Git for DevOps

What every Cloud & DevOps engineer should really know about Git

Author

Vishakha Sadhwani
August 21, 2025

Hi Inner Circle,

If you’ve been in the DevOps world for more than a few weeks, you’ve probably already used Git.

But here’s the catch — most engineers treat Git as just a version control tool, not the critical DevOps trigger it truly is.

In reality, Git powers much more than code history.

It’s what enables you to:

  • Manage and version infrastructure as code

  • Roll back broken deployments and detect drifts

  • Trace what changed, when, and by whom

  • Collaborate seamlessly across teams without stepping on each other’s toes

Also, ever heard of GitOps? Yeah — entire deployment models now revolve around Git as the single source of truth.

In this edition, we’re breaking down Git for DevOps — what to actually focus on, how to practice it right, and the most common interview scenarios you’ll run into.

Let’s get started.

Why Git Matters in DevOps Workflows

Git isn’t just about tracking code. In modern DevOps, it’s tightly woven into:

  • CI/CD Pipelines → Triggers builds, runs tests, deploys apps.

  • Infrastructure as Code → Tracks changes in Terraform, Helm, Kubernetes YAMLs.

  • Incident Recovery → Rollbacks depend on reliable version history.

  • Audit & Compliance → Git logs = change history and root cause analysis.

  • GitOps Workflows → Git becomes the single source of truth — changes pushed to Git automatically sync with the cluster via controllers like ArgoCD or Flux.

This makes Git not just a developer tool — but a must-know for DevOps engineers.

Quick Note: Git ≠ GitHub

Let’s clear this up — Git is a distributed version control system. It works entirely on your local machine and helps you track changes, branch safely, and manage history.

GitHub, on the other hand, is a platform built on top of Git. It adds cloud hosting, collaboration, PR reviews, GitHub Actions, and integrations.

You can use Git without GitHub. You can also use alternatives like GitLab or Bitbucket. But the core Git fundamentals — branching, commits, merges — stay the same across all.

Git Skills That Actually Matter in DevOps

Here’s a roadmap of Git concepts — from basics to workflows you’ll actually use in production.

1. Git Basics (Don’t skip)

  • git init, git clone, git status

  • git add, git commit, git diff

  • git log, git show

✱ Why it matters: Without these, you’ll struggle to debug or understand a repo’s history.

2. Branching & Merging

  • git checkout -b, git merge, git branch -d

  • Understanding fast-forward vs recursive merges

✱ Why it matters: You’ll often need to patch hotfixes, isolate environments, or roll forward with zero conflicts.

3. Remote Collaboration

  • git remote, git fetch, git pull, git push

  • Dealing with conflicts in shared repos

✱ Why it matters: Most DevOps workflows involve collaborating on infrastructure or pipeline code across teams.

4. Git History Debugging

  • git blame, git bisect, git reflog

  • Reverting changes: git reset vs git revert

✱ Why it matters: Imagine a prod outage caused by a misconfigured Terraform variable — and you need to find who changed what and when. This is how.

5. Advanced Workflows

  • Rebase: git rebase, git rebase -i

  • Stashing: git stash, git stash pop

  • Hooks: Pre-commit and pre-push hooks for enforcing standards

✱ Why it matters: Clean PRs, zero-downtime deploys, and automated checks all rely on deeper Git workflow understanding.

4 Very Common Real-World Scenario Questions

Here are some real examples of how Git comes up in interviews and day-to-day DevOps roles:

1. A CI pipeline failed after merging a PR — how would you debug it?

What they’re testing: Your ability to trace recent code changes and pinpoint the root cause.

Sample approach:

  • Check the commit history with git log

  • Use git show <commit> to view what changed

  • If needed, use git bisect to isolate the breaking commit (not everyones knows about this)

  • Revert with git revert if needed, and patch safely

2. Two team members pushed changes to the same file — how do you resolve the conflict?

What they’re testing: Collaboration and merge conflict resolution.

Sample approach:

  • Pull the latest changes: git pull

  • Resolve conflicts manually by editing the file

  • Mark resolved files: git add <file>

  • Finalize with git commit

3. You accidentally deleted a branch — can you recover it?

What they’re testing: Comfort with Git internals and recovery commands. Because there’s a possibility that this can happen:)

Sample approach:

  • Use git reflog to find the deleted branch's last commit

  • Restore it with: git checkout -b <branch> <commit-hash>

4. You’ve been working on a feature branch while main has moved ahead — now your PR shows unrelated commits.

What they’re testing: Whether you can sync your branch cleanly using rebase instead of a merge.

Sample Approach:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

This replays your commits on top of the latest main — keeping history linear and clean.

Where to Start: Resources & Practice Repos

If you’re new to Git — or want to move beyond the basics — here’s a curated set of practical resources:

Tutorials

Hands-On Practice

Git in DevOps Context

Final Thoughts

Git is more than version control. That’s it.

So when you're learning Git:

  • Don’t stop at git commit — learn what happens under the hood

  • Don’t just memorize — build mental models through scenarios

  • Don’t avoid merge conflicts — resolve them by understanding why it happened first.

Next Thursday — we’re diving into Python for DevOps and the required automation, integration, and debugging Skills for Cloud Engineers

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