I'm currently making a shift from help desk to DevOps at my job, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I've been told that this transition will be fairly intense, and I'm already feeling lost in all the code! We purchased Puppet Enterprise for automating our server configurations, and though I participated in some general Puppet training, I wasn't part of the configuration management training. I've now been tasked with automating the installation of security software and implementing CIS benchmarks, and while some work is already done, there's still a lot to tackle. It feels pretty daunting, especially since I'm not fully dedicated to this role and still have to share my time with other tasks. I'm using my work hours to self-study as best as I can, but the amount of code, different branches, and unfamiliar attributes are really overwhelming. I wish I had access to sponsored training, especially since I missed out on the second week of training sessions.
3 Answers
Honestly, your feelings of overwhelm are totally normal, and it's not just with this project – you'll likely handle similar challenges in the future. My best advice is to break down the project into smaller, manageable pieces. Focus on the smallest task you can tackle first, and allow that to build momentum for you.
You might want to check out this practical guide on Puppet if you feel like there are gaps in your understanding: [Mastering Puppet](https://medium.com/@williamwarley/mastering-puppet-the-ultimate-practical-guide-to-configuration-management-across-linux-0e8ce90e80af). If you weren't using Git or a version control system at Help Desk, I recommend getting comfortable with that. Given that Puppet is based on Ruby, learning a bit of Ruby could also be beneficial.
That's awesome that you're getting comfortable with Git! It's key to keeping things organized as you dive into coding. Just remember, everyone starts somewhere – keep pushing through!
Hang in there! Transitions can be tough. Have you thought about using any AI tools to summarize what's currently running? If there's documentation explaining the workflow, that can really help you get the big picture before diving into the details. I had a similar experience in my last job, and I eventually created a platform to map all the workflows in production for better clarity.
Thanks for the article! I'm checking it out now. I took some time this week to refresh my Git skills since our Puppet repo is hosted on GitHub. I've been working on understanding concepts like branching, merging, and committing. I feel much better about Git now, but I'm still navigating the different profile manifests in the repo and it's a bit confusing.