Top 10 Free DevOps Courses to Learn Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes in 2024

Hello guys, you might have heard about DevOps and all the attention it is getting now. DevOps is a new phenomenon, and there is a mad race among senior developers to become a DevOps engineer.

Well, I am not one of them as my passion is for becoming a software architect, but I have indeed spent some time learning DevOps just to increase my knowledge of the field as I strongly believe in the phrase, jack of all and master of one :-).

In the DevOps world, tools matters a lot, and the whole of the DevOps phenomenon to create an automated pipeline for delivering quality software heavily relies on cleaver uses of tools like Maven, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, and others.

If you are learning DevOps in 2024 for one reason or another and looking for some excellent online courses to kick-start your journey, then you have come to the right place.

In this article, I am going to share some of the best DevOps courses which are also free and cover essential tools like Maven, Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes, which every DevOps Engineer should know in 2024

These courses are definitely not in-depth but will provide you enough knowledge to start and work on your project and also to explore more, which is very important for beginners.

Also, don’t think that because these are free courses, they are of poor quality. Most of these courses are presented by the experienced instructor which are expert in the DevOps field and knows what they are talking.

These courses are just made free of marketing and educational reasons. Most of the time, the Instructor also covers their free course to paid one once they reach their promotional target, particularly in Udemy. o please be aware of that and check the price before you join the class.

Btw, if you are just looking for one course which covers basic DevOps and most of these tools, then I suggest you join Master in DevOps: Docker Jenkins GIT CI Pipeline and Maven course in Udemy. This is not free, but you can get it within just $10 in many flash sales of Udemy, and its well worthy of your time.

DevOps MasterClass : GIT Docker Jenkins Kubernetes

10 Free Courses to Learn Maven, Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes for DevOps Engineers

There are a lot of free courses, books, and tutorials available on the internet, but I have chosen only 10 of them and that too to learn different tools from a DevOps perspective.

These courses will teach you to build tools like Maven, CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Containers like Docker and Container management technology like Kubernetes, and build too like Apache Maven or Gradle. Once you learn these tools, you should be able to more comfortable working as a DevOps professional. You should also be able to implement DevOps in your project.

Without any further ado, here is my list of some of the free courses to learn essential DevOps tools like Maven, Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes.

1. JENKINS Beginner Tutorial - Step by Step

There is no doubt that Jenkins is an integral part of the DevOps toolchain. It is probably the most essential tool, and it exists much before the DevOps phenomenon started.

Some people actually credit Jenkins for starting DevOps because it was this tool that first introduced automated build and deployment for Java projects. Anyway, talking about this course, it’s a fantastic course to build, deploy, and testing with Jenkins 2.0.

The course is free, and it has 4.4 ratings on average on Udemy from more than 47K students, which speaks a lot about its quality.

Instructor Raghav Pal is both enthusiastic as well very clear. The lessons are also fast-paced but well explained and to the point, which means you will learn a lot in a quick time. I learned a lot.

If you don’t like a fast-paced course, you can also slow down the speed to go as per your convenience. In short, it is the fastest, most engaging, and most explicit free course about Jenkins.

Here is the link to join this course — JENKINS Beginner Tutorial — Step by Step

2. Containers 101

Containers like Docker are again an essential part of DevOps, as it allows them to scale quickly, set up a new environment with a click of buttons, and abstract the Harward part from an application. Good knowledge of containers is essential for DevOps professionals, and that’s where this course helps.

Again, the course is free, at least at the time of this writing, and got on average 4.3 ratings from more than 7.5K students.

In this course, you will learn about how to build and deploy applications to modern container platforms with Kubernetes, Docker, and Helm. It contains more than 6 hours of content, so it’s no mean a short course.

Actually, it’s a collection of recorded webinars, but the content is excellent and gives a good overview of Docker and DockerCopose. Notably, the best practices and implementation tips are fantastic.

Here is the link to join this course — Containers 101

3. Maven Quick Start: A Fast Introduction to Maven by Example

Some people may argue that Gradle is a better tool than Maven, and that may be true, but we can’t ignore Maven’s importance and presence in the current software development world.

It’s without a doubt the most common build tool and dependency management system, and most of the companies and startups use Maven for building their project, and that’s what makes it essential for DevOps engineers.

Talking about the course, it’s a free course with 3 hours of content. It has got, on average, 4.4 ratings from almost 20K students who are quite impressive.

The course provides a step by step guide to learn Apache Maven. You will learn about core concepts, how to use Maven with Eclipse, build Java projects using Maven, Integrate Git source control with Maven, and find and manage dependencies in Maven.

In short, a perfect course to learn Maven for Java developers and DevOps engineers.

Here is the link to join this FREE course — Maven Quick Start: A Fast Introduction to Maven by Example

4. Getting Started with Google Kubernetes Engine [Coursera]

Along with Docker, Kubernetes is another awesome and essential tools for DevOps engineers. Almost all microservice-based applications are now using Kubernetes for scaling, and that’s why you need to understand and master Kubernetes.

The course will teach you how to deploy, manage, and scale dockerized apps in Kubernetes, a fantastic product from Google, which helps deploy software or web applications, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It also touches based on the deployment in the cloud using Google Cloud.

This course is part of the Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud DevOps Engineer Professional Certificate, which is probably the best material to prepare for GCP DevOps Certification exam.

Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud DevOps Engineer

Talking about course, this is a free course on Coursera, offered by Google Cloud and provides 6hours of content. It has amassed 4.5 ratings around 30,000 students, which is very impressive. Btw, like many other free Coursera courses, you can also audit it for free.

If you want a certificate, then you need to purchase the course, which will then also give you access to many quizzes, assessments, and peer reviews.

You can even show that certificate in your LinkedIn profile, which can also attract a lot of recruiters looking for these cutting edge skills.

Here is the link to join this course for FREE — Getting Started with Google Kubernetes Engine

By the way, if you find Coursera courses useful, then I also suggest you join the Coursera Plus, a subscription plan from Coursera which gives you unlimited access to their most popular courses, specialization, professional certificate, and guided projects. It cost around $399/year but its complete worth of your money as you get unlimited certificates

Coursera Plus | Unlimited Access to 7,000+ Online Courses

5. HANDS-ON DOCKER for JAVA Developers

Along with Jenkins, Docker is probably the most essential tool for DevOps engineers. It’s also the most popular container available to deploy your microservices.

Talking about the course, it’s again a fantastic course for Java developers and contains around 4 hours of high-quality free content, which may sound less, but it’s packed with a lot of information.

The course is free and has, on average, 4.5 ratings from 22,000 students, which is very impressive. The instructor is also an expert and very clear and confident.

The course is also very hands-on, and you will immediately start using Docker if you follow along. You will first learn how to install and configure Docker and then move to more advanced topics like building custom images using Dockerfile, managing images and containers and understanding container life-cycle, etc.

Here is the link to join this course — HANDS-ON DOCKER for JAVA Developers

In short, an excellent free course to start with Docker, the very container one is using.

6. Getting Started With Jenkins: Key Concepts for Beginners

This is another free Udemy course to learn Jenkins for both developers and DevOps engineers. In this 1 hour 40 minute long free course you will learn about key Jenkins concepts including Installing, Configuring, and Using Jenkins!

Here are the main things you will learn in this free course:

1. Install and Configure of Jenkins
2. Prepare Build Accounts
3. Manage Plugins
4. Create and Manage Builds
5. Set up a Build Slave
6. Schedule Builds
7. Launch Builds on Slave Nodes

Once you have completed the course, you will be well on your way to implementing Jenkins for configuration management and deployment in your environment!

Here is the link to join this course for FREE — Getting Started With Jenkins: Key Concepts for Beginners

7. Docker Essentials

This is a good free course to learn about Docker's key concepts on Udemy. In this 2 hour 50 minutes long free online course you will learn Hands-on Containerization and Orchestration with Docker Ecosystem (Docker, Compose, and Swarm).

Here are key the skills you will learn in this course

1. In-depth understanding of containers and Docker.
2. Use Docker on Development and/or Production Environment with the help of in-depth labs.
3. Get clarity of concepts and will be able to avoid common misconceptions regarding containers with hand-crafted quizzes.
4. Use Docker CLI efficiently
5. Create custom Docker images using Dockerfiles
6. Create and Run Multi-container applications using Docker Compose
7. Manage Docker Swarm Clusters

The course is also very hands-on and engaging. It has More than 30 Demonstrations of Docker command line, files, and applications and more than 7 Quizzes to test your understanding and correct yourself if needed!

Here is the link to join this Docker course for FREE — Docker Essentials

8. Kubernetes: Getting Started

This is a free online course to learn Kubernetes on Udemy. In this 3 hours 40-minute free course, you will learn about the basics of Container Orchestration Engine and Kubernetes to get started into the world of Kubernetes.

Here are the key skills you will learn in this course —

1. Kubernetes basics.
2. why we need a good Container Orchestration Engine and see why Kubernetes is your go-to option
3. in-depth understanding of what are Pods, how do they connect and communicate
4. how to write Pod manifest file and deploy it on Kubernetes
5. how to expose applications on to the internet using NodePort service.

Overall a great free Kubernetes course for DevOps Engineer, Developers, Admins or Anyone interested to learn about Kubernetes.

Here is the link to join this course — Kubernetes: Getting Started

9. Kubernetes Fundamentals for Beginners

This is another short and free course to learn Kubernetes basics on Udemy. Created by Arpit Roy, this course will provide you an overview of the Kubernetes Architecture & Fundamentals in 1-hour.

Here are the key things you will learn in this free course:

1. Kubernetes history — where it came from
2. Kubernetes — What and why
3. Big picture view of Kubernetes
4. What are the Masters?
5. What are the Nodes?
6. Understand the desired state and declarative model
7. Learn about Pods, Services, and Deployments

Here is the link to join this course — Kubernetes Fundamentals for Beginners

Please note that this is only a getting started a course for beginners and does not contain any demos or lab exercises. For an in-depth course on Kubernetes along with hands-on lab demos, please check out Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners — Hands-on courses.

That’s all about some of the best courses to learn DevOps and some of the essential tools like Jenkins, Maven, Docker, and Kubernetes for DevOps developers. As I have said, DevOps is a new phenomenon, but DevOps engineer is very high in demand, and if you want to give your career a boost, you should spend some time learning DevOps and enhancing your profile.


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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these best free DevOps courses to learn Jenkins, Docker, and CI/CD then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. — There is another excellent free course on Coursera to learn DevOps and Continuous Delivery, offered by the University of Virginia. If you need a DevOps Certification and like Coursera courses then you can also check out that course, it’s worth your time and has got some rave reviews.

Continuous Delivery & DevOps