Upcoming Major Update to AZ-400 Course - May 03

[LuizMacedo]

Dear Learners, Trainers, and Community Members,

I am happy to inform you that a major update to the AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions course is coming soon! This update, scheduled for mid-April, will include the latest advancements and best practices in DevOps in our curriculum.

Highlights

• We are launching a new foundational course, AZ-2008 - DevOps Foundations: Core principles and practices. This course will allow us to focus exclusively on intermediate and advanced content in AZ-400.
• Removal of third-party tools to give space for Microsoft tools such as GitHub Advanced Security, more YAML, GitHub Actions, Bicep, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, etc.

AZ-400 - What to Expect:

• Intermediate/Advanced focus: We will only cover a brief introduction to DevOps and instead focus on intermediate to advanced practices for designing and implementing DevOps solutions. The majority of the basic content has been removed to make room for more advanced material. Please note that AZ-2008 is a prerequisite for AZ-400 classes.
• Required labs: At present, all the labs in AZ-400 are optional. This is done to provide trainers with the freedom to select the labs that align with their agenda and use the rest as homework. However, now we have space for other topics, we will suggest a few required labs.
• Enhanced modules: We've refined our content to include deeper insights into advanced deployment patterns, CI/CD, and release strategies.
• Latest tools and features: Expect comprehensive training on the newest features of GitHub and Azure DevOps. Higher focus on GitHub, GitHub Actions, GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) for GitHub and Azure DevOps, and much more.
• Real-world applications and scenarios: Our updated course will emphasize practical, hands-on exercises, enabling you to apply what you learn directly to your work. Our labs using eShopOnWeb were enhanced last year and now they are ready to support the new content.

For current and prospective students and trainer:

• Plan ahead: If you're midway through the course, aim to complete your current modules before the update. New content will seamlessly integrate into your learning paths.
• Seamless transition: Rest assured, we’ve designed the transition to be smooth, without disrupting your progress.
• Stay informed: Keep an eye on this thread and our course platform for further details, including specific release dates and a comprehensive guide on what's new.

What's New:

• Advanced project configurations: Dive deep into Azure DevOps to fine-tune project and team setups.
• Feedback strategy overhaul: Implement robust feedback mechanisms, including new notification systems and issue tracking.
• Traceability enhanced: Learn cutting-edge practices for source, bug, and quality traceability across tools.
• Branching strategies: Branch and merging with policies and protections for optimal workflow.
• GitHub Advanced Security: GHAS to help indirectly measure and manage technical debt.
• Optimized repository strategies: Gain insights into Scalar and cross-repository sharing for Git efficiency.
• Data recovery techniques: Become adept at retrieving critical data with precise Git commands.
• Documentation automation: Learn how to automate API and git history documentation for better release management.
• Security & permissions: Detailed coverage on setting up permissions and roles in GitHub and Azure DevOps.
• Testing & pipeline optimization: Strategies for comprehensive testing, code coverage, and pipeline enhancements.
• Database deployment best practices: Tactical approaches to database task integration in pipelines.
• Telemetry integration: Harness the power of telemetry to automate application analytics.
• ...and much more, including GitOps, container scanning, monitoring pipeline health, and optimizing pipelines for cost and performance, SRE and Platform Engineering.

