What's Expected After Each Module

Here is the bar for each module — what you should be able to do (not just recognise) before moving on. If you can do the things on the line, you're ready for the next module. These are also exactly what your mentor will look for at the weekly checkpoint.

After Module 1 — Networking Fundamentals

You can read a machine's IP/subnet/gateway, decide whether two addresses are on the same network, explain TCP vs UDP and ports, and troubleshoot a connection from the bottom of the stack up (refused vs timeout).

After Module 2 — Linux Fundamentals

You can move around a Linux system confidently, manage files and permissions, find things with grep/find, inspect running processes, and start/stop/inspect a service with systemctl and read its logs with journalctl.

After Module 3 — Shell Scripting

You can write a readable, robust Bash script that takes arguments, makes decisions, loops, checks exit codes, and fails safely — to automate a real task.

After Module 4 — Git & Version Control

You can initialise a repo, commit cleanly, branch and merge (and resolve a conflict), and push to / pull from the lab's Gitea server, including a basic pull-request flow.

After Module 5 — Common Linux Services

You can install and do basic config of Nginx (incl. a reverse proxy), create a per-app database + user on a relational DB, and explain when you'd reach for MongoDB, Redis, or Memcached.

After Module 6 — Containerization

You can write a clean multi-stage Dockerfile (non-root, pinned, healthchecked), build and run it, network containers together, write a Compose stack, and push an image to the lab registry. You can explain Docker vs Podman.

After Module 7 — Kubernetes

You can deploy a containerized app to the live cluster with a Deployment, expose it with a Service/Ingress, configure it with a ConfigMap/Secret, and give a stateful app persistent storage with a PVC.

After Module 8 — CI/CD

You can write a pipeline that builds and pushes an image on the lab runner, and explain GitOps — deploying an app to the cluster with Argo CD. You can say when you'd pick Jenkins, Bitbucket Pipelines, or GitHub Actions.

After Module 9 — Infrastructure as Code

You can write a cloud-init config to bootstrap a VM, read/understand a basic Terraform and Ansible example, and explain which tool fits which job (provisioning vs configuration vs bootstrap).

After Module 10 — Helm Charts

You can install a public Helm chart onto the cluster and drive its full lifecycle (install, override values with a values file, upgrade, and roll back), and you can author, lint, and package a simple chart for your own app.

After Module 11 — Observability + Capstone

You can ship logs and metrics to Grafana, build a dashboard, set a working alert, and — in the capstone — take an app all the way from source to a containerized, pipeline-deployed, observable service running on the cluster.

If you can't yet do the line for a module, that's useful information — flag it at your checkpoint. It's far cheaper to shore up a gap now than to discover it three modules later.