DevOps tools: discover the main and most used

DevOps is the term used to identify professionals and techniques that combine “development” and” operations”, that is, the developments and operations of IT software and technologies.

The central objective of this class is to maintain agility in delivering IT solutions to the end customer, adding value during the process through the integration of different areas.

For this to be possible, professionals need to rely on several DevOps tools, so that as much of the process as possible is automated, opening space for strategic thinking and problem solving.

If you have recently started to be interested in the area or are already working but are looking for new alternatives and systems, you are in the right place!

In this article, the Linux Certification team brought together the main tools for DevOps according to each stage of a project’s lifecycle. Just continue reading. Follow up!

Key tools for DevOps (by DevOps lifecycle stage)

There are at least 7 stages or stages in the life cycle of a project that applies DevOps techniques, which are:

• planning and development;
• compilation;
• thesis;
• implementation;
• integration;
• monitoring;
• continuous feedback.

Each of these phases has its own tools, which can make all work simpler and faster, fulfilling the initial objective of guaranteeing fast delivery to the end customer.

Next, you will learn the best practices and tools at each stage of DevOps development.

1. Planning and development

It is during the planning stage that the entire project to be developed is structured and defined, that is, all the functionalities, resources, and even the narrative of the product.

Soon after carrying out these planning practices and organizing the stages, the teams begin the actual development.

All project development can be facilitated with the help of DevOps tools such as:

• Git, which is a software for controlling file versions and recording steps and changes, shown through a history of changes;

Jira, aimed at managing projects and teams in order to optimize the process;

• Mercurial, which it is also a version and change control tool such as Git;
• and SpiraTeam, a system designed to manage projects related to software development.

These tools allow the automation of processes and integrations with other development processes in order to document the entire development journey.

In addition to these, another great ally of developers will be the Docker tool, for container management, which greatly facilitates the entire structuring.

Discover the Linux Certification Docker for DevOps course!

2. Compilation

To compile the code and the structures created, it is necessary to rely on the help of specific tools that convert all the code developed into the binary language used for software testing.

The compilation is responsible for joining all the developed files and creating a package ready to be executed and read by the test platform.

The tools that can help with this process are:

• Packer, which is a compiler with embedded files for optimization;
• Maven, used to compile Java, C# and other languages projects;
• Apache Ant, which is specific for compiling Java projects.

Of course, there are other similar tools, but these three are the best known and can facilitate the routine of the entire team.

3.

Test

Photo: Pexels | Testing tools optimize time and resources.

It is impossible to verify that a software is achieving the expected result without testing it several times, identifying errors and correcting them.

For this reason, the testing phase is the most important after development, since it points out all the improvements necessary for the final product to be truly satisfactory and meets the customer’s needs and expectations.

The best tools to optimize and automate this process are:

• Selenium, which allows the reproduction of functional tests in a short period of time;
• JUnit, an open-source system that tests, mainly , Java software and applications;
• Telerik Test Studio, which allows both manual and automated tests, verifying various aspects such as loading, mobile performance, and others.

These test automations are great “hands in the wheel” for developers, who can save time and invest it in solving problems and idealizing innovations.

4. Deployment

With all the tests carried out and the data duly collected and analyzed, the new software developed is ready to move on to the implementation phase, that is, to be installed on the teams’ production servers.

For this to happen, however, it is necessary to rely on the help of configuration and management tools for DevOps, such as:

• Puppet, responsible for automating infrastructures and configurations quickly on all necessary servers;
• Ansible, which also automates the deployment of applications and processes on servers;
• and Chef, which works very similar to previous tools, making tasks such as installing packages, for example, automatic.

Imagine what it would be like if, in a company with 30 servers, it were necessary to manually configure one by one? The wasted time would be enormous, in addition to delaying work processes.

5 Integration

Integration is a fundamental part of the entire DevOps framework, which integrates complementary ecosystems and environments.

This integration allows the identification and prediction of errors, which will be solved through teams and the continuous development of the software code.

Some useful tools are:

• Bamboo, which decodes specific segments of code and allows integration between different users and other tools;
• Jenkins , which allows the generation of automatic packages, which can be tested and modified;
• CircleCI, which allows teams to share new codes and elements.

6.

Monitoring

Photo: Pexels | Monitoring is an essential part of the internship.

The penultimate stage of a DevOps project is monitoring, which takes place immediately after the testing, compilation, and critical analysis of the developed code, always monitoring whether there is a possibility of new errors, bugs, and changes.

In addition, it is necessary to always monitor the performance of the databases, infrastructures and performance of the item developed.

Thus, some tools for DevOpSideais at this stage are:

• Munin, a free and open-source system responsible for generating interesting graphics about the performance of the software and its functionalities;
• Nagios , which generates real-time assessments of the operating status of your system;
• Zabbix, responsible for generating alerts and integrating various communication possibilities, such as sending reports and updates via SMS.

7. Continuous feedback

The feedback stage consists of feedback from both customers and members of the team itself. It is also necessary to pay attention to what the competition and the market in general are saying about your software.

When it comes to getting feedback from teammates and customers, some DevOps tools that can help are:

• Slack, which can group conversations into channels and centralize information;
• GetFeedback, which collects comments and information dictated by customer about your product;
• and Jira Service Management, capable of managing teams and projects, collecting data and feedback.

Conclusion

In this article you were able to identify several DevOps tools that will be very useful for automating and optimizing your development process and teamwork.

If you like to keep up to date with all the main trends and news in the IT market, as well as in the Linux universe, you can’t stop following the Linux Certification Blog, which already has a lot of useful content and interesting!

Uirá Endy Ribeiro

Uirá Endy Ribeiro is a Software Developer and Cloud Computing Architect with a 23-year career. He has master's degrees in computer science and fifteen IT certifications and is the author of 11 books recognized in the IT world market. He is also Director at Universidade Salgado de Oliveira and Director of the Linux Professional Institute - LPI Director's Board.