For 2022 and beyond, these are the top 15 DevOps tools.

Development and operations integration is a strong new method to software development. It may be difficult to determine which technology is ideal for your team whether you’re new to DevOps techniques or seeking to enhance your existing procedures.

This list has been compiled to assist you in making an educated choice about which tools should be included in your stack. From automated build tools to application performance monitoring platforms, learn about the 15 top DevOps tools in this article.

What are DevOps tools and how do you use them?

The phrase “DevOps tools” refers to all of the platforms, tools, servers, and other applications utilised in DevOps, a relatively new software development life cycle (SLDC) paradigm. The DevOps approach is a collection of methods for integrating the development and operations stages of the life cycle into a single workflow.

From code reviews and version control to deployment and monitoring, DevOps technologies cover the full software development lifecycle. DevOps’ primary objectives are to enable frequent software releases, automate as many activities and procedures as possible, and increase development pace and scalability. An error monitoring system like Raygun is the last, critical component of your DevOps stack, giving you complete visibility and control over the quality of your code in operation.

Depending on your business requirements, you may need several DevOps tools that interact with one another through integrations, extensions, automations, APIs, or other methods.

In 2022, the top DevOps tools will be

We’ll start with the DevOps development stage and then move on to the operations stage.

It’s worth noting that the functionality of various DevOps tools may overlap — you can occasionally execute the same operation with different kinds of tools, and you can utilise them in many competitive combinations in your DevOps stack.

Tools for managing and building source code

The creation, storage, analysis, and evaluation of source code is the first step in the DevOps lifecycle. Version control, issue tracking, code review, packaging, and other activities are all part of source code management.

1. Git: A version control and source code management system that is distributed.

Git is a famous DevOps technology that is extensively used in the software industry. It’s a distributed source code management (SCM) system that’s popular among remote teams and open-source contributors. Git enables you to keep track of your development progress. You may save several versions of your source code and go back to a prior one if required. It’s also excellent for trying out new ideas since you can build different branches and integrate new features only when they’re ready.

Git is a command-line programme by default, but you may also download the GUI client to manage your source code via a graphical interface. Many source code editors have a built-in Git editor, such as Visual Studio Code.

You’ll also need to put your source code in repositories where your team members may submit their work to integrate Git with your DevOps process. Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket are now the most popular online Git repo hosting services. These systems let you to host both public and private repositories, monitor and discuss problems, and manage releases. They also provide extra DevOps capabilities including built-in continuous development and security, code review, auditing, and communication tools, among others.

2. Jira: Issue and project management software

Jira is a popular project management and problem tracking software. It’s a product of Atlassian, a well-known IT firm that makes Confluence, Bitbucket, Trello, Statuspage, and other highly sought-after software products. Jira is available as a SaaS or on-premise solution.

Jira began as a bug tracking tool, and most developers still think of it that way. Its user-friendly interface lets you understand how your projects are progressing in context, create branches and pull requests, examine commits, manage dependencies and releases, visualise progress, and more.

Jira subsequently introduced project management tools to complement its issue tracking capabilities. Jira comes with Scrum and Kanban boards (two rival Agile implementations), roadmaps, sophisticated reporting capabilities, and more since it focuses on Agile software development (i.e. methods that revolve on iterative development).

Jira also has a powerful automation engine that lets you create automation rules with a simple drag-and-drop interface. You may link to technologies like Bitbucket, GitHub, and Microsoft Teams and incorporate them in your automation processes in addition to Jira tasks.

3. SonarQube: A code review tool that is automated.

SonarQube is an open-source code review tool that supports 27 programming languages (see GitHub repo). It’s excellent for delving into the source code of multi-language apps. It assists you in focusing on code quality and security throughout the development process by evaluating your code against hundreds of static code analysis criteria.

SonarQube’s most noteworthy feature is its quality gating. SonarQube evaluates if your source code passes the “quality gate” for public release by looking for bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, coverage, and duplications. You may also use quality gates to rapidly assess pull requests and determine whether or not to merge them.

