Master Curriculum: 40 Weeks¶
This is the comprehensive reference plan — the full day-by-day schedule covering every topic, case study, and scenario. New here? Start at training/START_HERE.md. For shorter curated paths, see paths.md.
All 207 topics, 60 case studies, and 22 interview scenarios in a single day-by-day schedule. Designed for 60-90 minutes per day, 5 days per week.
Total time: ~40 weeks (~200 sessions) Daily budget: 60-90 minutes Schedule: Monday-Thursday = primary topics, Friday = review + supplement Tracks covered: All 14 (Foundations, Containers, K8s Core, Helm, Observability, Incident Response, Advanced Platform, SRE & Reliability, Cloud & FinOps, Infrastructure, Modern CLI, Professional Skills, Learning & Cognition, Life Skills, Health & Wellness)
Table of Contents¶
- Phase 1: Foundations (Weeks 1-5)
- Phase 2: Kubernetes Core (Weeks 6-10)
- Phase 3: Operations & Observability (Weeks 11-15)
- Phase 4: SRE & Incident Response (Weeks 16-20)
- Phase 5: Advanced Platform & Datacenter (Weeks 21-25)
- Phase 6: Remaining Technical + Career (Weeks 26-30)
- Phase 7: Non-Technical Deep Dives (Weeks 31-36)
- Phase 8: Integration & Capstone (Weeks 37-40)
How to Use This Curriculum¶
- Follow the days in order. Each day builds on previous work.
- Use the exit criteria. Don't advance until the criteria are met.
- Friday supplements are not optional. They build skills that accelerate everything else.
- Use spaced repetition. After each topic, review its flashcards. Run
make run-training-sessionweekly. - Track progress. Use
make report-training-progressto see coverage and weak areas.
If you fall behind, skip to the next Monday and backfill Fridays. The technical sequence matters more than completeness.
Phase 1: Foundations (Weeks 1-5)¶
Week 1: Linux & Bash Foundations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orientation + deploy | Read START_HERE.md. Run make deploy-all && make status |
All pods running | 45 min |
| 2 | Linux ops basics | Read linux-ops primer. Bash exercises levels 01-03 | quest run succeeds on each |
60 min |
| 3 | Advanced bash | Read advanced-bash primer. Bash exercises levels 04-05 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 4 | Process management | Read process-management primer + terminal-internals primer | Can explain PID, signals, job control | 60 min |
| 5 | Supplement: Learning meta-skills | Read learning-how-to-learn primer + study-systems-and-spaced-repetition primer | Configured SM-2 profile: python3 tools/manage_profiles.py list |
60 min |
Week 2: Linux Deep Dive + Git¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Systemd + storage | Read linux-ops-systemd primer + linux-ops-storage primer | Can explain unit files and mount lifecycle | 60 min |
| 7 | Filesystem internals | Read inodes primer + mounts-filesystems primer | Can explain inode exhaustion vs disk full | 60 min |
| 8 | Package management + cron | Read package-management primer + cron-scheduling primer | Can write a cron expression from memory | 60 min |
| 9 | Git mastery | Read git primer + git-advanced primer. Git drills | Can use reflog to recover a lost commit | 60 min |
| 10 | Supplement: Memory techniques | Read memory-and-recall-techniques primer. Case study: inode-exhaustion | Case study completed via tools/run_case_study.py |
60 min |
Week 3: Networking Foundations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Networking overview | Read networking primer. Complete networking.fundamentals skillcheck | Identified gaps in OSI/TCP knowledge | 60 min |
| 12 | Subnetting + IP addressing | Read subnetting-and-ip-addressing primer. Practice CIDR math + dns-ops primer | Can calculate usable hosts in a /26 | 60 min |
| 13 | Routing + ARP + NAT + DHCP | Read routing primer + arp primer + nat primer + dhcp-ipam primer | Can explain ARP table population | 75 min |
| 14 | VLANs + STP + LACP | Read vlans primer + stp primer + lacp primer | Can explain why STP exists | 60 min |
| 15 | Supplement: Attention management | Read attention-management primer. Case study: dns-resolution-slow | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 4: Containers¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Docker basics | Read docker primer. Docker exercises levels 01-05 | quest run succeeds on each |
60 min |
| 17 | Docker intermediate | Docker exercises levels 06-10. Study Dockerfile | quest run succeeds. Can explain multi-stage build |
60 min |
| 18 | Container runtime | Read containers-deep-dive primer | Can explain containerd vs Docker engine | 60 min |
| 19 | Security scanning | Read security-scanning primer. Run lab-runtime-06 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 20 | Supplement: Metacognition | Read metacognition-and-self-monitoring primer. Case study: oom-killer-events | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 5: Python + Modern CLI¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Python basics | Python exercises levels 01-05. Read python-infra primer | quest run succeeds on each |
60 min |
| 22 | Python intermediate | Python exercises levels 06-10 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 23 | Modern CLI overview | Read modern-cli primer + modern-cli-workflows primer | Can name 4 modern CLI replacements | 60 min |
| 24 | jq + ripgrep | Read jq primer + ripgrep primer. Practice jq drill | Can extract nested JSON fields with jq | 60 min |
| 25 | Supplement: Health foundations | Read ergonomics-and-pain-prevention primer + sleep-energy-and-focus-management primer | Workspace ergonomics audit completed | 60 min |
