DevOps Learning Platform

Interactive learning platform for Terraform and Kubernetes. Learn by fixing broken code, not by reading docs.

Overview

Platform Screenshots

Home	Progress tracking
Kubernetes exercise	Terraform exercise

Features

• Interactive exercises with a code editor (Monaco), simulated terminal (xterm.js), and instant feedback
• **Terraform module: fix provider misconfigurations, declare missing variables
• **Kubernetes module: fix invalid Pod YAML, debug CrashLoopBackOff
• **Progress tracking: exercises unlock sequentially as you complete prerequisites
• **Realistic simulation: terminal commands produce output identical to real terraform and kubectl CLI

Tech Stack

• Next.js 15 (App Router) + TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS 4
• SQLite via Drizzle ORM + better-sqlite3
• Monaco Editor (@monaco-editor/react)
• xterm.js (@xterm/xterm)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm

Local Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create the SQLite database
npm run db:seed

# Start the development server
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Available Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start development server (port 3000)
npm run build	Production build
npm run start	Start production server
npm run lint	Run ESLint
npm run db:seed	Create/reset database tables

Production Deployment

Option 1: Node.js Server

# Install dependencies
npm ci

# Create the database
npm run db:seed

# Build the application
npm run build

# Start the production server
npm run start

The app runs on port 3000 by default. Set PORT environment variable to change it.

Docker

Production-ready Docker setup with multi-stage build, health checks, and persistent SQLite database.

Quick Start

# Build and run in background
docker-compose up -d --build

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop the application
docker-compose down

# Stop and remove volumes (WARNING: deletes all data)
docker-compose down -v

App URL: http://localhost:3000 (or http://<your-host>:3000 if on a remote server).

Docker CLI

# Build the image
docker build -t learning-platform:latest .

# Run the container with persistent database
docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v learning-platform-data:/app/data \
  --name learning-platform \
  learning-platform:latest

# View logs
docker logs -f learning-platform

# Stop and remove
docker stop learning-platform
docker rm learning-platform

Configuration: Host and Port

Control the listening address and port via environment variables in docker-compose.yml:

# Use default (0.0.0.0:3000 - all interfaces)
docker-compose up -d --build

# Use specific port
PORT=8080 docker-compose up -d --build

# Use specific host and port
HOST=192.168.1.100 PORT=8080 docker-compose up -d --build

The container listens on all interfaces (0.0.0.0) by default. Environment variables:

• HOST — host interface (default 0.0.0.0)
• PORT — port number (default 3000)
• NODE_ENV=production — hard-coded in production builds

Architecture

Multi-stage Docker build (3 stages):

1. **builder: Installs build deps, compiles Next.js app, compiles better-sqlite3 (~500MB, discarded)
2. **db-init: Preserves database schema and dependencies (~200MB, discarded)
3. **runner: Minimal Alpine base with production artifacts only (~350MB, final image)

Key features:

• Non-root user (nextjs:1001) for security
• dumb-init for proper signal handling (SIGTERM/SIGINT)
• scripts/seed.js initializes SQLite schema on container startup
• SQLite WAL mode for better concurrency
• Health check runs every 30 seconds

Database Management

Location in container: /app/data/learning-platform.db

Backup / restore:

# Backup the database
docker cp learning-platform:/app/data/learning-platform.db ./backup.db

# Restore the database
docker cp ./backup.db learning-platform:/app/data/learning-platform.db
docker restart learning-platform

Reset database (destructive):

docker-compose down -v
docker-compose up -d --build

Troubleshooting

Container won't start:

# Check logs
docker-compose logs --tail=100 learning-platform

# If database is locked or corrupted, remove the volume
docker-compose down
docker volume rm learning-platform_learning-platform-data
docker-compose up -d --build

Inspect database:

docker cp $(docker-compose ps -q learning-platform):/app/data/learning-platform.db ./backup.db
sqlite3 backup.db ".schema"

Permission errors:

docker exec -it learning-platform sh
chown -R nextjs:nodejs /app/data

Project Structure

• src/app/: Next.js App Router pages and API routes with automatic file-based routing
• src/components/: Reusable React components organized by functional domain
• src/lib/: Core business logic: exercises, validators, database, utilities, and hooks
• scripts/: Helper scripts for database setup and server initialization

License

MIT