• What are the different phases in DevOps?

  The DevOps methodology comprises seven distinct phases: Continuous Development, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Continuous Deployment, Continuous Monitoring, Continuous Feedback, and Continuous Operations. We will further discuss DevOps interview questions further. To start with, learn about Top 14 Exciting DevOps Projects for Beginners & Advanced along with 20 Most-in-Demand DevOps Engineer Skills to Mater in 2023 and 20 Best DevOps Tools to Master In 2023.

• What is the difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment?

  Continuous delivery involves automating the entire software delivery process, from building, testing to deployment, while continuous deployment takes it a step further by automatically deploying the code changes to the production environment. This is one of the frequent DevOps interview questions. For best results, learn about DevOps Lifecycle: Definition and Key Components.

• What are the anti-patterns of DevOps?

  Anti-patterns of DevOps include lack of collaboration, not focusing on automation, not making the process iterative, and failing to measure and optimize the process. Expertise in such matters can help during DevOps interview questions. Explore DevOps Engineer Salary in India [For Freshers & Experienced] 2023.

• What are the benefits of using version control?

  For DevOps interview questions, version control helps in tracking changes made to the codebase, provides a history of changes, enables collaboration, and allows for the reverting of code changes.

• What is the Blue/Green Deployment Pattern?

  The Blue/Green Deployment Pattern is a technique that involves creating two identical production environments, one active, and the other inactive, with identical code and infrastructure. After testing the new version in the inactive environment, the switch is made to the active environment. This concept is vital or DevOps interview questions. Explore more about Agile vs DevOps: What’s The Difference? And DevOps VS SRE – Difference Between SRE and DevOps.

• What is Continuous Testing?

  For DevOps interview questions, continuous Testing involves automating the testing process throughout the software development cycle, from requirements to deployment, to ensure quality and reduce the risk of defects.

• What is Automation Testing?

  Recurring DevOps interview questions, Automation Testing involves using automation tools to execute tests, compare results with expected outcomes, and generate reports.

• What does CAMS stand for in DevOps?

  CAMS stands for Culture, Automation, Measurement, and Sharing, which are the four pillars of DevOps (DevOps interview questions).

• Explain the different phases in DevOps methodology

  The different phases in DevOps methodology are Continuous Development, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Continuous Deployment, Continuous Monitoring, Continuous Feedback, and Continuous Operations. These phases aim to provide a smooth and efficient software development process. 

• What is CBD in DevOps?

  CBD or “Component-Based Development” is a software development approach that involves the creation of software components, which can be reused across multiple applications.

• Can you say something about the DevOps pipeline?

  The DevOps pipeline is a set of automated processes that enable the continuous delivery of software from development to deployment, ensuring the fast and reliable release of software.

• What is Infrastructure as Code, and why is it important?

  Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a practice that involves automating the infrastructure deployment and management process using code. It is important because it enables the quick and efficient deployment of infrastructure, ensures consistency, and reduces the risk of errors.

• Can you explain the concept of microservices and how they relate to DevOps?

  Microservices are a software development approach that involves breaking down large applications into small, independent services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. Microservices and DevOps are related because both aim to enable the rapid development and deployment of software.

• What is the Future Scope of DevOps?

  The future scope of DevOps is bright as it continues to gain popularity due to its ability to enable faster and more efficient software development and deployment. 

<>h2DevOps interview questions and answers for experienced:

• What are post-mortem meetings in DevOps?

  Post-mortem meetings are arranged to discuss the issues that may arise or things that may not turn out in our favor while using the DevOps method. The purpose of this meeting is to arrive at conclusions that will prevent failures in the future. 

• What is pair programming?

  Pair programming is a term commonly used in engineering to refer to the method in which two programmers are coupled together to work on the same project and on the same system. The roles of the two programmers are that of “driver” and “observer”. The role of the observer is to keep track of the project’s progress and to identify problems arising in it.

• What do you understand about the dogpile effect, and in your opinion how can it be resolved?

  When a cache expires, and the high load hits the computing systems in the form of multiple requests from the client, then the event is termed the dogpile effect. This issue can be resolved by using semaphore locks in the cache. 

• What are the ways to ensure a script runs each time the repository receives new commits through git push?

  To set up a script on the destination repository, three ways that can be used. They may be termed hooks.

  • Pre-receive hook: this hook is utilized to make sure that the scripts related to enforcing development policies are implemented. 
  • Update hook: this hook is useful in triggering the script to act prior to any update. 
  • Post-receive hook: this hook is useful in triggering the script after the updates have been made on the destination repository. 

  Continue reading below to know the important AWS DevOps interview questions and their answers: 

• What is AWS in DevOps?

  Amazon launched its cloud service platform, AWS, to help users perform DevOps-related tasks more easily. It is a strong platform that helps in automating manual tasks and helps teams perform complex tasks efficiently. 

• What is the use of CodeBuild?

  Codebuild is an in-house build service provided by AWS that aids in the compilation and testing of source code and helps in producing software that is ready for deployment. Since scaling happens automatically, there isn’t any requirement to scale the build servers. 

• What is the use of CodeDeploy?

  The process of deploying code to various compute services is automated by the use of AWS CodeDeploy. It helps in managing the complexities arising during the release of applications. 

• What is the use of CodeStar?

  CodeStar is the package in AWS DevOps that assists the user in various tasks like development, build operations, provisioning, and deployment procedures. The easy-to-use single interface allows the user to perform all the activities related to software development. 

• What are Microservices in AWS DevOps?

  The design strategies used when creating a single application as a collection of services are known as microservice architectures. These services have their unique process architecture and can connect with each other utilizing a structured interface that is both light and user-friendly. The majority of this communication is based on HTTP and API requests.

Next Steps

DevOps has brought a shift in culture in the IT industry and is helping organizations in several ways. Through continuous development, DevOps has helped foster better coordination between the development team and the operations team. If you are looking forward to an opportunity in the DevOps role, you should consider pursuing a DevOps certificate course online to prepare yourself for these interviews better. Now you can earn a certificate in DevOps online by clicking here.

Conclusion

DevOps has become an integral part of software development, and with the continuous evolution of technology, it is expected to grow even further. Aspiring DevOps engineers should be prepared for DevOps interview questions and answers related to the different phases, tools, and techniques.