Phase 2: Kubernetes Core (Weeks 6-10)¶
Week 6: K8s Fundamentals¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Pods + deployments | Read k8s-ops primer. K8s exercises levels 01-03 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 27 | Services + labels | K8s exercises levels 04-06 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 28 | Probes | Read k8s-ops primer. Run lab-runtime-01 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 29 | HPA | Read k8s-ops primer. Run lab-runtime-02 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 30 | Supplement: Executive function | Read executive-function-and-task-initiation primer. Case study: crashloopbackoff-no-logs | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 7: K8s Operations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Failure patterns | Read crashloopbackoff primer + oomkilled primer | Can explain both from memory | 60 min |
| 32 | Networking | Read k8s-networking primer. K8s exercises levels 07-10 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 33 | RBAC + OOM lab | Read k8s-rbac primer. Run lab-runtime-08 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 34 | Storage + debugging | Read k8s-storage primer + k8s-debugging-playbook primer | Can describe the 5-step debugging flow | 60 min |
| 35 | Supplement: Critical thinking | Read critical-thinking-and-cognitive-biases primer. Case study: service-no-endpoints | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 8: Helm & GitOps¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | Helm anatomy | Read helm primer. Study devops/helm/grokdevops/. Run make helm-lint |
Lint passes | 60 min |
| 37 | Helm drills | helm_drills.md. Practice helm template, helm diff |
All drills completed | 60 min |
| 38 | Helm rollback lab | Run lab-runtime-05 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 39 | GitOps | Read gitops primer. Run lab-runtime-07 | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 40 | Supplement: Learning under stress | Read learning-while-anxious primer. Case study: drain-blocked-by-pdb | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 9: Networking Deep Dives¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Troubleshooting + tools | Read networking-troubleshooting primer + linux-ops primer | Can use ss, ip, tcpdump for triage | 60 min |
| 42 | MTU + HTTP | Read mtu primer + http-protocol primer | Can explain MTU blackhole scenario | 60 min |
| 43 | VPN + firewalls | Read vpn-tunneling primer + firewalls primer | Can explain IPsec vs WireGuard tradeoffs | 60 min |
| 44 | Load balancing + Cisco | Read load-balancing primer + cisco-fundamentals-for-devops primer | Can explain L4 vs L7 LB | 60 min |
| 45 | Supplement: Habit design | Read habit-design-and-self-regulation primer. Case study: mtu-blackhole-tls-stalls | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 10: Modern CLI + Text Processing¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | fzf + fd | Read fzf primer + fd primer. Practice fzf/fd drills | Can use fzf for git branch selection | 60 min |
| 47 | Regex + text wrangling | Read regex-text-wrangling primer. Bash exercises levels 11-15 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 48 | Advanced bash | Bash exercises levels 16-20 | quest run succeeds |
60 min |
| 49 | strace + binary | Read strace primer + binary-and-floats primer | Can trace a syscall with strace | 60 min |
| 50 | Supplement: Exercise + review | Read exercise-recovery-and-physical-training primer. Flashcard marathon: python3 tools/run_training_session.py build --strategy spaced --count 30 |
30 cards reviewed | 60 min |
Phase 3: Operations & Observability (Weeks 11-15)¶
Week 11: Observability Foundations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Monitoring fundamentals | Read monitoring-fundamentals primer. Verify observability stack: make status |
Grafana accessible via port-forward | 60 min |
| 52 | Observability deep dive | Read observability-deep-dive primer. Browse Grafana dashboards | Can navigate to app metrics dashboard | 60 min |
| 53 | Prometheus lab | Run lab-runtime-03. Read prometheus_target_down runbook | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 54 | Loki lab | Run lab-runtime-04. Read loki_no_logs runbook | ./verify.sh passes |
60 min |
| 55 | Supplement: Decision journaling | Read decision-journaling primer. Case study: coredns-timeout-pod-dns | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 12: Observability Advanced¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Logging + log pipelines | Read logging primer + log-pipelines primer | Can explain structured logging benefits | 60 min |
| 57 | Tracing + OpenTelemetry | Read tracing primer + opentelemetry primer | Can explain trace propagation | 60 min |
| 58 | Alerting rules | Read alerting-rules primer. Practice promql_drills.md | Can write a burn-rate alert | 60 min |
| 59 | eBPF + migration | Read ebpf-observability primer + monitoring-migration primer | Can explain eBPF vs traditional probes | 60 min |
| 60 | Supplement: Systems thinking | Read systems-thinking primer. Case study: ssl-cert-chain-incomplete | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 13: CI/CD & Infrastructure as Code¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | CI/CD foundations | Read cicd primer. Review .github/workflows/ |
Can explain the CI pipeline stages | 60 min |
| 62 | CI/CD realities | Read cicd-pipelines-realities primer. CI drills | Can name 5 CI anti-patterns | 60 min |
| 63 | Terraform | Read terraform primer. terraform_drills.md | Drills completed | 60 min |
