Configuration Management and the Cloud Course Syllabus
Full curriculum breakdown — modules, lessons, estimated time, and outcomes.
This course provides a practical foundation in configuration management and cloud automation, blending hands-on experience with Puppet and cloud-native tools. Over approximately 16 hours, learners will progress through core concepts and real-world applications, covering infrastructure-as-code, node management, cloud instance automation, and container orchestration. Each module combines theory with guided exercises to reinforce skills in managing scalable, reliable systems on Google Cloud Platform.
Module 1: Automating with Configuration Management
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Definition and value of configuration management
- Infrastructure-as-code principles
- Declarative vs procedural paradigms
- Introduction to Puppet and factor info
- Hands-on: Set up Puppet master/agent locally
Module 2: Deploying Puppet
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Puppet resources and syntax
- Node definitions and classification
- Module organization and reuse
- Facts collection using Facter
- Hands-on: Apply Puppet rules across nodes
Module 3: Automation in the Cloud
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Scaling strategies for cloud environments
- Using GCP metadata for automation
- Startup and shutdown scripting
- Configuring Cloud SQL instances
- Hands-on: Automate VM setup with cloud-init and metadata
Module 4: Managing Cloud Instances at Scale
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Introduction to containerization with Docker
- Kubernetes fundamentals for orchestration
- Deploying containerized workloads on GCP
- CI/CD considerations in cloud automation
- Hands-on: Launch VMs and deploy containers via Puppet
Module 5: Final Project
Estimated time: 4 hours
- Design a multi-node infrastructure using Puppet
- Automate cloud instance provisioning and configuration
- Deploy and manage containerized applications
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with basic Linux system administration
- Understanding of fundamental IT automation concepts
- Basic command-line proficiency
What You'll Be Able to Do After
- Implement configuration management using Puppet across multiple nodes
- Write and structure Puppet manifests and modules
- Automate cloud instance setup using startup scripts and metadata
- Configure and manage Cloud SQL and other GCP services
- Orchestrate containerized workloads using Docker and Kubernetes