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DevOps Shack
General Checklist for Troubleshooting in DevOps
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Introduction
In a DevOps environment, troubleshooting is essential for maintaining smooth
workflows across Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Deployment (CD),
infrastructure, and applications. With many moving parts, identifying the root
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cause of issues can be challenging but crucial for maintaining uptime and
efficiency.
This document provides a comprehensive checklist to guide the troubleshooting
process by highlighting common areas to investigate when problems arise in
DevOps pipelines, infrastructure, and deployments.
Checklist for Troubleshooting in DevOps
Category What to Check Common Issues
1. Logs and Error Misconfigured services, code
- Application logs
Messages exceptions, and failures
Resource limitations, server
- Server logs
crashes, and connectivity
Pipeline failures, build/test
- CI/CD pipeline logs
errors
- Infrastructure logs (e.g., Container crashes, pod failures,
Docker, Kubernetes) orchestration issues
- Centralized log systems Log aggregation and quick
(e.g., ELK, Fluentd) diagnosis
2. Network and DNS misconfiguration,
- DNS resolution
Connectivity unreachable endpoints
- Firewall & security group
Blocked ports, disallowed access
configurations
- Network policies in Network isolation blocking
Kubernetes communications between pods
Incorrect routing, failing health
- Load balancer health
checks
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Category What to Check Common Issues
3. Resource Resource exhaustion, out-of-
- CPU, memory, disk usage
Utilization memory errors
Congested network slowing
- Network bandwidth
down services
- Monitoring tools (e.g.,
Alerts on resource thresholds
Prometheus, Grafana)
4. Configuration Missing or incorrect
- Environment variables
Issues configuration variables
- Configuration files (e.g., Syntax errors, wrong values,
YAML, JSON) incorrect paths
Missing/incorrect secrets (e.g.,
- Secrets management
AWS credentials, API keys)
Inconsistent configurations
- Configuration drift
between dev, test, and prod
between environments
environments
- Build, test, or deploy Build failures, test flakiness,
5. Pipeline Failures
stages deployment misconfigurations
- Versioning issues in Dependency version
CI/CD pipelines mismatches, outdated libraries
- Incompatible library or Breaking changes between
package versions library versions
- Role-Based Access
6. Permissions and Lack of proper permissions for
Control (RBAC)
Access Control users, services, or applications
configurations
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Category What to Check Common Issues
- Kubernetes RBAC, AWS Incorrect roles leading to denied
IAM policies access to resources
- File and directory Read/write access issues,
permissions missing ownership
Incompatible dependencies,
7. Dependency and - Library or package
outdated or unsupported
Versioning version mismatches
versions
Missing libraries, unsupported
- System dependencies
operating system packages
- External service API version mismatches, service
compatibility deprecations
8. Security and Expired or incorrect certificates,
- SSL/TLS certificates
Certificates issues with SSL handshake
Incorrect tokens, expired API
- API authentication
keys, misconfigured OAuth2
mechanisms
flows
Unrestricted inbound/outbound
- Network security policies
access
Pod mis-scheduling, cluster
9. Infrastructure - Container orchestration
resource constraints, failing
and Orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes)
services
Missing or incorrect
- Docker/container
environment variables,
configuration
Dockerfile issues
Volume mounts failing, data loss,
- Persistent storage
incorrect storage class
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Category What to Check Common Issues
- Cloud provider resource Hitting quota limits, incorrect
limits scaling configurations
10. Monitoring and - Misconfigured Alerts triggering too frequently
Alerts monitoring thresholds or not triggering at all
- Inactive or broken No data ingestion, outdated
monitoring services metrics
- Lack of detailed metrics Missing critical metrics for
for observability debugging
Too many alerts without proper
- Alert fatigue
categorization or prioritization
Detailed Troubleshooting Areas
1. Logs and Error Messages
Logs provide detailed insights into the behavior of services, applications, and
infrastructure. Start by examining logs from the following:
• Application Logs: Look for errors, warnings, and anomalies in application
behavior.
• Server Logs: Identify server-side errors like crashes, resource limitations, or
connectivity issues.