| 64 | Ansible + Packer | Read ansible primer. Read packer primer. Ansible exercises levels 01-05 | quest run succeeds. Can explain Packer + Ansible image pipeline |
75 min |
| 65 | Supplement: Writing clarity | Read writing-and-clarity primer. Case study: systemd-service-flapping | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 14: Security Foundations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | Security basics + attack patterns | Read security-basics primer + offensive-security-basics primer | Can explain OWASP top 10, SQL injection, DDoS types | 75 min |
| 67 | TLS + PKI + cert creation | Read tls primer + tls-pki primer. tls_pki_drills.md | Can create a self-signed cert and explain chain validation | 60 min |
| 68 | Secrets management | Read secrets-management primer. Interview scenario 13 | Can articulate incident response for leaked secret | 60 min |
| 69 | Linux hardening | Read linux-hardening primer + selinux-apparmor primer | Can explain SELinux enforcing vs permissive | 60 min |
| 70 | Supplement: Professional communication | Read professional-communication primer. Case study: selinux-denying-service | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 15: Security & Platform¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Audit + compliance | Read audit-logging primer + compliance-automation primer | Can explain audit trail requirements | 60 min |
| 72 | Opsec + forensics | Read opsec-mistakes primer + infra-forensics primer | Can name 5 common opsec mistakes | 60 min |
| 73 | K8s ecosystem | Read k8s-ecosystem primer + api-gateways primer | Can explain ingress vs API gateway | 60 min |
| 74 | Multi-tenancy + policy | Read multi-tenancy primer + policy-engines primer | Can explain namespace isolation limits | 60 min |
| 75 | Supplement: Career engineering | Read career-engineering primer. Case study: firewall-shadow-rule | Case study completed | 60 min |
Phase 4: SRE & Incident Response (Weeks 16-20)¶
Week 16: Incident Response¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | Incident command | Read incident-command primer + incident-triage primer | Can explain IC role and triage flow | 60 min |
| 77 | Incident psychology | Read incident-psychology primer. Run make incident YES=1 && make investigate |
Incident resolved with journal entry | 75 min |
| 78 | Debugging methodology | Read debugging-methodology primer. Run second incident | Incident resolved within 15 min | 60 min |
| 79 | Chaos engineering | Read chaos-engineering primer. Run 2 chaos scripts. Capture make incident-forensics |
Evidence bundle generated | 60 min |
| 80 | Supplement: Grit + resilience | Read grit-resilience-and-frustration-tolerance primer. Case study: kernel-soft-lockup | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 17: SRE Practices¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | SRE foundations | Read sre-practices primer + postmortem-slo primer | Can explain SLO/SLI/error budget | 60 min |
| 82 | Runbook craft | Read runbook-craft primer. Review all runbooks | Can explain triage flow for 5 runbooks | 60 min |
| 83 | War stories + legacy | Read ops-war-stories primer + legacy-archaeology primer | Can name 3 anti-patterns in legacy systems | 60 min |
| 84 | Interview practice | Interview scenarios 01-05. make challenge YES=1 MINUTES=10 x2 |
Can explain investigation path for each | 75 min |
| 85 | Supplement: Emotional regulation | Read emotional-regulation-and-intrusive-thoughts primer. Case study: node-pressure-evictions | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 18: Data & Storage¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86 | Database ops | Read database-ops primer + database-internals primer | Can explain ACID and WAL | 60 min |
| 87 | SQL + search | Read sql-fundamentals primer + elasticsearch primer | Can write basic SQL joins | 60 min |
| 88 | Kafka + etcd | Read kafka primer + etcd primer. etcd_drills.md | Can explain partition leadership | 60 min |
| 89 | Storage + backup | Read storage-ops primer + backup-restore primer | Can explain 3-2-1 backup rule | 60 min |
| 90 | Supplement: Mindfulness | Read mindfulness-stoicism-and-self-command primer. Case study: persistent-volume-stuck-terminating | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 19: Cloud Operations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Cloud foundations | Read cloud-ops-basics primer + cloud-deep-dive primer | Can explain shared responsibility model | 60 min |
| 92 | AWS troubleshooting | Read aws-troubleshooting primer | Can debug IAM permission issues | 60 min |
| 93 | Azure + GCP | Read azure-troubleshooting primer + gcp-troubleshooting primer | Can compare IAM models across providers | 60 min |
| 94 | FinOps | Read finops primer. finops_drills.md. Interview scenario 20 | Can articulate cost investigation process | 60 min |
| 95 | Supplement: Risk management | Read risk-management-and-safety-thinking primer. Case study: nat-exhaustion-intermittent | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 20: Platform + Mid-Course Assessment¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96 | Platform engineering | Read platform-engineering primer + service-mesh primer | Can explain platform team responsibilities | 60 min |
| 97 | Operators + node lifecycle | Read k8s-ecosystem primer + k8s-node-lifecycle primer | Can explain operator reconciliation loop | 60 min |
| 98 | Fleet ops + edge | Read fleet-ops primer + edge-iot primer | Can explain fleet management at scale | 60 min |
