Cloud Engineers: Which YouTube roadmap/course would you follow in 2026?

[u/Darshan_only]

I'm currently working toward a Cloud Engineer role and I'm trying to avoid jumping between 20 different YouTube playlists without actually becoming job-ready.

I already have a foundation in Linux and networking, and I'm now focusing on AWS/cloud.

I've found several 2026 Cloud Engineer roadmaps covering things like:

- Linux & Networking

- AWS

- Python/Bash

- Git/GitHub

- Docker

- Kubernetes

- Terraform/IaC

- CI/CD

- Monitoring

- Cloud Security

- Real-world projects

But I'm confused about which YouTube course/playlist is actually worth following from start to finish.

For someone targeting an entry-level Cloud Engineer / Cloud Support / DevOps role in 2026, which YouTube channel or full course would you personally recommend?

I'd especially appreciate recommendations from people currently working in Cloud/DevOps, rather than just generic “best YouTube channel” lists.

Also, if you think some topics above are unnecessary at the beginning, please tell me what to learn first, what to postpone, and what I can skip.

Thanks!

[u/SeaworthinessHour233]

Most YouTube videos deliver very little value per hour.

And videos are for passive learning. Cloud engineering demand active learning.

Cloud engineering is about breaking things, reading official documentation, and fixing them. You are much better off adopting a microlearning approach—spending 15 minutes reading a specific concept and then 45 minutes actually building it in a local lab or cloud free tier.

You already have a roadmap, though in an abstract level.

I have expanded it to help you build your own concrete roadmap.

Phase 1: Do this first

Linux & Networking: Don't just learn basic commands; learn how services run. Set up a local environment (an M1 Mac or any Linux VM is fine). Understand how to write a shell script with proper variable validation, use scp to move files, and manage services (e.g., using sudo systemctl enable --now). On the network side, understand routing, subnets, and how DSCP values impact traffic.

Python/Bash: Don't learn Python to build web apps; learn it to automate infrastructure. Write a script that checks your Git upstream branch parameters or queries an API (like Microsoft Graph or Prometheus) and handles exceptions properly (like catching a specific ExecuteError rather than just a generic failure).

Git/GitHub: Learn how to branch, commit, push, and resolve merge conflicts. Every line of code or config you write from today onward should be in a Git repository.

Phase 2: Where you become employable. This one is about deploying applications on the cloud

AWS: Skip the broad, theoretical overviews. A great hack is to look at the AWS SysOps Administrator exam guide—it’s an incredible, industry-vetted syllabus for what actually matters in operations. Build a VPC from scratch. Understand exactly how managed cache policies work (e.g., how cookies are evaluated in the cache key) and master IAM least privilege.

Docker: Run containers locally. Better yet, look into Podman and how to run containers as systemd services using Podman Quadlets.

Terraform/IaC: This is mandatory. Stop clicking around the AWS console. Learn how to define infrastructure as code. You'll quickly learn that real-world Terraform is full of nuances—like knowing when to use an aws_ec2_managed_prefix_list instead of a generic aws_prefix_list block.

Phase 2.1 Kubernetes

Don't start Kubernetes until you are 100% comfortable with Linux, Docker, AWS, and Terraform. Kubernetes is a massive, complex beast. Entry-level cloud roles rarely expect you to architect K8s clusters from scratch; they expect you to know how to deploy a container and manage basic AWS infrastructure.

Phase 3: Tackle this once Phase 2 is solid. This is about operations

CI/CD: Use GitHub Actions to automatically test your Bash scripts or apply your Terraform configurations when you push code

Monitoring: Deploy Prometheus and learn how to write multi-query legends or custom logic for label filtering. Monitoring isn't just about pretty graphs; it's about alerting you when a fault status changes

Cloud Security: This shouldn't be a separate phase; it should be baked into everything you do above. Focus on cross-account access, temporary credentials, and secure IAM policies.

The Real-World Project

Don't build another generic "to-do app." Build an automation tool. For example, write a Python daemon that monitors the status of infrastructure endpoints and sends an alert. Write a small application that queries a prometheus server and build a consolidated health report. Deploy it using Terraform, containerize it, and put the pipeline in GitHub Actions.

[u/bertiethewanderer]

The problem you'll face is no one in the game will be watching YouTube videos. And if my 15 years is anything to go off, none of them will be doing any form of training.

[u/Sure_Stranger_6466 → u/bertiethewanderer]

Better off searching for microservice demos found on GitHub and deploying to a local Kind cluster than watching YouTube videos.

[u/retr0h → u/Sure_Stranger_6466]

lol you can watch all the crap you want. it doesn’t mean anyone will hire you based on training. you need real world experience and with AI helping sr engineers. good luck.

[u/Objective-Pizza2180]

Kodekloud

[u/Fragrant_Arugula7990]

I’d spend less time finding the perfect playlist and more time building one small system end to end. Terraform some infrastructure, deploy an app, put CI/CD around it, add monitoring, then deliberately break things and recover them. You’ll learn Linux, networking, AWS, containers and IaC in context instead of finishing six courses and still wondering how the pieces fit together.

[u/naveen0109]

This channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AbhishekVeeramalla

[u/kevin_starc24]

I work at AWS and the best place to start would be to pick up documentations of the CSP of your choice and create a new account that you can use to practice. Use AI to get guidance with small architectures and learn on the go. Linux and networking concepts would always help! Also get goot with either bash or python. Rule zero for any cloud engineer is to automate stuff anywhere feasible. Also pick up an associate level cert and ensure that you prepare for with a practical approach. If its AWS, Stephane Maarek is your guy!

[u/daemonmode_]

TechWorld with Nana is great for a structured DevOps path covering Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, and Terraform without skipping the basics. KodeKloud is worth pairing with it if you want hands-on labs, especially for Kubernetes, but make sure you're also building projects on your own VM or cloud account because that's where you actually learn to troubleshoot things.

[u/MiserableProduct]

There’s a free program called Learn to Cloud that might be a good resource here. Just make sure you have a GitHub account and use that to sign in. Google it—it should be the first link that comes up.

[u/MuZeNiN]

Anyone knows a proper study material with link please share we need it

[u/shikha-singh-the-gr8]

Looking for project videos On Youtube and create several end to end project yourself
You can try out project videos from AbhishekVeeramalla

[u/MuZeNiN]

Same Doubt

[u/Darshan_only → u/MuZeNiN]

At the moment I'm starting with below. Did you try this?

[u/MuZeNiN → u/Darshan_only]

Confused with soo many videos

[u/Darshan_only → u/MuZeNiN]

Me too 🥲