Module 5: Automation & DevOps for Beginners

Overview

Learn Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Azure CLI, PowerShell, Azure DevOps pipelines, and GitHub Actions for automation.

Lesson 5.1: Introduction to Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

• ARM Templates, Bicep, Terraform
• Demo:
  • Example Bicep file to create a storage account

resource storageAccount 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2021-04-01' = {
  name: 'demostorageacct'
  location: 'westus'
  sku: {
    name: 'Standard_LRS'
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
}

• Deploy with Azure CLI:

az deployment group create --resource-group DemoGroup --template-file storage.bicep

Lesson 5.2: Azure CLI & PowerShell Basics

• Automate resource creation
• Demo:

az vm create --resource-group DemoGroup --name DemoVM --image UbuntuLTS --admin-username azureuser --generate-ssh-keys

Lesson 5.3: Getting Started with Azure DevOps

• CI/CD pipelines explained
• Demo:
  • Create Azure DevOps project
  • YAML pipeline example

trigger:
- main


  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- script: echo Hello, Azure DevOps!
  displayName: 'Run a one-line script'

Lesson 5.4: Automating Deployments with GitHub Actions

• Workflow YAML file for Azure deployment
• Demo:

name: Deploy to Azure
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Azure Login
        uses: azure/login@v1
        with:
          creds: $
      - name: Deploy
        run: echo "Deploying to Azure..."

Assessment

• Lab: Automate resource deployment and CI/CD pipeline

Troubleshooting Tips & Common Mistakes

• Validate your IaC templates before deployment to catch syntax errors.
• If a pipeline fails, check for missing secrets or incorrect triggers.
• Common mistake: Not using version control for scripts and templates.
• Always test automation in a non-production environment first.

Visual Guide

Sample Azure DevOps pipeline.

Quick Quiz

1. What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?
2. How does CI/CD improve deployment reliability?
3. What is the benefit of using GitHub Actions?

Discuss your answers in the course forum or with your instructor.

Community & Discussion

• Join the Azure SRE Learners Forum to ask questions, share projects, and connect with peers.

Goal: Use IaC and CI/CD to deploy a simple app.

Tasks:

1. Write a Bicep or ARM template to deploy a storage account.
2. Use Azure CLI to deploy the template.
3. Set up a basic Azure DevOps pipeline to echo “Hello, Azure!” on code push.
4. Create a GitHub Actions workflow to deploy a file to Azure Storage.

Submission:

• Share your template, pipeline YAML, and workflow file with screenshots of successful runs.

Hands-On Assignment

Scenario: You need to automate deployment for a web app.

Instructions:

1. List the steps to automate deployment using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
2. Describe the benefits of using automation in cloud environments.
3. Share your automation plan in the course forum or with your instructor.

Resources

• Azure DevOps Documentation
• GitHub Actions for Azure
• Bicep Documentation