| 99 | Disaster recovery | Read disaster-recovery primer + capacity-planning primer | Can explain RPO/RTO | 60 min |
| 100 | Mid-course assessment | Interview scenarios 06-10. Complete kubernetes.skillcheck.md + observability.skillcheck.md | Identified remaining weak areas | 90 min |
Phase 5: Advanced Platform & Datacenter (Weeks 21-25)¶
Week 21: Advanced Platform Drills¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | Service mesh drills | service_mesh_drills.md. Interview scenario 15 | Can articulate 503 debugging in mesh | 60 min |
| 102 | Operators + policy drills | k8s_operators_drills.md + policy_engine_drills.md | Drills completed | 60 min |
| 103 | GitOps + secrets drills | gitops_argocd_drills.md. Interview scenario 16 | Can articulate drift detection response | 60 min |
| 104 | Secrets + Vault | secrets_management_drills.md. Interview scenario 19 | Can articulate secret rotation flow | 60 min |
| 105 | Supplement: Negotiation | Read negotiation-and-influence primer. Case study: raid-degraded-rebuild-latency | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 22: Datacenter Foundations¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 | Datacenter + hardware | Read datacenter primer + server-hardware primer | Can explain rack unit layout | 60 min |
| 107 | Dell + IPMI | Read dell-poweredge primer + ipmi-and-ipmitool primer | Can explain iDRAC access methods | 60 min |
| 108 | Redfish + firmware | Read redfish primer + firmware primer | Can explain Redfish vs IPMI | 60 min |
| 109 | Bare-metal provisioning | Read bare-metal-provisioning primer | Can explain PXE boot sequence | 60 min |
| 110 | Supplement: Behavioral interviews | Read behavioral-interviewing-and-storytelling primer + behavioral-interviews primer | Can structure 3 STAR stories | 60 min |
Week 23: Datacenter Advanced + Case Studies¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | OOB + provisioning | Read datacenter primer | Can explain out-of-band management | 60 min |
| 112 | RAID + disk failures | Read disk-and-storage-ops primer | Can explain RAID levels and rebuild risk | 60 min |
| 113 | DC interview + drills | Interview scenario 11. Datacenter drills | Can articulate server-won't-POST triage | 60 min |
| 114 | DC case studies | Case studies: firmware-update-boot-loop + bios-settings-reset-after-cmos | Both completed | 60 min |
| 115 | Supplement: Conflict management | Read conflict-management-and-assertiveness primer. Case study: thermal-throttle-fan-failure | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 24: Networking Case Studies¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 116 | LACP + ARP cases | Case studies: lacp-mismatch-one-link-hot + arp-flux-duplicate-ip | Both completed | 60 min |
| 117 | BGP + asymmetric | Case studies: bgp-peer-flapping + asymmetric-routing-one-direction | Both completed | 60 min |
| 118 | Loop + VLAN | Case studies: network-loop-broadcast-storm + vlan-trunk-mistag | Both completed | 60 min |
| 119 | Networking drills | Networking drills speed run. Review all networking flashcards | 20+ cards reviewed | 60 min |
| 120 | Supplement: Uncertainty | Read uncertainty-and-probabilistic-thinking primer. Case study: duplex-mismatch-symptoms | Case study completed | 60 min |
Week 25: Linux Advanced + Performance¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | Linux performance | Read linux-performance primer + linux-performance primer | Can use USE method for triage | 60 min |
| 122 | Kernel troubleshooting | Read kernel-troubleshooting primer | Can interpret dmesg output | 60 min |
| 123 | Perf profiling + node | Read perf-profiling primer + node-maintenance primer | Can explain flame graphs | 60 min |
| 124 | Linux case studies | Case studies: runaway-logs-fill-disk + time-sync-skew-breaks-app | Both completed | 60 min |
| 125 | Supplement: Statistics | Read statistics-and-data-reasoning primer. Case study: zombie-processes-accumulating | Case study completed | 60 min |
Phase 6: Remaining Technical + Career (Weeks 26-30)¶
Week 26: DevOps Tooling Wrap-up¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | Web servers | Read nginx-web-servers primer | Can explain reverse proxy config | 60 min |
| 127 | Virtualization + homelab | Read virtualization primer + homelab primer | Can explain hypervisor types. Homelab IaC plan drafted | 60 min |
| 128 | PowerShell + AI DevOps | Read powershell primer + ai-devops-tools primer + ai-ml-ops primer | Can query AD with Get-ADUser. Can explain MLOps pipeline | 75 min |
| 129 | Developer tools | Read claude-code primer + vscode primer + css-fundamentals primer | Configured key VS Code extensions | 60 min |
| 130 | Supplement: Change + vendor mgmt | Read change-management primer + vendor-management primer | Can explain change advisory board process | 60 min |
Week 27: Identity, Corporate, Remaining DC Cases¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131 | Identity + corporate | Read ldap-identity primer + corporate-it-fluency primer | Can explain LDAP bind operation | 60 min |
| 132 | DC case studies I | Case studies: idrac-unreachable-os-up + memory-ecc-errors-increasing | Both completed | 60 min |
| 133 | DC case studies II | Case studies: nvme-drive-disappeared + power-supply-redundancy-lost | Both completed | 60 min |
| 134 | Interview practice II | Interview scenarios 11-16. Interview scenario 12 + 14 | Can articulate investigation paths | 75 min |
| 135 | Supplement: Leadership + power | Read leadership primer + power primer | Can explain 5 bases of power | 60 min |
