Cloud & Platform Engineering Learning Plan 🚀

Start Date: April 29, 2025 Goal: Transition into a Cloud & Platform Engineering role by mastering Terraform, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, and modern DevOps practices through hands-on labs and documentation.

🧭 Timeline Overview

Week Dates Phase Focus Topic
1 Apr 29 – May 5 Phase 0 Setup & Orientation
2–5 May 6 – Jun 2 Phase 1 Terraform + AWS Basics
6–9 Jun 3 – Jun 30 Phase 2 Docker Fundamentals + CI/CD
10–13 Jul 1 – Jul 28 Phase 3 Kubernetes Fundamentals
14–16 Jul 29 – Aug 18 Phase 4 Platform Concepts + Observability

✅ Phase 0 – Setup & Orientation (Week 1)

Goals:

  • Install and configure Terraform, AWS CLI, and Git
  • Setup GitHub repo structure for note-taking
  • Read:
    • Terraform AWS Intro Tutorial (EC2 provisioning)
    • Terraform CLI command docs
  • Optional:
    • Terraform Up & Running (Ch. 1–3)
    • Watch FreeCodeCamp 1-hour intro to Terraform

Deliverables:

  • Repo: cloud-notes/terraform/01-getting-started.md
  • AWS CLI authenticated
  • GitHub repo synced with initial structure

⛏️ Phase 1 – Terraform + AWS Basics (Weeks 2–5)

Goals:

  • Learn Terraform syntax, state, variables, outputs
  • Create:
    • EC2 instance
    • S3 bucket
    • IAM user
    • VPC (basic)
  • Refresh AWS services via Neal Davis videos

Deliverables:

  • Repos:
    • terraform/ec2-instance
    • terraform/s3-module
  • Notes in:
    • aws/ec2.md
    • aws/iam.md
    • aws/s3.md

🐳 Phase 2 – Docker Fundamentals + CI/CD (Weeks 6–9)

Goals:

  • Build, tag, and push custom Docker images
  • Use docker-compose and multi-stage builds
  • Automate builds with GitHub Actions or GitLab CI
  • Optional: run containers on your home lab

Deliverables:

  • Repo: docker/labs with Dockerfile examples
  • GitHub pipeline YAML for image build + push

☸️ Phase 3 – Kubernetes Fundamentals (Weeks 10–13)

Goals:

  • Deploy apps to K3s or Minikube
  • Learn about Deployments, Services, Ingress, ConfigMaps
  • Use Helm to manage templated deployments

Deliverables:

  • Repo: kubernetes/labs with manifests
  • Notes in kubernetes/intro.md

🧠 Phase 4 – Platform & Observability (Weeks 14–16)

Goals:

  • Deploy Prometheus, Grafana, Loki
  • Add metrics and logging to your K8s apps
  • Understand platform-as-a-product mindset
  • Optional: explore GitOps with ArgoCD or Flux

Deliverables:

  • Monitoring stack deployed in home lab
  • observability.md with Grafana dashboards or queries

💡 Tracking Progress

Create a simple checklist in this file or your terminal to track your weekly progress and write reflections.