IT Training

Passed – Docker Certified Associate (Study guide)

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Today I passed the Docker Certified Associate exam! In this post, I will share some details about the exam and the resources I used to study for it.

The certification is good for 2 years after passing the exam. It demonstrates that you have foundational real-world Docker skills. It is multiple choice with 55 questions, you have 1.5 hours to finish it and costs $195 USD. It is recommended that you have 6 to 12 months of hands-on experience with Docker before taking the exam. You can read about and sign up for the exam here: https://success.docker.com/certification.

I have had some folks ask me why I would waste my time taking the Docker exam. They say to focus on Kubernetes and Open Shift instead of Docker. Lets talk about why I chose to pursue the Docker certification. First off you have to run containers on those orchestration platforms mentioned before and chances are you will run Docker containers on them. Therefore before diving into an orchestration platform it is important to be knowledgable on containers. Also, I have seen many scenarios in the cloud where it makes sense to run containers directly on the cloud platform itself and again chances are those will be Docker containers. Docker is still a leader in the container space. There are several reports and articles that point to this. Here are some of the reports and articles backing this up:

Docker listed as the leader in the “Container Tools Used” section of the RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud Report” here:

Docker is listed as #2  with 31.35% market share on Datanyze 2020 “Containerization Market Share Competitor Analysis Report” here:

Source: https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/containerization–321

In “Sysdiags 2018 Docker usage report” they show “What container runtimes are in use?” showing Docker as the leader. 

Source: https://sysdig.com/blog/2018-docker-usage-report/

And finally this article arguing that Docker is better than LXC here:

https://www.upguard.com/articles/docker-vs-lxc

I will call out that the Docker exam covers Swarm mode orchestration platform that is included with Docker. Swarm mode is a lot easier to learn and use compared to Kubernetes however, Kubernetes has won the orchestration platform war. It would be nice if Docker would revamp the exam reducing or removing Swarm and replace with some Kubernetes objectives. This would make more sense because there is a strong chance Swarm will not be used in the real world. 

The Docker exam was not an easy exam and you definitely want to have some hands-on with Docker before taking it. There are a ton of resources out there that you can leverage beyond hands-on to assist in your study for this certification. There are many books available. You can do a quick search on Amazon and check the reviews for one that would be a good fit for you. I have read a couple of books on Docker and have co-authored a book on AKS with a chapter dedicated to Docker in it.

Here is the list of what I used to study.

Free Hands on Docker labs (This resource was huge for me. It gave me environments to use and scenarios for training with Docker and Docker Swarm mode.):

I attended a “Docker JumpStart Virtual Workshop” by Microsoft MVP Mike Pfeiffer and Microsoft MVP/Docker Captain Dan Wahlin (This workshop ocurred in the past but I beleive you can sign up and watch the recordings from the workshop.):

Free Docker Certification review questions here (This blogger has a bunch of review questions to help you get in the right mindset. They cover all the exam areas.): 

Docker courses and learning checks on Pluralsight (The courses are great. I found the learning checks very useful becuase it was a good way to check my knowledge in all of the exam areas.):

Spent time working with Docker on some projects (self explanatory).

Overall the Docker certification is a good move for your career as an IT Pro, developer, if you work in DevOps, and with cloud. I definitely recommend getting this certification. If you decide to go after it good luck!

Stay tuned for more blog posts with insights on certifications in the future.

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2019 Review – Blogs, Pluralsight, Speaking, Podcasts, Books, Promotion and more

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2019 is at its end closing out the current decade beginning a new decade! The 2010s have been great with a lot of personal and professional growth. I am looking forward to and welcome what the 2020s will bring! Overall 2019 was a great year with lots of fantastic adventures and accomplishments. In this blog post, I am going to reflect on 2019. I am also going to try something new in this blog post. I will recount some failures from this year along with the successes. I typically don’t post about failures or even speak about them publicly but I think it is important to reflect on them as a learning opportunity and share with others as we all win some and lose some.

Ok. Let me briefly recount the losses from 2019. No so good events from 2019 are:

I failed a couple of certifications including the AZ-302 upgrade exam (should have studied more) and the Terraform beta exam. I reviewed an Azure book that did not publish. This one was out of my control but still something this year that I am not proud of but definitely learned to ask more questions about a project like this before saying yes.
In 2019 I was not accepted to speak at Ignite. It’s actually been several years since I have been accepted to speak at Ignite. That is the list. Again we win some things in life and we lose some. The important thing is to learn from any losses, roll with the punches and keep moving forward.

Now for the fun part of this post. Let’s move onto the wins! First off the #1 win of 2019 is that my family was healthy and happy for another year! Also, I was able to continue to focus on Azure and DevOps adding in Containers, Kubernetes and more open source in general. Here is a full recount of what occurred in 2019.

