DevOps Project Skeleton

Problem

Starting new infrastructure projects often involves:

• Recreating directory structures: Every project needs similar organizational patterns for IaC, configuration management, and orchestration.
• Setting up tooling from scratch: Configuring Terraform backends, Ansible inventory structures, and Kubernetes manifests repeatedly.
• Inconsistent practices: Without a template, teams develop different conventions across projects.
• Missing secrets management: Secure handling of secrets is often an afterthought.

Approach

I created a template repository that provides a production-ready structure for DevOps projects, incorporating lessons learned from years of infrastructure work.

Directory Structure

devops-project-skeleton/
├── ansible/           # Configuration management
├── configs/           # Application configurations
├── kubernetes/
│   └── clusters/
│       └── k3s-local/ # Local K8s development
├── terraform/         # Infrastructure as Code
├── .sops.yaml         # Secrets encryption config
└── .gitignore

Key Components

• Terraform modules Pre-structured for multi-environment deployments with proper state management and variable organization.

• Ansible playbooks Ready-to-use playbook structure with inventory patterns for different environments.

• Kubernetes manifests Local k3s cluster configuration for development and testing, following GitOps principles.

• SOPS integration Pre-configured secrets management using Mozilla SOPS for encrypting sensitive values in Git.

Outcomes

• Faster project bootstrapping: New infrastructure projects start with proven patterns instead of from scratch.
• Consistent conventions: Teams using the template follow the same organizational structure.
• Built-in best practices: Secrets management, environment separation, and tooling integration are included by default.
• GitHub template feature: One-click repository creation for new projects.

Key Contributions

• Designed a comprehensive directory structure based on production infrastructure patterns.
• Integrated SOPS for secure secrets management in version control.
• Created reusable Terraform and Ansible patterns that scale across environments.
• Documented local Kubernetes development setup with k3s.
• Published as a GitHub template for easy adoption.