CI/CD Interview Questions Answers for Freshers and Experienced

DevOps
practices like continuous integration and continuous delivery or deployment
(CI/CD) are vital in achieving these goals. CI/CD interview questions are a way
for you to start your journey in DevOps.

 

In
the modern fast-paced world dominated by software and technology, speed,
reliability, and efficiency are the key. CI/CD works on a set of principles and
practices to help development teams make changes in the code more frequently to
make it more efficient and effective.

 

In
technical interviews, hiring managers generally ask
questions about CI/CD to assess their skills and technical knowledge to
determine their suitability for the role. This article presents the top CI/CD
interview questions and how you can answer them.

 

The
article is divided into three sections – for freshers, for experienced
professionals, and multiple choice questions.

 

Also read: Top DevOps Interview Questions

What is CI/CD?

 

CI/CD
is described as a set of practices and tools that the development and
operations teams use to automate and streamline their development and
deployment processes.

 

In
this tech-dominated world, CI/CD are essential because they enhance the speed
of software delivery and ensure it meets the quality and reliability
requirements. This is done by way of automating the testing, integration, and
deployment processes.

 

Now,
let’s look at the key CI/CD interview questions for freshers and experienced
professionals, and how you can answer them.

CI/CD Interview Questions for Freshers

1. Explain the Benefits of CI/CD

 

The
following are the key benefits of using CI/CD:

 

●
Fast and reliable software delivery

●
Helps enhance the quality of the software

●
Reduces the risk of any errors

●
Increases and improves the collaboration between
development and operations teams

2. Explain What is DevOps and its Importance

 

DevOps
is a combination of development and operations. It is described as a software
methodology that consists of different tools that improve communication and
collaboration between development and operations teams.

 

The
DevOps practices help enhance the integration and collaboration in the
development cycle. This way the software quality improves significantly, giving
the best user experience and satisfaction.

 

The
following points explain the importance of DevOps:

 

●
Generates agility across all development stages – from
conception to deployment

●
Helps continuously update and improve the products

●
Developers can focus only on writing effective and robust
code using DevOps practices

●
Tasks such as testing can be automated using DevOps

●
Increases transparency and accessibility between
developers and operations teams

●
Speeds up the development process by making it efficient
and reducing the coding errors

3. What are the Differences Between Docker Image
and Container?

 

In
these CI/CD interview questions, you can refer to the following table to
explain the differences between a docker image and a container.

 

4. What do you understand by the Git branch?

 

This
is a commonly asked CI/CD interview question for freshers. You can state that
the Git branch allows the developers to write code without interrupting the
work of other team members.

 

It
is a separate line of development, using which a developer can work on a
specific feature.

 

Also read: What Does a DevOps Engineer Do

5. What is Git Repository?

Another
commonly asked CI/CD interview question for freshers is asking them to explain
the Git Repository. Essentially, it is a part of the software development
process where the projects are organized using the Git Repository.

 

This
helps them keep track of all the files and changes, if any, in the project.
This way they can check the history.

6. Describe Version Control

Version
control uses the central repository from where the team members can make any
changes to files and sets of files.

 

Version
control is important because it helps in tracking every line of code, sharing,
reviewing, and synchronizing changes between the team members.

 

The
following are some of the most important version control systems:

 

●
Mercurial

●
Subversion (SVN)

●
Perforce

●
Bitkeeper

●
Fossil

7. What are Some of the Popular CI/CD Tools?

 

In
answering this CI/CD interview question you can state the following are some of
the popular and widely used CI/CD tools:

 

●
Jenkins

●
Bamboo

●
Team City

●
Codefresh

8. Explain the Differences Between CI/CD and
DevOps

 

The
following are the main differences between CI/CD and DevOps:

 

CI/CD Interview Questions for Experienced Professionals

9. What is Chef?

 

Answer
these CI/CD interview questions for experienced professionals by stating that a
chef is an automation platform. It turns the infrastructure into a code. It is
essentially a tool that automates processes by using scripts.

 

The
following are the key components of the chef:

 

●
Chef workstation: It is described as a
computer system that the administrator uses. It generates the code that helps
configure and manage the infrastructure, which is also known as recipes and is
written in Ruby.

●
Chef server: It is often placed between
a workstation and its nodes, which store the cookbook containing all the
recipes. The chef server provides all the necessary tools to enable node
configuration.

●
Chef node: It is the final component
and is mainly required for configuration. You can arrange and configure them in
any way, for instance, several chef nodes can collect information about the
current state of a node. This information is then compared with the configuration
files to determine if any new configuration is required.

 

Also read: How to Become a DevOps Engineer

10. Explain What is a Rolling Strategy

To
answer this CI/CD interview question you can say that it updates the running
instances of an application with new releases. In this process, an
application’s older versions are replaced by its newer versions. Here the
entire infrastructure on which the application runs is replaced.

11. What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and How
Does it Fit into CI/CD?

IaC
is described as the practice that helps manage and provision the infrastructure
through different code and automation tools. Using IaC, you can define the
infrastructure such as servers, networks, and other resources in the form of a
code.

 

IaC
is crucial in CI/CD because it helps ensure that the environment required for
application deployment is consistent and can be easily reproduced. Tools such
as Terraform and AWS CloudFormation are commonly used for IaC.

12. Why is Automated Testing Important for CI/CD?

 

Automation
is an important part of CI/CD pipelines. Throughout the software development,
the test automation process is used to identify any dependencies or other
issues. It also pushes the changes to different environments, along with
deploying the applications into production.

 

Another
reason why automated testing is important for CI/CD is because of its quality
control role. It assesses everything from API usage, and performance to
security. This way all the changes made by the team members can be correctly
integrated and implemented.