Week 28: Career & Professional Deep Dives¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 136 | Career engineering deep dive | Reread career-engineering street_ops + footguns | Personal career plan drafted | 60 min |
| 137 | Negotiation deep dive | Read negotiation-and-influence street_ops + footguns | Can name 3 negotiation frameworks | 60 min |
| 138 | Logic + rhetoric | Read logic-rhetoric-and-argumentation primer + street_ops | Can identify 5 logical fallacies | 60 min |
| 139 | Ethics + moral psych | Read ethics-tradeoffs-and-decision-making primer + moral-psychology primer | Can explain trolley problem variations | 60 min |
| 140 | Supplement: Game theory + deception | Read game-theory-and-strategy primer + deception-red-flags-and-bullshit-detection primer | Can explain prisoner's dilemma | 60 min |
Week 29: Remaining Case Studies I¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | DC case studies III | Case studies: pxe-boot-fails-uefi-mismatch + os-install-fails-raid-controller | Both completed | 60 min |
| 142 | DC case studies IV | Case studies: rack-pdu-overload-alert + serial-console-garbled | Both completed | 60 min |
| 143 | Network case studies III | Case studies: dhcp-relay-broken + dns-split-horizon-confusion | Both completed | 60 min |
| 144 | Network case studies IV | Case studies: jumbo-frames-partial + proxy-arp-causing-issues | Both completed | 60 min |
| 145 | Supplement: Interview practice III | Interview scenarios 17-22. Focus on 17, 18, 21, 22 | Can articulate all investigation paths | 75 min |
Week 30: Remaining Case Studies II¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 146 | K8s case studies | Case studies: cni-broken-after-restart + imagepullbackoff-registry-auth | Both completed | 60 min |
| 147 | K8s case studies II | Case studies: daemonset-blocks-eviction + resource-quota-blocking-deploy | Both completed | 60 min |
| 148 | Linux case studies II | Case studies: iptables-blocking-unexpected + stuck-nfs-mount | Both completed | 60 min |
| 149 | Network case studies V | Case studies: multicast-not-crossing-router + ospf-stuck-in-exstart | Both completed | 60 min |
| 150 | Supplement: Review + assessment | Complete all remaining skillchecks. Run make report-training-progress |
Coverage report reviewed, weak areas identified | 75 min |
Phase 7: Non-Technical Deep Dives (Weeks 31-36)¶
Week 31: Learning & Cognition (Deep Review)¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151 | Learning how to learn | Reread learning-how-to-learn -- all 3 files. Adjust study methods based on 30 weeks of experience | Written reflection on what worked | 60 min |
| 152 | Study systems + spaced rep | Reread study-systems-and-spaced-repetition -- all 3 files. Review SM-2 stats | SM-2 statistics reviewed | 60 min |
| 153 | Memory + attention | Reread memory-and-recall-techniques + attention-management street_ops | Applied 2 new techniques | 60 min |
| 154 | Metacognition + executive function | Reread metacognition-and-self-monitoring + executive-function-and-task-initiation street_ops | Self-assessment updated | 60 min |
| 155 | Anxiety + critical thinking | Reread learning-while-anxious + critical-thinking-and-cognitive-biases street_ops | Can name 10 cognitive biases | 60 min |
Week 32: Personal Development I¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 156 | Mindfulness + stoicism | Read mindfulness-stoicism-and-self-command -- all 3 files | Can explain dichotomy of control | 60 min |
| 157 | Emotional regulation | Read emotional-regulation-and-intrusive-thoughts -- all 3 files | Can name 3 regulation strategies | 60 min |
| 158 | Grit + motivation | Read grit-resilience-and-frustration-tolerance + motivation-and-avoidance -- primers + street_ops | Can explain intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation | 60 min |
| 159 | Habits + boundaries | Read habit-design-and-self-regulation + boundaries-and-saying-no -- primers + street_ops | Can explain habit loop model | 60 min |
| 160 | Grief + identity | Read grief-loss-and-adaptation + identity-values-and-life-design -- primers | Personal values list drafted | 60 min |
Week 33: Personal Development II + Organizational Knowledge¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | Free will + time | Read free-will-responsibility-and-agency primer + time-perception-and-planning-fallacy primer | Can explain planning fallacy with example | 60 min |
| 162 | Systems + decisions | Reread systems-thinking + decision-journaling -- street_ops | Decision journal started | 60 min |
| 163 | Risk + uncertainty | Reread risk-management-and-safety-thinking + uncertainty-and-probabilistic-thinking -- street_ops | Can explain pre-mortem technique | 60 min |
| 164 | Checklists + change | Read checklists-and-error-proofing primer + street_ops. Reread change-management street_ops | Personal checklist created for a recurring task | 60 min |
| 165 | Vendor + power + leadership | Reread vendor-management, power, leadership -- street_ops | Can explain vendor lock-in mitigation | 60 min |
Week 34: Life Skills¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 166 | Personal finance | Read personal-finance-and-money-decisions -- all 3 files | Can explain index fund vs active management | 60 min |
| 167 | Organization + home | Read personal-organization-and-decluttering + household-systems-and-home-maintenance -- primers + street_ops | Home maintenance calendar drafted | 60 min |
| 168 | Cars + DIY | Read cars-and-basic-vehicle-literacy + tools-materials-and-diy-basics -- primers + street_ops | Can explain basic car maintenance schedule | 60 min |
