AZ-400 A: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps solutions

Module 1: Planning for DevOps

Lessons
•   Transformation Planning
•   Project Selection
•   Team Structures
•   Migrating to Azure DevOps
Lab: Agile Planning and Portfolio Management with Azure Boards

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Plan for the transformation with shared goals and timelines
•   Select a project and identify project metrics and KPIs
•   Create a team and agile organizational structure
•   Design a tool integration strategy
•   Design a license management strategy (e.g. VSTS users)
•   Design a strategy for end-to-end traceability from work items to working software
•   Design an authentication and access strategy
•   Design a strategy for integrating on-premises and cloud resources

Module 2: Getting started with Source Control

Lessons
•   What is Source Control
•   Benefits of Source Control
•   Types of Source Control Systems
•   Introduction to Azure Repos
•   Introduction to GitHub
•   Migrating from Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) to Git in Azure Repos
•   Authenticating to Git in Azure Repos
Lab: Version Controlling with Git

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Describe the benefits of using Source Control
•   Describe Azure Repos and GitHub
•   Migrate from TFVC to Git

Module 3: Scaling Git for enterprise DevOps

Lessons
•   How to Structure your Git Repo
•   Git Branching Workflows
•   Collaborating with Pull Requests in Azure Repos
•   Why care about GitHooks
•   Fostering Inner Source
Lab: Code Review with Pull Requests

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Explain how to structure Git repos
•   Describe Git branching workflows
•   Leverage pull requests for collaboration and code reviews
•   Leverage Git hooks for automation
•   Use git to foster inner source across the organization

Module 4: Consolidating Artifacts & Designing a Dependency Management Strategy

Lessons
•   Packaging Dependencies
•   Package Management
•   Migrating and Consolidating Artifacts
Lab: Updating Packages

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Recommend artifact management tools and practices
•   Abstract common packages to enable sharing and reuse
•   Migrate and consolidate artifacts
•   Migrate and integrate source control measures

Module 5: Implementing Continuous Integration with Azure Pipelines

Lessons
•   The concept of pipelines in DevOps
•   Azure Pipelines
•   Evaluate use of Hosted vs Private Agents
•   Agent Pools
•   Pipelines and Concurrency
•   Azure DevOps and Open Source Projects (Public Projects)
•   Azure Pipelines YAML vs Visual Designer
•   Continuous Integration Overview
•   mplementing a Build Strategy
•   Integration with Azure Pipelines
•   Integrate External Source Control with Azure Pipelines
•   Set Up Private Agents
•   Analyze and Integrate Docker Multi-Stage Builds
Lab: Enabling Continuous Integration with Azure Pipelines
Lab: Integrating External Source Control with Azure Pipelines
Lab: Integrate Jenkins with Azure Pipelines
Lab: Deploying a Multi-Container Application

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Implement and manage build infrastructure
•   Explain why continuous integration matters
•   Implement continuous integration using Azure DevOps

Module 6: Managing Application Config and Secrets

Lessons
•   Introduction to Security
•   Implement secure and compliant development process
•   Rethinking application config data
•   Manage secrets, tokens, and certificates
•   Implement tools for managing security and compliance in a pipeline
Lab: Integrating Azure Key Vault with Azure DevOps

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Manage application config and secrets

Module 7: Managing Code Quality and Security Policies

Lessons
•   Managing Code Quality
•   Managing Security Policies
Lab: Managing Technical Debt with Azure DevOps and SonarCloud

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Manage code quality including: technical debt SonarCloud, and other tooling solutions
•   Manage security policies with open source and OWASP

Module 8: Implementing a Container Build Strategy

Lessons
•   Implementing a Container Build Strategy
Lab: Modernizing Existing ASP.NET Apps with Azure

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Implement a container strategy including how containers are different from virtual machines and how microservices use containers
•   Implement containers using Docker

Module 9: Manage Artifact versioning, security & compliance

Lessons
•   Package security
•   Open source software
•   Integrating license and vulnerability scans
•   Implement a versioning strategy (git version)
Lab: Manage Open Source Security and License with WhiteSource

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Inspect open source software packages for security and license compliance to align with corporate standards
•   Configure build pipeline to access package security and license rating
•   Configure secure access to package feeds
•   Inspect codebase to identify code dependencies that can be converted to packages
•   Identify and recommend standardized package types and versions across the solution
•   Refactor existing build pipelines to implement version strategy that publishes packages
•   Manage security and compliance

Module 10: Design a Release Strategy

Lessons
•   Introduction to Continuous Delivery
•   Release strategy recommendations
•   Building a High-Quality Release pipeline
•   Choosing a deployment pattern
•   Choosing the right release management tool

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Differentiate between a release and a deployment
•   Define the components of a release pipeline
•   Explain things to consider when designing your release strategy
•   Classify a release versus a release process and outline how to control the quality of both
•   Describe the principle of release gates and how to deal with release notes and documentation
•   Explain deployment patterns, both in the traditional sense and in the modern sense
•   Choose a release management tool

