Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
Prepare for the AZ-400 exam and master DevOps practices including version control, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and monitoring using Azure DevOps and GitHub.
Spend your points to unlock exam-style practice questions
The points you’re earning right now aren’t just for show — redeem them on Godlike Exams to unlock exam-style practice questions for the certifications you study here. Up to 20 questions per exam are free to try right away.
Browse practice examsCourse Content
10 modules · 142 lessons
Module 1: Design and Implement Processes and Communications
Learn to design work tracking, metrics, dashboards, and collaboration tools for DevOps teams. (10-15% of exam)
Traceability and Flow of Work
Design and implement work tracking and traceability across the DevOps lifecycle.
- Lesson Introduction to DevOps Flow of Work 15 min
- Lesson GitHub Flow: Branching and Workflow Strategy 20 min
- Lesson Designing Feedback Cycles with Notifications 15 min
- Lesson Working with GitHub Issues for Feedback 20 min
- Lesson Integration: GitHub Projects and Azure Boards 25 min
- Lesson Connecting Repositories to Work Tracking 20 min
- Lesson Source, Bug, and Quality Traceability 20 min
- Quiz Traceability and Flow of Work Quiz 5 questions
Metrics and Queries for DevOps
Design dashboards and metrics for project planning, development, testing, and operations.
- Lesson Building DevOps Dashboards 20 min
- Lesson Flow Metrics: Cycle Time, Lead Time, Recovery 25 min
- Lesson Metrics for Project Planning 15 min
- Lesson Development and Testing Metrics 20 min
- Lesson Security and Delivery Metrics 20 min
- Lesson Operations Metrics and Monitoring 20 min
- Quiz DevOps Metrics Quiz 5 questions
Collaboration and Communication
Configure documentation, integrations, and team communication tools.
- Lesson Project Documentation with Wikis 15 min
- Lesson Markdown and Mermaid Syntax for Diagrams 20 min
- Lesson Release Notes and API Documentation 15 min
- Lesson Automating Documentation from Git History 20 min
- Lesson Webhooks Integration 20 min
- Lesson Azure Boards and GitHub Integration 25 min
- Lesson Microsoft Teams Integration 15 min
- Quiz Collaboration and Communication Quiz 5 questions
Module 2: Design and Implement Source Control Strategy
Learn branching strategies, repository management, and Git best practices. (10-15% of exam)
Branching Strategies
Design and implement effective branching strategies for source code.
- Lesson Introduction to Branching Strategies 15 min
- Lesson Trunk-Based Development 20 min
- Lesson Feature Branch Strategy 20 min
- Lesson Release Branch Strategy 20 min
- Lesson Pull Request Workflows 25 min
- Lesson Branch Policies and Protections 25 min
- Lesson Implementing Branch Merging Restrictions 20 min
- Quiz Branching Strategies Quiz 5 questions
Repository Management
Configure and manage Git repositories effectively.
- Lesson Managing Large Files with Git LFS 20 min
- Lesson Git-Fat for Large File Storage 15 min
- Lesson Scaling Git Repositories with Scalar 20 min
- Lesson Cross-Repository Sharing Strategies 20 min
- Lesson Configuring Repository Permissions 20 min
- Lesson Using Tags to Organize Repositories 15 min
- Lesson Recovering Data with Git Commands 25 min
- Lesson Removing Sensitive Data from Source Control 25 min
- Quiz Repository Management Quiz 5 questions
Module 3: Designing and Implementing Pipelines
Master YAML pipelines, runners, agents, and reusable pipeline elements. (Part of 50-55%)
Pipeline Fundamentals
Choose deployment solutions and design infrastructure.
- Lesson GitHub Actions vs Azure Pipelines 20 min
- Lesson Choosing a Deployment Automation Solution 20 min
- Lesson GitHub Runner Infrastructure Design 25 min
- Lesson Azure DevOps Agent Infrastructure 25 min
- Lesson Cost and License Considerations 20 min
- Lesson Connectivity and Maintainability 20 min
- Quiz Pipeline Fundamentals Quiz 5 questions
YAML Pipelines
Develop pipelines using YAML with triggers, jobs, and stages.
Reusable Pipeline Elements
Create templates, variables, and environments.
GitHub and Azure Integration
Integrate GitHub with Azure Pipelines and migrate from classic to YAML.
Module 4: Package Management Strategy
Design and implement package management using GitHub Packages and Azure Artifacts. (Part of 50-55%)
Package Management Tools
Choose and implement the right package management solution.
Package Feeds and Versioning
Design package feeds and implement versioning strategies.
Module 5: Testing Strategy for Pipelines
Design and implement comprehensive testing strategies including quality gates. (Part of 50-55%)
Quality and Release Gates
Implement quality gates for security and governance.
Comprehensive Testing Strategy
Design and implement testing at all levels.
