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YAML

This document is a comprehensive guide to YAML, aimed at DevOps engineers, covering fundamentals, data types, collections, and advanced techniques. It includes practical applications for Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and Docker Compose, along with best practices and common pitfalls. The guide also offers validation tools and real-world examples to aid in mastering YAML.

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safokef833
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45 views10 pages

YAML

This document is a comprehensive guide to YAML, aimed at DevOps engineers, covering fundamentals, data types, collections, and advanced techniques. It includes practical applications for Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and Docker Compose, along with best practices and common pitfalls. The guide also offers validation tools and real-world examples to aid in mastering YAML.

Uploaded by

safokef833
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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📘 Comprehensive YAML Guide for

DevOps Engineers
A complete beginner-friendly and practical guide to understanding and mastering
YAML.

📚 Table of Contents
●​ YAML Fundamentals
●​ Basic Data Types
●​ Collections in YAML
●​ Intermediate YAML Concepts
●​ Advanced YAML Techniques
●​ YAML for Kubernetes
●​ YAML for CI/CD Pipelines
●​ YAML for Docker Compose
●​ YAML Best Practices
●​ Common Pitfalls
●​ Validation and Tools
●​ Extras and Pro Tips
●​ Real-World YAML Examples
1. YAML Fundamentals

What is YAML?

●​ YAML stands for "YAML Ain't Markup Language".


●​ It’s a human-readable data format used mainly for configuration files in
DevOps, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and more.

🔹 Basic Syntax:
# A simple key-value pair​
name: John​
​
# Hierarchical structure using indentation​
person:​
name: Alice​
age: 25

🔹 Key Features:
●​ Indentation: Use spaces only (not tabs). Standard is 2 spaces per level.
●​ Comments: Start with #
●​ Multiple Documents: Separate with ---

2. Basic Data Types

🔹 Strings:
plain: Hello World​
quoted: "Special characters like : or &"​
multiline: |​
This is a multi-line​
string that keeps​
line breaks.

🔹 Numbers:
integer: 10​
float: 3.1415​
scientific: 1.5e+10
🔹 Booleans:
true_values: [true, True, yes, on]​
false_values: [false, False, no, off]

🔹 Null Values:
null_value: null​
another_null: ~

3. Collections in YAML

🔹 Lists (Arrays):
fruits:​
- Apple​
- Banana​
- Mango​
​
# Inline list​
colors: [red, green, blue]

🔹 Dictionaries (Maps):
employee:​
name: John Doe​
age: 30​
department: IT

🔹 Nested Structures:
company:​
name: TechCorp​
departments:​
devops:​
head: Alice​
size: 10​
qa:​
head: Bob​
size: 5

4. Intermediate YAML Concepts


🔹 Anchors (&) and Aliases (*)
defaults: &defaults​
host: localhost​
port: 5432​
​
dev:​
<<: *defaults​
db: dev_db​
​
prod:​
<<: *defaults​
db: prod_db

🔹 Complex Nesting:
project:​
name: InfraProject​
team:​
- name: Alice​
skills: [Terraform, AWS]​
- name: Bob​
skills: [Docker, Kubernetes]

5. Advanced YAML Techniques

🔹 Merge Keys:
base: &base​
logging: true​
retries: 3​
​
service:​
<<: *base​
name: myservice

🔹 Explicit Data Typing:


version: !!str 1.0​
enabled: !!bool "yes"​
created: !!timestamp 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z
🔹 Flow vs Block Styles:
# Block style (more readable)​
items:​
- One​
- Two​
​
# Flow style (compact)​
items: [One, Two]

6. YAML for Kubernetes

🔹 Deployment:
apiVersion: apps/v1​
kind: Deployment​
metadata:​
name: nginx-deployment​
spec:​
replicas: 2​
selector:​
matchLabels:​
app: nginx​
template:​
metadata:​
labels:​
app: nginx​
spec:​
containers:​
- name: nginx​
image: nginx:1.14.2​
ports:​
- containerPort: 80
🔹 Service:
apiVersion: v1​
kind: Service​
metadata:​
name: nginx-service​
spec:​
selector:​
app: nginx​
ports:​
- protocol: TCP​
port: 80​
targetPort: 80​
type: LoadBalancer

7. YAML for CI/CD Pipelines

🔹 GitLab CI:
stages:​
- build​
- test​
- deploy​
​
build_job:​
stage: build​
script:​
- echo "Building..."

🔹 GitHub Actions:
name: CI Pipeline​
​
on: [push]​
​
jobs:​
build:​
runs-on: ubuntu-latest​
steps:​
- uses: actions/checkout@v2​
- name: Run tests​
run: echo "Running tests..."

8. YAML for Docker Compose (New)

version: "3.8"​
services:​
web:​
image: nginx​
ports:​
- "80:80"​
app:​
build: .​
depends_on:​
- db​
db:​
image: postgres​
environment:​
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: example

9. YAML Best Practices

✅ Use 2 spaces (no tabs)


✅ Group related settings
✅ Comment your YAML files for clarity
✅ Break large files into smaller reusable ones
✅ Use Helm templates for Kubernetes when configs grow complex
✅ Always use version control (like Git)

10. Common Pitfalls

❌ Mixing tabs and spaces (always use spaces)


❌ Forgetting quotes for special characters (like : or &)
❌ Overusing anchors and aliases (can hurt readability)
❌ Repeating keys silently overrides values
❌ Flat, unstructured large files reduce clarity

11. Validation and Tools

🧪 Linting and Validation:


# Lint YAML file​
yamllint file.yaml​
​
# Validate Kubernetes manifest​
kubeval deployment.yaml​
​
# Convert JSON to YAML​
python -c 'import sys, yaml, json;
print(yaml.dump(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())))' < file.json >
file.yaml

🔧 Online Validators:
●​ yamllint.com

🛠 IDE Support:
●​ VS Code (with Red Hat YAML extension)
●​ IntelliJ IDEA
●​ Sublime Text (YAML plugins)

12. Extras and Pro Tips

✅ Multiline Folded Block:


text: >​
This is a long sentence​
that will be folded into​
a single line.

✅ Environment Variables in Templates:


env:​
- name: APP_ENV​
valueFrom:​
configMapKeyRef:​
name: app-config​
key: env

✅ JSON Compatibility:
●​ YAML is a superset of JSON. Valid JSON is valid YAML.

13. Real-World YAML Examples (New)

🔹 Helm values.yaml Example:


replicaCount: 2​
image:​
repository: myapp​
tag: latest​
pullPolicy: IfNotPresent​
​
service:​
type: ClusterIP​
port: 80

🔹 Azure DevOps Pipeline:


trigger:​
branches:​
include:​
- main​
​
jobs:​
- job: Build​
pool:​
vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'​
steps:​
- script: echo "Building the project"
✅ Tip for Freshers: Always practice by editing and creating your own
YAML files. Start with small ones like .gitlab-ci.yml or
docker-compose.yml, then work your way into Kubernetes and Helm
templates.

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