| 169 | Food + consumer | Read food-systems-and-cooking-fundamentals + consumer-self-defense -- primers + street_ops | Can name 5 consumer manipulation tactics | 60 min |
| 170 | Law + survival | Read law-for-normal-people + survival-and-emergency-preparedness -- primers + street_ops | Emergency kit checklist reviewed | 60 min |
Week 35: Health & Wellness¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 171 | Exercise deep dive | Reread exercise-recovery-and-physical-training -- all 3 files | Exercise routine documented | 60 min |
| 172 | Ergonomics deep dive | Reread ergonomics-and-pain-prevention -- all 3 files | Workspace re-audited | 60 min |
| 173 | Sleep deep dive | Reread sleep-energy-and-focus-management -- all 3 files | Sleep hygiene checklist created | 60 min |
| 174 | Nutrition + aging | Read nutrition-and-digestive-health + aging-and-longevity-basics -- primers + street_ops | Can explain basic macro nutrition | 60 min |
| 175 | Medical + relationships | Read medical-self-advocacy + relationships-and-attachment-patterns -- primers | Can explain secure vs anxious attachment | 60 min |
Week 36: Creative & Analytical¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 176 | Reading + writing | Read reading-strategies + writing-and-clarity -- primers + street_ops | Applied one new reading strategy | 60 min |
| 177 | Statistics + geography | Read statistics-and-data-reasoning + geography-maps-and-spatial-thinking -- primers | Can explain base rate fallacy | 60 min |
| 178 | Design + film | Read design-principles-and-visual-communication + film-analysis-and-visual-storytelling -- primers | Can explain 4 design principles (CRAP) | 60 min |
| 179 | Story + myth | Read storytelling-myth-and-superhero-analysis + mythic-heroes-villains-and-power -- primers | Can explain hero's journey structure | 60 min |
| 180 | Music + humor | Read music-analysis-and-listening + humor-comedy-and-wit -- primers | Can identify 3 music analysis frameworks | 60 min |
Phase 8: Integration & Capstone (Weeks 37-40)¶
Week 37: Remaining Topics + Case Studies¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 181 | Philosophy + sci-fi | Read philosophy-of-mind + science-fiction-futures-and-big-ideas -- primers | Can explain mind-body problem | 60 min |
| 182 | Media + urbanism | Read media-literacy-and-propaganda + urbanism-and-the-built-environment -- primers | Can identify 3 propaganda techniques | 60 min |
| 183 | DC case studies V | Case studies: bonding-failover-not-working + cable-management-wrong-port + disk-full-root-services-down | All completed | 75 min |
| 184 | DC case studies VI | Case studies: hba-firmware-mismatch + link-flaps-bad-optic + server-intermittent-reboot | All completed | 75 min |
| 185 | Remaining case studies | Case studies: server-remote-console-lag + bmc-clock-skew-cert-failure + source-routing-policy-miss + tcp-rst-after-idle | All completed | 75 min |
Week 38: DevOps Review Sprint¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 186 | Skillcheck review | Complete all skillchecks: Linux, Bash, K8s, Docker, Observability, Networking, Helm | All completed with honest self-evaluation | 90 min |
| 187 | Interview review I | Review scenarios 01-08. Practice articulating answers aloud | Fluent answers without notes | 75 min |
| 188 | Interview review II | Review scenarios 09-16. Practice articulating answers aloud | Fluent answers without notes | 75 min |
| 189 | Interview review III | Review scenarios 17-22. make challenge YES=1 MINUTES=10 x5 |
All challenges resolved within time | 90 min |
| 190 | Drill speed runs | Speed runs: kubectl_drills, helm_drills, obs_drills, linux_ops_drills | All drills under target time | 75 min |
Week 39: Integration Exercises¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 191 | End-to-end deploy | Full cycle: make build -> make deploy-all -> observe metrics -> make incident YES=1 -> resolve |
Incident resolved, metrics visible | 90 min |
| 192 | Cross-domain: network + K8s | make incident YES=1 x2. Focus on networking + K8s failure intersection |
Both resolved with journal entries | 75 min |
| 193 | Cross-domain: DC + Linux | Review datacenter + Linux case studies that share root causes. Identify patterns | 3 cross-domain patterns documented | 60 min |
| 194 | Architecture review | Review platform-engineering + service-mesh + gitops integration patterns. Draft architecture for a hypothetical platform | Architecture diagram sketched | 60 min |
| 195 | Mock interview day | Combined technical + behavioral mock interview. Use scenarios + STAR stories | Full mock completed | 90 min |
Week 40: Capstone & Assessment¶
| Day | Objective | Action | Exit criteria | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 196 | Final self-assessment | All remaining skillchecks. make report-training-progress |
Full coverage report generated | 75 min |
| 197 | Personal runbook library | Document top 10 operational procedures from memory (no references) | 10 procedures written | 75 min |
| 198 | SM-2 guided review | python3 tools/build_study_plan.py --preset weak-and-due. Execute the full plan |
All due + weak items reviewed | 75 min |
| 199 | Final incident gauntlet | make incident YES=1 x10. Resolve all without hints |
All 10 resolved | 90 min |
| 200 | Retrospective | Write learning journal: what worked, what didn't, remaining gaps, next steps. Run make report-training-progress --profile <name> one final time |
Retrospective written. Curriculum complete | 60 min |
Topic Coverage Verification¶
All 203 topics are scheduled. Use this checklist to verify nothing was missed.