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First Pluralsight Course Published – Azure DevOps Engineer: Optimize Feedback Mechanisms

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I am very excitied because this past weekend my first Pluralsight course was published! It is titled “Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer: Optimize Feedback Mechanisms“.

This course is a part of the AZ-400 path for the AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions certification to become a Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert. 

In this course you will be prepared to use Azure Monitor, including Application Insights and Log Analytics to monitor and optimize your web applications.

Also in this course, Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer: Optimize Feedback Mechanisms, you’ll learn how to monitor and optimize your web applications. First, you’ll learn how to use Application Insights and Log Analytics. Next, you’ll explore analyzing alerts and telemetry data. Finally, you’ll discover how to perform tuning to reduce noise. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the foundational knowledge of how to use Azure Monitor to optimize feedback mechanisms and improve your web application.

Check out my course here: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/microsoft-azure-optimize-feedback-mechanisms

Please follow my Pluralsight author page here: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/steve-buchanan

By following my author page you will get future updates as I publish more content. I am just getting started and will have more courses on the Pluralsight platform soon!

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Speaking at Experts Live Europe 2019

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Next week I will travel across the pond again to speak at Experts Live Europe 2019. I am excited to reunite with many friends and fellow Microsoft MVPs in the Microsoft community. I am honored to be a part of this conference again. I will be speaking about Azure, participating in Ask the Experts as a cloud expert, and will sit on an Azure Stack Hub panel.

Here are the details for the sessions I will be a part of:

Master Azure with VS Code

22nd of November, 3:30pm – 4:20pm

Description

There are many ways to work with Azure and its services including the: Azure portal, CloudShell, Azure CLI, and Azure REST APIs. And there are even more tools to choose when it comes to working with other services on Azure such as Docker, Kubernetes and more. It can be overwhelming to decipher what Azure tool to use for your day-to-day Azure administration and deployment.

VS Code to the rescue!!!! You can deploy and administer Azure and supporting services direct from VS Code through the plethora of extensions built for Azure. These extensions can be used to work with ARM Templates, Storage, App Service, Docker, Azure Kubernetes Service, Functions, Logic Apps, Event Hub, Cosmos DB, and more. Also, VS Code brings CloudShell directly in so you can work from a single tool!

Azure Stack Experts Panel

21st of November, 5:00pm – 5:50pm

Description

Join this global list of Azure Stack Experts for an open question and answer session as we discuss real-world scenarios.

Fellow panelists include: Kristopher Turner Global Azure Stack Hub CSA, Dino Bordonaro Microsoft Azure MVP, and Thomas Maurer Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. 

Check out the sessions here: https://www.expertslive.eu/agenda

Shout out to Marcel and Isidora the folks behind the conference!

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Speaking on the Influencer Panel at BITCon 2019

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Recently a new panel session was added to BITCon. This panel is on the first day and is titled “Influencer Level Up”. I am honored to be a part of this all-star panel.

The panel has people in roles ranging from consulting, security experts, automation engineers, entrepreneurs, Salesforce and Microsoft MVP’s, software developers, authors, motivational speakers, tech evangelists, and even a CIO. Additionally, a majority of the panelists are MN-based. Here is the full info for the panel session:

Title:

Influencer Level Up Panel

Description:

Have you ever wondered how an expert leveled up to become a thought leader, industry leader, or influencer in their space? Not every path is the same to becoming an influencer and there can be hurdles and setbacks. If you have a goal to become an influencer joining this session will be a great place to come learn and ask your questions.

In this session, there will be a panel of woman and men influencers in tech, entrepreneurship, community leaders, MVP’s, and media talking about how they built their brands, utilized social media and more to level up in their space.

Date/Time/Duration:

Wednesday, October 9 • 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Check out the panel lineup:

You dont want to miss this panel.

Sign up here:

https://bitcon2019.sched.com/event/Vy3B/influencer-level-up-panel

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Speaking on Azure DevOps at BITCon 2019

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BITCon is back in Minnesota this year. The event is shaping up to be another great one! This year BIT locked in the mayor of Minneapolis to keynote one of the days!

The conference also has a new website. The new website is https://bitcon.tech. It will be held at multple locations again through Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

I have the honor to speak at the event again. I will be giving one session and will potentially sit on a panel.

Here is the information on my session:

When:
Friday, October 11 • 1:45pm – 3:00pm

Title:
Azure DevOps + VS Code + Teams = Perfect Match

Description:
For anyone getting started with or already working with Azure managing your cloud environments through Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with ARM Templates at some point is guaranteed.

There are many extensions available to optimize VS Code for an enhanced ARM Template authoring experience. Discover how to integrate your Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline with Teams for enhanced collaboration across your DevOps team. Get updates directly in a Teams channel for commits, pull requests, and learn how to work with an Azure DevOps Kanban board directly from Teams.

Come to this session and see why Azure DevOps + VS Code + Teams = Perfect Match.