 

With
automated testing, tests can be run simultaneously across multiple servers or
containers. This results in a quicker testing process and brings more
consistency. Automating the software also reduces or even eliminates the
chances of human error and bias.

 

Also read: Google SRE Interview Process

13. What are the Best Practices for Securing a
CI/CD Pipeline?

 

In
answering this CI/CD interview question, you can the following are some of the
best practices useful in securing a CI/CD pipeline:

 

●
Embracing the DevOps culture

●
Implementing continuous integration

●
Ensuring the same deployment process is used in every
environment

●
Restart the Ci/CD pipeline if it fails

●
Applying the version control

●
Incorporating database into the CI/CD pipeline

●
Monitor the pipeline to ensure continuous delivery

15. Explain the Differences Between a Hosted and
a Cloud-based CI/CD Platform

 

The
following are the key differences between a hosted and cloud-based CI/CD
platform:

 

●
A hosted CI/CD platform should be managed just like any
other server. It needs to be installed, configured, and maintained before using
it. On the other hand, a cloud-based CI/CD platform does not require any
maintenance. A company can immediately start using it in the cloud.

●
Regular patches and updates are required to keep the
hosted platform secure. Since the cloud provides all the required machine
power, scalability is not an issue in cloud-based CI/CD platforms.

●
Any failure in the hosted server can disrupt the
development and deployment processes. On the other hand, the cloud service
level agreement (SLA) ensures the reliability of the cloud-based platforms.

16. What is trunk-based Development?

 

In
answering this CI/CD interview question, you can say that trunk-based
development helps maintain the software and keep it up-to-date. This is done by
integrating small and frequent updates into the main branch, also known as a
trunk.

 

It
can be used to achieve CI/CD and increase the speed & efficiency of
software delivery through its ability to streamline the merge and integration
phases.

 

The
trunk-based development is a branching model that contains the majority of the
work that happens in a single trunk. The developers merge the changes they make
into the trunk daily.

 

It
is so popular because it simplifies version control and minimizes any merge
conflicts. This is because of the trunk’s single source of truth.

Multiple Choice CI/CD Interview Questions with Answers

17. What is the full form of CI/CD?

1. Comprises
   Integration/Continous Delivery
2. Continuous
   Integration/Constant Delivery
3. Construct Delivery/Continous
   Integration
4. Continuous
   Integration/Continous Delivery

 

The
correct answer to this CI/CD multiple choice interview questions is ‘d’. CI/CD
is the abbreviation of Continuous Integration/Continous Delivery

18. By Using Which Method, any Changes to the
Code can be Immediately Tested?

1. Continuous Delivery
2. Continuous Pipeline
3. Continuous Integration
4. Continuous Testing

 

The
correct answer is ‘c’. Continuous integration should be used to immediately
test any changes to the code.

 

Also read: Google SRE Interview Preparation

19. What are the Key Components
of Chef?

1. Chef Server
2. Chef Node
3. Chef Workstation
4. All of the Above

 

Workstation,
server, and node, all are the key components of the chef. So, the correct
answer to this CI/CD interview questions is ‘d’.

20. From Among the Following,
Which are Used to Create Containers?

1. Docker
2. Jenkins
3. Jira
4. Chef

 

The
right answer to this CI/CD interview questions is ‘a’. Docker is used to create
containers.

21. From the Following, Which is
Not a Feature of the CD?

1. Automate Everything
2. Continuous Improvement
3. Information Gathering
4. Bugs Fixes and Experiments

 

‘C’
is the right answer to this question. Information gathering is not a feature of
the CD.

22. Which of the Following Uses a
Central Repository Where Teammates can carry out Changes to Files and Sets of
Files?

1. Version Control
2. Central Repository
3. Risk Filters
4. All of the Above

 

‘D’
is the correct answer to this CI/CD interview questions. All three – version
control, central repository, and risk filters use a central repository for
teammates to carry out their changes to files and sets of files.

23. From the Following, Which are
the Best Testing Tools Used in continuous testing?

1. Testsigma
2. Selenium
3. Tricentis Tosca
4. All of the Above

 

The
right answer to this question is ‘d’, and Testsigma, Selenium, and Tricentis
Tosca, all are the best tools for continuous testing.

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FAQs: CI/CD Interview Questions

 

1. I Don’t Know any Coding
Languages. Can I still get a CI/CD Job?

 

While
some knowledge of scripting languages like Bash or Python might be beneficial,
it’s not always mandatory for entry-level positions. Familiarity with version
control systems like Git and a strong understanding of CI/CD principles are
more crucial.

 

2. How can I Showcase my
Problem-Solving Skills in a CI/CD Interview?

 

Be
prepared to discuss real-world scenarios where you implemented CI/CD pipelines
and overcame challenges. Highlight how you identified bottlenecks, optimized
processes, or ensured efficient deployments.

 

3. What are Some Advanced CI/CD
Concepts I Should be Familiar With?

 

Explore
topics like Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform, containerization
technologies like Docker, and security best practices for CI/CD pipelines.

 

4. What are Some Salary
Expectations for CI/CD Professionals?

 

Salary
expectations can vary depending on experience, location, and industry. Research
online resources or consult with recruiters to get a sense of the current
market range for CI/CD professionals in your area.

 

5. What are Some Tips for Acing a
CI/CD Interview with No Prior Experience?

 

●
Focus on core concepts like version control, Git, and
basic CI/CD principles.

●
Highlight your eagerness to learn and showcase your
adaptability.

●
Research common CI/CD tools and demonstrate your
understanding of their functionalities.

 

 

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