- Lesson Designing a Testing Strategy 20 min
- Lesson Local Tests and Unit Tests 20 min
- Lesson Integration Tests in Pipelines 25 min
- Lesson Load Testing Strategies 20 min
- Lesson Configuring Test Tasks and Agents 25 min
- Lesson Integrating Test Results 20 min
- Lesson Code Coverage Analysis 25 min
- Quiz Testing Strategy Quiz 5 questions
Module 6: Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Implement IaC using ARM, Bicep, and Azure Automation. (Part of 50-55%)
Configuration Management
Implement configuration management strategies.
Desired State Configuration
Design and implement DSC for environments.
Module 7: Implementing Deployments
Master deployment strategies including blue-green, canary, and feature flags. (Part of 50-55%)
Deployment Strategies
Design and implement various deployment strategies.
- Lesson Introduction to Deployment Strategies 15 min
- Lesson Blue-Green Deployments 25 min
- Lesson Canary Deployments 25 min
- Lesson Ring Deployments and Progressive Exposure 25 min
- Lesson Feature Flags and A/B Testing 25 min
- Lesson Implementing Feature Flags with Azure App Configuration 30 min
- Quiz Deployment Strategies Quiz 5 questions
Zero-Downtime Deployments
Plan for minimal downtime and deployment resiliency.
Application Deployment
Deploy applications using containers, binaries, and database tasks.
Module 8: Maintaining Pipelines
Monitor, optimize, and maintain pipeline health. (Part of 50-55%)
Pipeline Health and Optimization
Monitor and optimize pipeline performance.
- Lesson Monitoring Pipeline Health 20 min
- Lesson Pipeline Failure Rate Analysis 20 min
- Lesson Identifying and Fixing Flaky Tests 25 min
- Lesson Optimizing Pipeline Performance 25 min
- Lesson Pipeline Cost Optimization 20 min
- Lesson Concurrency Optimization 20 min
- Quiz Pipeline Health and Optimization Quiz 5 questions
Retention and Migration
Manage artifacts and migrate pipelines.
Module 9: Security and Compliance
Implement authentication, secrets management, and security scanning. (10-15% of exam)
Authentication and Authorization
Implement identity and access management.
- Lesson Introduction to DevOps Security 15 min
- Lesson Service Principals vs Managed Identity 25 min
- Lesson System-Assigned vs User-Assigned Identity 20 min
- Lesson GitHub Authentication: Apps and Tokens 25 min
- Lesson GITHUB_TOKEN Deep Dive 20 min
- Lesson Azure DevOps Service Connections 25 min
- Lesson Personal Access Tokens (PAT) 20 min
- Quiz Authentication Methods Quiz 5 questions
Permissions and Access Control
Design permissions and security groups.
Managing Sensitive Information
Implement secrets management and prevent leakage.
Security and Compliance Scanning
Automate security scanning and compliance checks.
- Lesson Security Scanning Strategy Overview 20 min
- Lesson Dependency and Code Scanning 25 min
- Lesson Secret and License Scanning 20 min
- Lesson Microsoft Defender for Cloud DevOps Security 25 min
- Lesson GitHub Advanced Security 30 min
- Lesson Container Image Scanning 25 min
- Lesson CodeQL Analysis in Containers 25 min
- Lesson Dependabot Alerts and Automation 20 min
- Quiz Security Scanning Quiz 5 questions
Module 10: Instrumentation Strategy
Configure monitoring, analyze metrics, and use KQL for log analysis. (5-10% of exam)
Monitoring DevOps Environments
Configure Azure Monitor and integrate with DevOps tools.
- Lesson Introduction to DevOps Monitoring 15 min
- Lesson Azure Monitor and Log Analytics Integration 25 min
- Lesson Application Insights for DevOps 25 min
- Lesson VM, Container, Storage, and Network Insights 25 min
- Lesson GitHub Monitoring and Insights 20 min
- Lesson Configuring Alerts in GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines 20 min
- Quiz DevOps Monitoring Quiz 5 questions
Analyzing Metrics
Analyze telemetry, tracing, and logs with KQL.
- Lesson Infrastructure Performance Indicators 20 min
- Lesson Analyzing Telemetry and Application Performance 25 min
- Lesson Distributed Tracing with Application Insights 25 min
- Lesson Introduction to Kusto Query Language (KQL) 30 min
- Lesson Writing KQL Queries for Log Analysis 30 min
- Quiz Metrics Analysis Quiz 5 questions
Your Progress
Spend your points to unlock exam-style practice questions
Spend your points on exam-style practice questions.
Browse practice examsEnjoying the courses?
Everything stays free. Pro shows fewer ads, doubles the points you earn on every lesson and quiz so you progress twice as fast, unlocks half of every practice exam — plus full case studies — with the Learn & Exam study modes.
- ✓ Fewer advertisements
- ✓ 2× points per lesson & quiz
- ✓ 50% of every exam unlocked
- ✓ Learn & Exam modes