SonarQube analyses overall code health as well as highlighting newly presented problems. It also offers you with helpful visualisations that provide you an overview of the status of your code base. It interfaces with numerous DevOps technologies, including GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Azure Pipelines, Bitbucket, and others, and works both in the cloud and on-premises. SonarQube may be set up with very little setup.

SonarQube is regarded as one of the finest DevSecOps solutions since it helps enhance security by incorporating continuous code analysis into your DevOps process.

4. Gradle is a build automation tool that supports many languages.

A dependable build tool is required for your DevOps stack. For years, Apache Ant and Maven controlled the industry, although Gradle’s popularity has gradually risen since its introduction in 2009. Gradle is a multi-language development environment that supports Java, C++, Python, and other programming languages. Popular IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) such as Netbeans, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA also support it. Gradle has also been chosen by Google as the official build tool for Android Studio.

Gradle utilises a Groovy-based DSL (domain-specific language) to describe builds, while Maven and Ant use XML for configuration. The Gradle team recently published a Kotlin-based DSL to allow developers to write their build scripts in Kotlin in addition to the usual DSL. Gradle supports a variety of repository formats, including Maven-compatible artefact repositories, so you’ll be acquainted with dependency management if you’ve used Maven before. You may also use Gradle to import your Ant builds.

Gradle supports incremental builds, which verify whether the inputs and outputs have changed since the last run. This feature reduces compilation time by up to 100 times when compared to Maven, according to Gradle’s performance measurements. Gradle’s build cache and daemon help to accomplish this speed boost, which is partially due to incrementality and partly due to Gradle’s build cache and daemon (background process). In between builds, the build cache reuses task outputs, while the Gradle Daemon maintains build information hot in memory.

Gradle, on the whole, provides for quicker delivery and has a lot of tuning possibilities.

5. Platforms for containerization

Containerization is a lightweight type of virtualization that encapsulates an application’s source code and all of its dependencies in a container image that can be deployed to many environments without further setup.

6. Docker is a free and open-source containerization platform.

Since its inception in 2013, Docker has been the most popular container platform, and it continues to evolve. One of the most essential DevOps tools, it’s highly respected. Containerization has been popular in the IT industry because to Docker, which allows for remote development and automates the deployment process. It separates programmes into containers, making them portable and secure across environments. Docker applications are platform and OS agnostic. Instead of using virtual computers like VirtualBox, you may utilise Docker containers.

You don’t have to bother about dependency management using Docker. All dependencies may be packaged together in the app’s container and sent as a single unit. The programme may then be executed on any computer or platform without any issues.

Docker also works with Jenkins and Bamboo (both of which are listed below). When used with one of these CI/CD servers, it may help you enhance your DevOps process even further. Docker is also extensively used in cloud computing, with Docker support available from all major cloud providers (including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform). So, if you’re thinking about moving to the cloud, Docker can help.

7. Jenkins is a free and open-source continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) server.

Jenkins is one of the most widely used DevOps automation technologies. It’s an open-source continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) server that enables you to automate the various phases of your delivery pipeline. Jenkins’ popularity stems mostly from its extensive plugin ecosystem. It interfaces with virtually all DevOps technologies, including Docker, Puppet, Octopus Deploy, and more, thanks to over 1,800 plugins.

You can build up and modify your CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins to meet your specific requirements. Jenkins is simple to use since it runs natively on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Docker makes it simple to set up. A web interface is available to set up and configure your Jenkins server. If you’re a new user, you may either utilise plugins to install it or build your own unique setup.

You can iterate and release new code as fast as feasible using Jenkins. It also enables you to track the progress of your pipeline at each stage. It may be used as a basic CI server for development only, or as a full CI/CD solution that also handles your deployment process.

