Top DevOps Tools You Should Know

DevOps is the term used to identify professionals and techniques that unite "development" and "operations", that is, software development and IT technology operations. 

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

For this to be possible, professionals need to rely on various DevOps tools, so that the greatest possible part of the process is automated, making room for strategic thinking and problem resolution.

If you've recently become interested in the field or already work but are looking for new alternatives and systems, you're in the right place! 

In this article, the Certificação Linux team has gathered the main DevOps tools according to each stage of a project's lifecycle. Just keep reading. Check it out! 

Main DevOps Tools (by DevOps lifecycle stage)

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

• planning and development;
• compilation;
• testing;
• deployment;
• integration;
• monitoring;
• continuous feedback.

Each of these phases has its own tools, which can make the entire work simpler and faster, fulfilling the initial objective of ensuring agility in delivery to the end client. 

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

1. Planning and Development

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

Right after completing these planning and organization practices, the teams begin development proper. 

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

• Git, which is a file version control software and record of stages and changes, shown through a change history;
• Jira, intended for project and team management in order to optimize the process;
• Mercurial, which is also a version and change control tool like Git;
• and SpiraTeam, a system intended for management of projects related to software development.

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

Besides these, another great ally for developers will be the Docker tool, for container management, which greatly facilitates all structuring. 

Check out the Certificação Linux Docker course for DevOps!

2. Compilation

For the compilation of the code and structures created, it is necessary to rely on specific tools, which convert all developed code to binary language, used for software testing. 

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

The tools that can help in this process are: 

• Packer, which is a compiler with embedded files for optimization;
• Maven, used for compilation of Java, C#, and other language projects;
• Apache Ant, which is specific for compilation of Java projects.

Of course, there are other similar tools, but these three are the most well-known and can facilitate the entire team's routine. 

3. Testing

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

Therefore, the testing phase is the most important after development, as it points out all necessary improvements so that the final product is truly satisfactory and meets the client'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 testing, verifying various aspects such as loading, mobile performance, and others.

These test automations are great "helping hands" for developers, who can save time and invest it in problem-solving and ideation of innovations. 

4. Deployment

With all tests completed and data properly collected and analyzed, the new developed software is ready to move to the deployment stage, that is, to be installed on the teams' production servers. 

However, for this to happen, it is necessary to have the help of configuration and management DevOps tools such as:

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

Imagine how it would be if, in a company with 30 servers, it was necessary to manually configure each one? The wasted time would be enormous, besides delaying work processes. 

5. Integration

Integration is a fundamental part of the entire DevOps structure, integrating ecosystems and complementary environments. 

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

Some useful tools are:

• Bamboo, which decodes specific code segments 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

The penultimate stage of a DevOps project is monitoring, which happens right after tests, compilation and critical analysis of the developed code, always checking if there is a possibility of new errors, bugs and changes arising. 

Furthermore, it is necessary to always monitor how the performance of databases, infrastructures and the developed item is doing.

So, some ideal DevOps tools for this stage are:

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

7. Continuous Feedback

The feedback stage is composed of both customer feedbacks and members of the own team. It is also necessary to pay attention to what the competition and the market in general are saying about your software. 

About obtaining feedback from team colleagues 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 said by the 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 various DevOps tools that will be very useful for automating and optimizing your development process and teamwork. 

If you like to stay on top of all the main trends and news in the IT market, as well as the Linux universe, you cannot miss following the Linux Certification Blog, which already has many useful and interesting contents!