Changelog

CONTENT/SLIDES

• Learning Path 1 - Get started on a DevOps transformation journey – retired.
  • Only Modules 1 - Introduction to DevOps and 5 - Plan Agile with GitHub Projects and Azure Boards were kept and moved to LP 2 - Development for enterprise DevOps. For basic content, students should look for the course DevOps foundations: The core principles and practices.
• Learning Path 2 - Development for enterprise DevOps renamed to Implement development for enterprise DevOps.
  • Units moved in between modules and reordered.
  • Module 1 - Structure your git Repo – retired.
  • Module 2 - Manage Git branches and workflows renamed to Design and implement branch strategies and workflows.
  • New unit added - Implement branch merging restrictions in module 2.
  • Removed - Unit 4- Examine GitHub mobile for pull request approvals from module 3.
  • New unit added - Introduction to GitHub Advanced Security in module 4.
  • New units added in the module Manage Git repositories:
    • Implement Scalar and cross repo when cross repo sharing.
    • Recover specific data by using git commands.
    • Create API documentation.
    • Implement automation of git history documentation.
    • Configure source control repository permissions using GitHub.
    • Configure GitHub tags to organize repositories.
  • Module 7 - Manage Git repositories renamed to Manage and configure repositories.
• Updates for the LP 3 - Implement CI with Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions:
  • Module 4 Explore continuous integration – retired.
  • Module 5 - Implement a pipeline strategy renamed to Design and implement a pipeline strategy.
  • Added 3 new units to the module 5 - Implement a pipeline strategy:
    • Integrate GitHub repos and Azure Pipelines.
    • Design and implement a comprehensive testing strategy.
    • Implement code coverage and show in the pipeline.
  • New unit added - Migrate a pipeline from classic to YAML in Azure Pipelines in the module 6 - Integrate with Azure Pipelines.
• Updates for the LP 4 - Design and implement a release strategy:
  • Module 1 - Introduction to continuous delivery – retired.
  • Removed - Units 6 Exercise - select an artifact source and 8 Exercise - set up stages from the module 2 - Create a release pipeline.
  • New unit added - Understand database deployment task in the module 2.
  • Removed - Units 3 Exercise - select your delivery and deployment cadence and 5 Exercise - set up manual approvals from the module 3
  • New unit added - Explore GitOps release strategy and recommendations in the module 3.
  • Removed - Units 3 Exercise - create and manage task groups and 6 Exercise - create and manage variable groups from the module 5.
  • Removed - Unit 5 Exercise - set up service hooks to monitor the pipeline from the module 6.
• Updates for the LP 5 - Implement a secure continuous deployment using Azure Pipelines:
  • Removed - Unit 4 Exercise - set up a blue-green deployment from the module 2.
  • Removed - Unit 4 Exercise - Ring-based deployment from the module 4.
  • Added – two new units in module 5:
    • Design and implement permissions and roles in GitHub.
    • Design and implement permissions and security groups in Azure DevOps.
  • Added - New unit Implement Azure DevOps secure files in the module 6.
• Updates for the LP 6 - Manage infrastructure as code using Azure and DSC
  • Removed - Unit 4 Exercise - Run templates using Azure CLI from the module 3.
  • Removed - Unit 11 Exercise - Create and run a workflow runbook from module 4.
  • Removed - Units 6 Exercise - Import and compile and 7 Exercise - Onboard machines for management from module 5.
• Updates for the LP 7 - Implement security and validate code bases for compliance:
  • Removed - Unit 8 Exercise - Threat modeling from the module 1.
  • Removed - Unit 4 Integrate Mend with Azure Pipelines from the module 3.
  • Added - New unit as unit 7 Automate container scanning, including container images in the module 3.
  • Removed - Units 2 - Explore SonarCloud and 4 - Manage technical debt with SonarCloud and Azure DevOps from module 4.
  • Retired module 5 OWASP and Dynamic Analyzers.
  • Added two new units in module 6 Security Monitoring and Governance:
    • Configure GitHub Advanced Security for GitHub and Azure DevOps.
    • Integrate GitHub Advanced Security with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
• Updates for the LP 8 - Design and implement a dependency management strategy:
  • Removed - Units 6 Exercise - Promote a package and 8 Exercise - Push from the pipeline from module 4.
• Updates for the LP 9 - Implement continuous feedback:
  • Removed - Unit 8 Exercise - Add Application Insights to an ASP.NET core application from module 1.
  • Added - New unit 8-Design and implement metrics and queries to the module 1.
  • Added four new units to the module 2:
    • Configure monitoring in GitHub.
    • Monitor pipeline health, including failure rate, duration, and flaky tests.
    • Optimize a pipeline for cost, time, performance, and reliability.
    • Optimize pipeline concurrency for performance and cost.
  • Added a new unit Integrate GitHub and Azure DevOps with Microsoft Teams in module Share knowledge within teams.

We can't wait for you to experience the enhancements to the AZ-400 course. Prepare to dive into an even more robust and dynamic learning journey that will empower you to push the boundaries of DevOps.

Regards,

@LuizMacedo and @lauraAlvEl
Content Developers - DevOps