• CI/CD Pipeline Logs: Review logs for build, test, and deployment failures.
• Infrastructure Logs: For issues in containerized environments, check logs of
Docker, Kubernetes, or other orchestration tools.
• Log Aggregation Tools: Centralized log solutions like Elasticsearch, Fluentd,
and Kibana (EFK) or Splunk make it easier to track down issues.
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2. Network and Connectivity
Many DevOps issues stem from networking problems. Check:
• DNS Resolution: Ensure DNS configurations are correct, and services can
resolve domain names.
• Firewall and Security Groups: Ensure access is allowed via firewalls,
security groups, or network policies.
• Kubernetes Network Policies: Check if network policies are blocking traffic
between pods.
• Load Balancer Health: Ensure the load balancer is routing traffic correctly
and performing health checks.
3. Resource Utilization
Insufficient resources can cause services to crash or slow down. Monitor:
• CPU, Memory, and Disk Usage: Check for resource exhaustion using
monitoring tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or Datadog.
• Network Bandwidth: Verify that network usage isn’t congesting
communication.
• Scaling: Check if auto-scaling policies are working as expected in cloud
environments.
4. Configuration Issues
Misconfigurations can cause applications to malfunction. Double-check:
• Environment Variables: Ensure all required variables are correctly set.
• Configuration Files (YAML, JSON): Look for syntax errors and correct any
misconfigurations.
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• Secrets Management: Ensure credentials and secrets are properly
managed and accessible.
• Configuration Drift: Validate that the configuration is consistent across
development, testing, and production environments.
5. Pipeline Failures
CI/CD pipeline issues are common in DevOps workflows. Investigate:
• Build, Test, or Deploy Stage Failures: Identify the exact stage where the
pipeline failed and look into logs or error messages.
• Version Conflicts: Check for incompatible or outdated versions of libraries
and dependencies.
• Unit/Integration Tests: Review test logs and verify the reliability of the
tests.
6. Permissions and Access Control
Access-related issues can cause service failures or security vulnerabilities. Check:
• RBAC: Ensure roles and permissions are correctly configured for users and
services.
• File and Directory Permissions: Ensure proper ownership and permissions
for files used by services.
• Cloud IAM Policies: Check if cloud services are authorized correctly using
AWS IAM, GCP IAM, or Azure RBAC.
7. Dependency and Versioning Issues
Ensure that all dependencies and external services are properly aligned. Check:
• Library/Package Versions: Mismatched or incompatible versions of
software dependencies can cause issues.
• External Service APIs: Verify that API versions are compatible and not
deprecated.
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• System Dependencies: Check for missing or outdated operating system
dependencies.
8. Security and Certificates
Security misconfigurations or expired certificates can lead to service disruptions.
Ensure:
• SSL/TLS Certificates: Check for expired or incorrectly configured
certificates.
• API Tokens and Authentication: Verify API tokens, OAuth flows, and
authentication mechanisms are properly configured.
• Network Security Policies: Ensure security policies are tight but not
blocking legitimate access.
9. Infrastructure and Orchestration
For containerized and orchestrated environments, check:
• Pod Scheduling: Ensure Kubernetes is scheduling pods correctly and not
running into resource constraints.
• Docker Configuration: Check Dockerfile configurations and environment
variables.
• Persistent Storage: Ensure volume mounts and data persistence
configurations are correct.
• Cloud Resource Limits: Ensure you're not hitting quota or resource limits in
your cloud provider.
10. Monitoring and Alerts
Ensure monitoring is configured correctly for better visibility and alerting. Check:
• Monitoring Thresholds: Ensure thresholds for metrics like CPU usage,
memory usage, and response times are set correctly.
• Alert Configuration: Ensure critical alerts are firing and that alert noise is
minimized.
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• Detailed Metrics: Ensure you are capturing detailed enough metrics to
diagnose issues.
Conclusion
Effective troubleshooting in DevOps requires a methodical approach to identify
issues quickly. This checklist covers the most common areas to examine, from logs
and networking to resource utilization and security. By systematically following
this checklist, teams can more easily diagnose and resolve issues, keeping services
running smoothly and minimizing downtime.