Module 11: Set up a Release Management Workflow

Lessons
•   Create a Release Pipeline
•   Provision and Configure Environments
•   Manage and Modularize Tasks and Templates
•   Integrate Secrets with the release pipeline
•   Configure Automated Integration and Functional Test Automation
•   Automate Inspection of Health
Lab: Configuring Pipelines as Code with YAML
Lab: Setting up secrets in the pipeline with Azure Key vault
Lab: Setting up and Running Functional Tests
Lab: Using Azure Monitor as release gate
Lab: Creating a release Dashboard

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Explain the terminology used in Azure DevOps and other Release Management Tooling
•   Describe what a Build and Release task is, what it can do, and some available deployment tasks
•   Classify an Agent, Agent Queue, and Agent Pool
•   Explain why you sometimes need multiple release jobs in one release pipeline
•   Differentiate between multi-agent and multi-configuration release job
•   Use release variables and stage variables in your release pipeline
•   Deploy to an environment securely using a service connection
•   Embed testing in the pipeline
•   List the different ways to inspect the health of your pipeline and release by using alerts, service hooks, and reports
•   Create a release gate

Module 12: Implement an appropriate deployment pattern

Lessons
•   Introduction to Deployment Patterns
•   Implement Blue Green Deployment
•   Feature Toggles
•   Canary Releases
•   Dark Launching
•   AB Testing
•   Progressive Exposure Deployment
Lab: Feature Flag Management with LaunchDarkly and Azure DevOps

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Describe deployment patterns
•   Implement Blue Green Deployment
•   Implement Canary Release
•   Implement Progressive Exposure Deployment

Module 13: Implement process for routing system feedback to development teams

Lessons
•   Implement Tools to Track System Usage, Feature Usage, and Flow
•   Implement Routing for Mobile Application Crash Report Data
•   Develop Monitoring and Status Dashboards
•   Integrate and Configure Ticketing Systems
Lab: Monitoring Application Performance

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Configure crash report integration for client applications
•   Develop monitoring and status dashboards
•   Implement routing for client application crash report data
•   Implement tools to track system usage, feature usage, and flow
•   Integrate and configure ticketing systems with development team’s work management

Module 14: Implement a mobile DevOps strategy

Lessons
•   Introduction to Mobile DevOps
•   Introduction to Visual Studio App Center
•   Manage mobile target device sets and distribution groups
•   Manage target UI test device sets
•   Provision tester devices for deployment
•   Create public and private distribution groups

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Implement a mobile DevOps strategy

Module 15: Infrastructure and Configuration Azure Tools

Lessons
•   Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
•   Create Azure Resources using ARM Templates
•   Create Azure Resources using Azure CLI
•   Create Azure Resources by using Azure PowerShell
•   Desired State Configuration (DSC)
•   Azure Automation with DevOps
•   Additional Automation Tools
Lab: Azure Deployments using Resource Manager Templates

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Apply infrastructure and configuration as code principles
•   Deploy and manage infrastructure using Microsoft automation technologies such as ARM templates, PowerShell, and Azure CLI

Module 16: Azure Deployment Models and Services

Lessons
•   Deployment Modules and Options
•   Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Services
•   Azure Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) services
•   Serverless and HPC Computer Services
•   Azure Service Fabric
Lab: Azure Automation – IaaS or PaaS deployment

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Describe deployment models and services that are available with Azure

Module 17: Create and Manage Kubernetes Service Infrastructure

Lessons
•   Azure Kubernetes Service
Lab: Deploying a multi-container application to Azure Kubernetes Service

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Deploy and configure a Managed Kubernetes cluster

Module 18: Third Party Infrastructure as Code Tools available with Azure

Lessons
•   Chef
•   Puppet
•   Ansible
•   Terraform
Lab: Infrastructure as Code
Lab: Automating Your Infrastructure Deployments in the Cloud with Terraform and Azure Pipelines

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Deploy and configure infrastructure using 3rd party tools and services with Azure, such as Chef, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, and Terraform

Module 19: Implement Compliance and Security in your Infrastructure

Lessons
•   Security and Compliance Principles with DevOps
•   Azure security Center
Lab: Implement Security and Compliance in an Azure DevOps Pipeline

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Define an infrastructure and configuration strategy and appropriate toolset for a release pipeline and application infrastructure
•   Implement compliance and security in your application infrastructure

Module 20: Recommend and design system feedback mechanisms

Lessons
•   The inner loop
•   Continuous Experimentation mindset
•   Design practices to measure end-user satisfaction
•   Design processes to capture and analyze user feedback
•   Design process to automate application analytics
Lab: Integration between Azure DevOps and Teams

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Design practices to measure end-user satisfaction
•   Design processes to capture and analyze user feedback from external sources
•   Design routing for client application crash report data
•   Recommend monitoring tools and technologies
•   Recommend system and feature usage tracking tools

Module 21: Optimize feedback mechanisms

Lessons
•   Site Reliability Engineering
•   Analyze telemetry to establish a baseline
•   Perform ongoing tuning to reduce meaningless or non-actionable alerts
•   Analyze alerts to establish a baseline
•   Blameless Retrospectives and a Just Culture

After completing this module, students will be able to:
•   Analyze alerts to establish a baseline
•   Analyze telemetry to establish a baseline
•   Perform live site reviews and capture feedback for system outages
•   Perform ongoing tuning to reduce meaningless or non-actionable alerts