Full topic-to-day mapping (click to expand)
| Topic | Day(s) | |-------|--------| | advanced-bash | 3 | | aging-and-longevity-basics | 174 | | ai-devops-tools | 128 | | ai-ml-ops | 128 | | alerting-rules | 58 | | ansible | 64 | | api-gateways | 73 | | arp | 13 | | attention-management | 15 | | audit-logging | 71 | | aws-troubleshooting | 92 | | azure-troubleshooting | 93 | | backup-restore | 89 | | bare-metal-provisioning | 109 | | behavioral-interviewing-and-storytelling | 110 | | behavioral-interviews | 110 | | binary-and-floats | 49 | | boundaries-and-saying-no | 159 | | capacity-planning | 99 | | career-engineering | 75, 136 | | cars-and-basic-vehicle-literacy | 168 | | change-management | 130, 164 | | chaos-engineering | 79 | | checklists-and-error-proofing | 164 | | cicd | 61 | | cicd-pipelines-realities | 62 | | cisco-fundamentals-for-devops | 44 | | claude-code | 129 | | cloud-deep-dive | 91 | | cloud-ops-basics | 91 | | compliance-automation | 71 | | conflict-management-and-assertiveness | 115 | | consumer-self-defense | 169 | | containers-deep-dive | 18 | | corporate-it-fluency | 131 | | crashloopbackoff | 31 | | critical-thinking-and-cognitive-biases | 35, 155 | | cron-scheduling | 8 | | css-fundamentals | 129 | | database-internals | 86 | | database-ops | 86 | | datacenter | 106 | | datacenter | 111 | | disk-and-storage-ops | 112 | | debugging-methodology | 78 | | deception-red-flags-and-bullshit-detection | 140 | | decision-journaling | 55, 162 | | dell-poweredge | 107 | | design-principles-and-visual-communication | 178 | | dhcp-ipam | 12 | | disaster-recovery | 99 | | dns-ops | 12 | | docker | 16, 17 | | ebpf-observability | 59 | | edge-iot | 98 | | elasticsearch | 87 | | emotional-regulation-and-intrusive-thoughts | 85, 157 | | ergonomics-and-pain-prevention | 25, 172 | | etcd | 88 | | ethics-tradeoffs-and-decision-making | 139 | | executive-function-and-task-initiation | 30, 154 | | exercise-recovery-and-physical-training | 50, 171 | | fd | 46 | | film-analysis-and-visual-storytelling | 178 | | finops | 94 | | firewalls | 43 | | firmware | 108 | | fleet-ops | 98 | | food-systems-and-cooking-fundamentals | 169 | | free-will-responsibility-and-agency | 161 | | fzf | 46 | | game-theory-and-strategy | 140 | | gcp-troubleshooting | 93 | | geography-maps-and-spatial-thinking | 177 | | git | 9 | | git-advanced | 9 | | gitops | 39 | | grief-loss-and-adaptation | 160 | | grit-resilience-and-frustration-tolerance | 80, 158 | | habit-design-and-self-regulation | 45, 159 | | helm | 36, 37 | | homelab | 127 | | household-systems-and-home-maintenance | 167 | | http-protocol | 42 | | humor-comedy-and-wit | 180 | | identity-values-and-life-design | 160 | | incident-command | 76 | | incident-psychology | 77 | | incident-triage | 76 | | infra-forensics | 72 | | inodes | 7 | | ipmi-and-ipmitool | 107 | | jq | 24 | | k8s-debugging-playbook | 34 | | k8s-ecosystem | 73 | | k8s-ops (HPA) | 29 | | k8s-networking | 32 | | k8s-node-lifecycle | 97 | | k8s-ecosystem | 97 | | k8s-ops | 26 | | k8s-ops (Probes) | 28 | | k8s-rbac | 33 | | k8s-storage | 34 | | kafka | 88 | | kernel-troubleshooting | 122 | | lacp | 14 | | law-for-normal-people | 170 | | ldap-identity | 131 | | leadership | 135, 165 | | learning-how-to-learn | 5, 151 | | learning-while-anxious | 40, 155 | | legacy-archaeology | 83 | | linux-hardening | 69 | | linux-ops | 41 | | linux-ops | 2 | | linux-performance | 121 | | linux-ops-storage | 6 | | linux-ops-systemd | 6 | | linux-performance | 121 | | load-balancing | 44 | | log-pipelines | 56 | | logging | 56 | | logic-rhetoric-and-argumentation | 138 | | media-literacy-and-propaganda | 182 | | medical-self-advocacy | 175 | | memory-and-recall-techniques | 10 | | metacognition-and-self-monitoring | 20, 154 | | mindfulness-stoicism-and-self-command | 90, 156 | | modern-cli | 23 | | modern-cli-workflows | 23 | | monitoring-fundamentals | 51 | | monitoring-migration | 59 | | moral-psychology | 139 | | motivation-and-avoidance | 158 | | mounts-filesystems | 7 | | mtu | 42 | | multi-tenancy | 74 | | music-analysis-and-listening | 180 | | mythic-heroes-villains-and-power | 179 | | nat | 13 | | negotiation-and-influence | 105, 137 | | networking | 11 | | networking-troubleshooting | 41 | | nginx-web-servers | 126 | | node-maintenance | 123 | | nutrition-and-digestive-health | 174 | | observability-deep-dive | 52 | | offensive-security-basics | 66 | | oomkilled | 31 | | opentelemetry | 57 | | ops-war-stories | 83 | | opsec-mistakes | 72 | | package-management | 8 | | packer | 64 | | perf-profiling | 123 | | personal-finance-and-money-decisions | 166 | | personal-organization-and-decluttering | 167 | | philosophy-of-mind | 181 | | platform-engineering | 96 | | policy-engines | 74 | | postmortem-slo | 81 | | powershell | 128 | | power | 135, 165 | | process-management | 4 | | professional-communication | 70 | | python-infra | 21 | | reading-strategies | 176 | | redfish | 108 | | regex-text-wrangling | 47 | | relationships-and-attachment-patterns | 175 | | ripgrep | 24 | | risk-management-and-safety-thinking | 95, 163 | | routing | 13 | | runbook-craft | 82 | | science-fiction-futures-and-big-ideas | 181 | | secrets-management | 68 | | security-basics | 66 | | security-scanning | 19, 66 | | selinux-apparmor | 69 | | server-hardware | 106 | | service-mesh | 96, 101 | | sleep-energy-and-focus-management | 25, 173 | | sql-fundamentals | 87 | | sre-practices | 81 | | statistics-and-data-reasoning | 125, 177 | | storage-ops | 89 | | storytelling-myth-and-superhero-analysis | 179 | | stp | 14 | | strace | 49 | | study-systems-and-spaced-repetition | 5, 152 | | subnetting-and-ip-addressing | 12 | | survival-and-emergency-preparedness | 170 | | systems-thinking | 60, 162 | | terminal-internals | 4 | | terraform | 63 | | time-perception-and-planning-fallacy | 161 | | tls | 67 | | tls-pki | 67 | | tools-materials-and-diy-basics | 168 | | tracing | 57 | | uncertainty-and-probabilistic-thinking | 120, 163 | | urbanism-and-the-built-environment | 182 | | vendor-management | 130, 165 | | virtualization | 127 | | vlans | 14 | | vpn-tunneling | 43 | | vscode | 129 | | writing-and-clarity | 65, 176 |DevOps Transition Plan Coverage¶
Every item from the DevOps transition priority list maps to specific curriculum days:
| Priority | Skill | Where in Curriculum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linux CLI | Weeks 1-2 (Days 1-10): linux-ops, advanced-bash, systemd, storage, inodes |
| 2 | Git | Week 2 Day 9: git + git-advanced |
| 3 | Bash | Weeks 1-2, 10: exercises levels 01-20, bash drills |
| 3 | Python | Week 5 (Days 21-22): exercises levels 01-10 + python-infra |
| 4 | Networking | Week 3 (Days 11-14): networking, subnetting/IPv4/IPv6, DNS, routing, VLANs |
| 4 | Subnetting / IPv6 | Week 3 Day 12: subnetting-and-ip-addressing (CIDR math, IPv6 fundamentals) |
| 5 | Ansible | Week 13 Day 64: ansible primer + exercises |
| 5 | Terraform | Week 13 Day 63: terraform primer + drills |
| 5 | Packer | Week 13 Day 64: packer primer (image pipeline with Ansible) |
| 6 | APIs + jq | Week 5 Day 24: jq + ripgrep. Week 9 Day 42: http-protocol (REST/curl) |
| 6 | PowerShell | Week 26 Day 128: powershell primer (mixed-environment survival) |
| 7 | Docker | Week 4 (Days 16-19): exercises levels 01-10, containers-deep-dive |
| 7 | Kubernetes | Weeks 6-8 (Days 26-39): exercises, labs, Helm, GitOps |
| 8 | Security | Week 14-15: security-basics, offensive-security-basics (SQL injection, XSS, DDoS, password cracking), TLS/PKI, secrets-management, hardening |
| 8 | SSH | Week 14 Day 69: linux-hardening (SSH hardening covered in security-basics) |
| 8 | Ransomware-safe backups | Week 18 Day 89: backup-restore (immutable backups, air-gapped copies, retention) |
| 9 | Cloud cert | Week 19 (Days 91-94): cloud-ops-basics, cloud-deep-dive, AWS/Azure/GCP troubleshooting |
| 10 | Homelab portfolio | Week 26 Day 127: homelab (IaC portfolio, Proxmox, k3s, monitoring) |
| 10 | Public GitHub | Week 15 Day 75 + Week 28 Day 136: career-engineering (portfolio, proof of work) |
| — | Grafana / Prometheus | Week 11 (Days 51-54): monitoring-fundamentals, observability-deep-dive, labs |
| — | CI/CD | Week 13 (Days 61-62): cicd, cicd-pipelines-realities |
| — | Virtualization | Week 26 Day 127: virtualization (hypervisor types, containers vs VMs) |
Case Study Coverage¶
All 60 case studies are scheduled across the curriculum:
- datacenter_ops (20): Days 105, 114, 115, 132, 133, 141, 142, 183, 184, 185
- kubernetes_ops (10): Days 30, 35, 40, 55, 85, 90, 146, 147
- linux_ops (10): Days 10, 20, 65, 70, 80, 124, 125, 148
- networking (20): Days 15, 45, 60, 75, 95, 116, 117, 118, 120, 143, 144, 149, 185
Interview Scenario Coverage¶
All 22 scenarios are scheduled:
- Scenarios 01-05: Day 84 (Week 17)
- Scenarios 06-10: Day 100 (Week 20)
- Scenario 11: Day 113 (Week 23)
- Scenarios 12, 14: Day 134 (Week 27)
- Scenario 13: Day 68 (Week 14)
- Scenario 15: Day 101 (Week 21)
- Scenario 16: Day 103 (Week 21)
- Scenarios 17-22: Day 145 (Week 29)
- Scenario 19: Day 104 (Week 21)
- Scenario 20: Day 94 (Week 19)
- Full review: Days 187-189 (Week 38)
Pages that link here¶
- AI Tools for DevOps - Primer
- API Gateways & Ingress - Primer
- ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) - Primer
- ARP Flux / Duplicate IP
- AWS Troubleshooting - Primer
- Advanced Bash for Ops - Primer
- Ansible for Infrastructure Automation - Primer
- ArgoCD & GitOps - Primer
- Asymmetric Routing / One-Direction Failure
- Audit Logging Primer
- Azure Troubleshooting - Primer
- BGP Peer Flapping
- BIOS Settings Reverted After CMOS Battery Replacement
- BMC Clock Skew - Certificate Failure
- Backup & Restore Primer