Git Basics Every DevOps Fresher Should Know 🚀

As a DevOps fresher, Git is one of the most important tools you must learn. In this short blog, I’ll share basic Git commands that helped me a lot.

🔹 What is Git?

Git is a distributed version control system used to track code changes.

🔹 Most Used Git Commands

• git init – Initialize a repository

• git status – Check file status

• git add . – Stage changes

• git commit -m "message" – Save changes

• git push – Push code to GitHub

🔹 Why Git is Important for DevOps?

• Helps manage infrastructure code

• Supports CI/CD pipelines

• Enables team collaboration

🎤 Advanced Mock Interview — Git & GitHub for DevOps (Senior Level)

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Scenario 1 — Secret leaked AND forked

Interviewer:
A developer pushed a secret to GitHub. Before you noticed, someone forked the repo. What now?

You:
Rotate the secret immediately, invalidate the compromised credentials, then remove the secret from history. After that, treat the secret as fully compromised and monitor for abuse.

Explanation:
Forks copy history. You cannot guarantee deletion everywhere. Rotation is the only safe action.

Example:

git filter-repo --path .env --invert-paths
git push --force
aws iam delete-access-key
aws iam create-access-key

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Scenario 2 — CI pipeline compromised

Interviewer:
Someone modified .github/workflows/deploy.yml to echo secrets into logs. What do you do?

You:
Disable pipeline, rotate all exposed secrets, audit logs, revert malicious commit, lock down workflow permissions.

Explanation:
CI has production access. Treat it as a security incident.

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Scenario 3 — Git history rewritten in main

Interviewer:
Someone ran git push --force on main. Production is now inconsistent.

You:
Stop deployments, restore main from last known good commit or tag, communicate with team, enforce branch protection.

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Scenario 4 — Partial deployment failure

Interviewer:
Your pipeline deploys to 5 regions. One region failed mid-deploy.

You:
Detect drift, rollback failed region or roll forward consistently.

Explanation:
Inconsistent versions cause data corruption.

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Scenario 5 — GitOps controller outage

Interviewer:
ArgoCD is down and cannot sync infra. A critical change is needed.

You:
Apply emergency change manually, document it, reconcile back into Git once GitOps is restored.

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Scenario 6 — Malicious PR with hidden intent

Interviewer:
A PR passes CI but secretly opens a backdoor in code.

You:
Use code review, static analysis, runtime security, principle of least privilege.

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Scenario 7 — Repo with 2k commits slow

Interviewer:
Large monorepo is slow to clone.

You:
Use shallow clones, partial checkouts, split repo or use sparse checkout.

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Scenario 8 — Accidental deletion of main

Interviewer:
Someone deleted the main branch.

You:
Restore from remote or GitHub UI, recreate protection.

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Scenario 9 — Audit after breach

Interviewer:
Security asks: “Which secrets were exposed in last 90 days?”

You:
Scan git history, logs, PRs, rotate all suspicious credentials.

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Scenario 10 — GitHub outage during incident

Interviewer:
GitHub and registry are down; production is failing.

You:
Use last built artifact, emergency manual deploy, post-incident sync.

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🧠 Deep Explanation Patterns

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🔥 Key Interview Phrases

Use these:

• “I treat this as a security incident.”

• “First I contain the blast radius.”

• “We restore service before root cause.”

• “We prevent recurrence using automation.”

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🟢 Final Tip

At senior level:
You are judged not on commands, but on:

• Risk management

• Blast radius control

• Compliance & auditability

• Team safety

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