8. Bamboo is a commercially available automated CI/CD server.

Bamboo is Atlassian’s CI/CD server, and it shares many of Jenkins’ capabilities. Both are well-known DevOps technologies for automating your delivery pipeline from builds through deployment. Bamboo, on the other hand, is not free, while Jenkins is. Is it thus worthwhile to choose for proprietary software over a free alternative? It is dependent on your budget and objectives.

Bamboo comes with a lot of pre-built features that you have to configure manually in Jenkins. This is also why Bamboo has fewer plugins (about 190 vs 1,800+ in Jenkins). Bamboo really performs a lot of things out of the box, so you don’t need many plugins.

Bamboo works smoothly with Atlassian products like Jira and Bitbucket. Built-in Git and Mercurial branching processes and test environments are also available. The main conclusion is that Bamboo may save you a lot of time when it comes to setup. It also has a more user-friendly interface with tooltips, auto-completion, and other useful features.

9. Octopus Deploy: A platform for automated deployment and release management.

Octopus Deploy is a deployment and release management solution for expert users. It can be used with CI/CD servers like Jenkins or Bamboo to trigger an Octopus deployment after every build, allowing you to automate your deployment process across different environments and releases. Octopus then generates a new release and distributes it to various environments such as development, testing, staging, production, and others.

To package your programme as a ZIP,.tar.gz, JAR/WAR, or NuGet file, use Octopus Deploy. You may create your own deployment process that Octopus can execute for you, but if you need some ideas, Octopus offers a deploy library with over 500 templates for common deployment processes.

Octopus Deploy supports a variety of cloud services, allowing you to quickly deploy your software to the cloud. It also includes a ‘runbooks’ function that automates typical emergency operations activities like website failover and restoration. Runbooks contain all of the permissions that the various components of your infrastructure need, so they can be used by even our non-technical team members.

If you have a complicated deployment process including many environments (which Octopus refers to as “deployment targets”), a deployment management solution like Octopus Deploy is suggested.

Tools for managing configurations

Configuration management solutions help you deploy faster by automating your infrastructure’s maintenance, configuration, and orchestration procedures.

10. Puppet Enterprise: A configuration management platform that is platform agnostic.

Puppet Enterprise is a configuration management software that works across many platforms. It enables you to write your infrastructure management. You can deploy software quicker and more safely because it automates infrastructure management. Developers may also use Puppet as an open-source tool for smaller projects.

If you’re working with a bigger infrastructure, Puppet Enterprise’s additional capabilities may be useful, such as:

Reports in real time

Access control based on roles

Management of nodes

You can manage several teams and hundreds of resources using Puppet Enterprise. It recognises connections in your infrastructure on its own. It intelligently manages dependencies and errors. It skips all dependent configurations when it finds a bad configuration. Puppet has over 6,700 modules and works with a number of major DevOps technologies.

11. Ansible is a configuration management tool based on YAML.

Ansible is a Red Hat-sponsored open-source configuration management tool. On the deployment end of the CI/CD pipeline, it’s comparable to DevOps automation tools like Puppet (see above) and Chef in terms of capability. You may use it to automate deployment and setup your infrastructure. Its major selling features, when compared to comparable DevOps solutions, are simplicity and ease of use. Ansible and Puppet both use the Infrastructure-as-Code (IAC) methodology. It does, however, utilise the YAML (Yet Another Markup Language) syntax, which is very easy. Ansible uses YAML to describe tasks, while Puppet uses its own declarative language.

Another aspect of Ansible that is often highlighted is its agentless design. Ansible is a safe and lightweight solution for configuration management automation since no daemons or agents operate in the background. Ansible, like Puppet, includes a number of modules.

Take a look at this Red Hat Blog article on using Ansible for environment provisioning and application deployment inside a Jenkins pipeline if you want to learn more about how Ansible fits into the DevOps process.

DevOps tools in the cloud

Using managed DevOps solutions from cloud service providers, you can now operate your complete DevOps stack in the cloud.