What you will learn:

  • About the various ARM Template related extensions in VS Code
  • How to integrate Microsoft Teams with Azure DevOps

A few months back I blogged about Azure DevOps and Teams intergration here. It was a popular blog so I decided to turn this into a presentation with demos!

Here is a direct link to my session:

https://bitcon2019.sched.com/event/TCh8/azure-dev-ops-vs-code-teams-perfect-match

If you are attending BITCon 2019 be sure to check out my session!

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8th year as Microsoft MVP!

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Today I received the official email from Microsoft that I was awarded for the 8th year as a Microsoft MVP!

When I was first awarded into the MVP program back in 2012 it was an honor and a surprise to join the ranks with so many talented people from all over the world. I also had no idea I would have an 8 year run in the program.

Time has flown by and it has been a great adventure so far. Even in the 8th year of being awarded as a Microsoft MVP it never gets old. You never know until the day if you made it back in or not and the novelty of it never wears off.

Of course, what makes being an MVP special is the great friends I have made over the years withing in out of Microsoft. Something else different about this award is I am no longer a Cloud and Data Center Management MVP I am now an Azure MVP!

I am looking forward to the 2019-2020 MVP award year with some interesting things already in the works such as a book on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), speaking and several conferences and user groups on Azure, and community projects.

As always I am honored to remain a part of MVP ranks. I will continue to do all that I can in the Azure, Azure Stack, CloudOps/DevOps communities this year.

My Microsoft MVP Profile: http://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Steve%20Buchanan-4039736

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Docker JumpStart Virtual Workshop

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I want to share here about Docker training I will be attending later this month June 24th/25th, 2019. It is a Docker JumpStart Virtual Workshop. I am excited about this training because it will be delivered by a fellow Microsoft MVP’s Dan Wahlin and Mike Pfeiffer. Also Dan Wahlin is a Docker Captain.

For those that don’t know a Docker Captain is like a Microsoft MVP but for Docker. There will even be some Kubernetes covered on day 2. This is shaping up to be some great training.

As of now there is still room in this class and its less than $300 USD! If you have wanted to get up to speed on Docker this is a good low cost way to do it. Here is a link to sign up: Docker JumpStart Workshop

Here is what will be covered across the 2 days (from the training website):

Day 1:

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Featured on Cloudskills.fm and New Azure course

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FEATURED ON CLOUDSKILLS.FM ~

CloudSkills.fm is a podcast by fellow Microsoft MVP Mike Pfeiffer and veteran in the tech space with 5 books under his belt and numerous courses on Pluralsight. The podcast can be found here: cloudskills.fm. Mike is an all around good guy and I was honored to be a featured guest on one of his podcast episodes. The podcast is weekly with technical tips and career advice for people working in the cloud computing industry. The podcast is geared for developers, IT pros, those making move into cloud.

On this episode Mike and I talked about managing both the technical and non-technical aspects of your career in the cloud computing industry. We also discuss DevOps stuff around Docker, Azure Kubernetes Service, Terraform and cloud stuff around Azure management including my 5 points to success with cloud. You can listen to the podcast here:

https://cloudskills.fm/015

Also on you can listen here: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/cloudskills-fm/id1448194100 and PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/cloudskillsfm/ep-015-managing-your-cloud-career .

NEW AZURE COURSE ~

I’m very excited Opsgility recently published a new Azure course by me titled: “Deploy and Configure Infrastructure”. This course is part of the AZ 300 certification learning path for Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies. More about the AZ 300 certification can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-az-300.aspx. The course is over 4 hours of Azure content!

Description of the course:

In the course learn how to analyze resource utilization and consumption, create and configure storage accounts, create and configure a VM for Windows and Linux, create connectivity between virtual networks, implement and manage virtual networking, manage Azure Active Directory, and implement and manage hybrid identities.

Objectives of the course:

  • Configure diagnostic settings on resources
  • Create baseline for resources
  • Utilize Log Search query functions
  • Configure network access to the storage account
  • Implement Azure storage replication
  • Configure high availability
  • Deploy and configure scale sets
  • Modify ARM Templates
  • Configure Azure Disk Encryption for VMs
  • Create and configure VNET peering
  • Install and configure Azure AD Connect

It can be watched here:

https://skillmeup.com/courses/player/deploy-and-configure-infrastructure

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Microsoft MVP Summit 2019

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This year’s summit was one of the best MVP summits I have been to since being a Microsoft MVP! I focused on Azure, Azure Stack, containers, and orchestration platforms. That’s about all I can say about the summit. Everything else is NDA!

On top of all the learning at the summit it was great connecting with other MVP’s and the Microsoft teams. This I can share. Here are some highlights from the summit in pictures:

It was full of cool stickers starting off with one for the 2019 MVP Summit.

Here are a some of the core CDM MVPs in front of building 92 including Bob Cornelissen, John Joyner, Janaka Rangama, Jakob Svendsen, Sam Erskine, Cameron Fuller, Robert Hedblom, Dieter Wijckmans, and others.

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