Microsoft’s integrated DevOps platform is Azure DevOps (previously known as Visual Studio Team System or VSTS). It allows you to manage the whole DevOps cycle from a single dashboard. While Azure DevOps Services is a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) cloud DevOps solution, Azure DevOps Server is an on-premise version of the same product that you may self-host in your own data centre.

Microsoft’s DevOps solution is a set of technologies that each target a distinct step of the development process. Azure Boards is a project management and planning tool, Azure Pipeline is a continuous integration and delivery tool, Azure Repos is a cloud-hosted Git repository, Azure Test Plans is a testing toolkit, and Azure Artifacts allows you to build, manage, and distribute packages.

You don’t have to utilise all of the tools included in Azure DevOps Services if you don’t want to; you may subscribe to each one separately. If you need extra functionality, the Visual Studio Marketplace has over 1,000 Azure DevOps extensions, including connectors, analytics, visualisations, and crash reporting.

12. Amazon’s cloud-based DevOps toolset, AWS DevOps

AWS DevOps is an Amazon Web Services offering that includes a suite of integrated DevOps tools for managing the full software development lifecycle. Despite the fact that AWS is mainly utilised in the cloud, you may run all of the tools on-premises using AWS Outposts, which allow you to deploy any part of the AWS architecture on your own in-house server.

Unlike Azure DevOps Services, which is a PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) solution, AWS is an IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) solution, which means it is closely tied to the underlying infrastructure. While you can deploy packages from Azure DevOps Services to other infrastructure like AWS, you can’t do the opposite. You can only deploy to AWS infrastructure like EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) or S3 through AWS DevOps (Simple Storage Service).

AWS CodePipeline is a continuous integration and delivery service, while AWS CodeBuild is a completely managed build tool. AWS CodeDeploy is a deployment automation tool, and AWS CodeStar is a DevOps project management platform. Overall, AWS DevOps is the most probable DevOps platform for existing or prospective Amazon Web Services customers.

Platforms for mistake detection and reporting

The last step of the DevOps cycle involves real-time monitoring of your application and infrastructure so that you can respond fast if anything goes wrong.

13. Raygun is a platform for error monitoring and crash reporting.

Raygun is a full-stack performance and error monitoring system that provides real-time actionable insights into the quality of your online and mobile apps. Its DevOps tools assist you in diagnosing problems and tracking them down to the specific line of code, function, or API call. Raygun also includes an application performance monitoring (APM) tool that integrates nicely with the error management process, automatically detecting and generating issues for you.

Raygun APM can assist you in getting the most out of other DevOps technologies by alerting you to any issues. Raygun connects Development and Operations together by offering a single source of truth for the whole team by automatically linking errors back to the source code.

14. Nagios is a system for monitoring infrastructure.

One of the most widely used free and open-source DevOps monitoring tools is Nagios. It aids in the monitoring of your infrastructure in order to identify and resolve issues. You can maintain track of events, outages, and failures using Nagios.

You may also use Nagios’ graphs and reports to keep track of trends. You can predict outages and mistakes, as well as identify security risks, this way. Despite the fact that there are many DevOps solutions for infrastructure monitoring, Nagios stands out because of its extensive plugin ecosystem.

Four open-source monitoring options are available from Nagios: Nagios Core is a command-line application; Nagios XI is a web-based GUI (graphical user interface) and monitoring wizard; Nagios Log Server enables you to search log data and set up alerts about possible risks; and Nagios Fusion helps you monitor several networks at once.

You’ll have to setup Nagios yourself since it’s a free programme. Alternatively, you may purchase one of their support plans to get access to the Nagios team’s assistance and experience.

Which DevOps tools should your team use?

It takes some trial and experimenting to find the finest DevOps tools for your particular needs. Most commercial DevOps solutions come with free trials that enable you to try and assess them without spending any money. Open-source technologies take longer to set up and configure. In the end, it boils down to what you’re attempting to do and the resources you have at your disposal. While choosing and deploying your toolkit may take some effort at first, you’ll enjoy the advantages of a more coherent development workflow once it’s in place.

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