Self-assess at the end of each week. Bring unchecked items to your next consultation session.

Day 0 | Setup

• VS Code installed with Terraform and AWS Toolkit extensions
• AWS CLI v2 installed — aws --version shows 2.x.x
• Terraform CLI installed — terraform version shows v1.x.x
• Git configured with my Stratpoint email
• aws configure completed — aws sts get-caller-identity returns my account details
• GitLab access confirmed — can clone and push to my assigned repository
• StratU Classroom enrolled in all three courses

Week 1 | CloudFormation

• I understand the difference between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS
• I can explain what a VPC, subnet, security group, and EC2 instance are
• I wrote a CloudFormation template with Parameters and Outputs sections
• I deployed a CloudFormation stack using the AWS CLI
• I verified deployed resources in the AWS Console
• I deleted the stack and confirmed all resources were cleaned up
• I completed Activity 1 and presented to my instructor

Weeks 2–3 | Terraform 101

• I can run all 6 Terraform workflow commands: init, fmt, validate, plan, apply, destroy
• I have provisioned and destroyed at least one AWS resource with Terraform
• My Terraform code uses variables.tf, outputs.tf, and terraform.tfvars correctly
• I have created at least one reusable Terraform module
• My GitLab repo has a .gitignore that excludes .terraform/, *.tfstate, and secrets
• I completed Activities 2a, 2b, and 2c and presented each individually

Week 4 | Capstone Kickoff

• I have read the full capstone requirements
• I have an architecture diagram draft showing all required components
• My GitLab repo is created with an initial folder structure
• My module structure is planned and initial provider config is committed

Weeks 5–7 | Capstone Milestones

• Milestone 1: VPC, subnets, IGW, route tables, and all security groups provisioned
• Milestone 2: Jump host, launch template, ASG, and ALB provisioned and accessible
• Milestone 3: RDS Multi-AZ provisioned in private subnets and reachable from jump host
• Milestone 3: S3 bucket created with lifecycle policy
• All resources are tagged with Environment, Project, and Owner

Week 8 | Capstone Finalization

• Architecture diagram is finalised and committed to docs/
• README explains how to deploy and destroy the infrastructure
• Testing notes are written up — ALB, SSH, RDS reachability all checked
• Capstone presentation delivered
• terraform destroy confirmed — all resources cleaned up after presentation

Weeks 9–11 | Project Immersion and Cloud Native DevOps

• I attended assigned project observation sessions and wrote structured notes
• I completed the Cloud Native DevOps learning activities in StratU Classroom
• I can build a Docker image and run a container locally
• I understand what a Kubernetes Deployment and Service manifest does
• I can read a GitLab CI/CD pipeline file and explain what each stage does
• I wrote a summary document of what I observed during project immersion

Week 12 | Final Wrap-up

• Final reflection and learning summary completed
• Mentor feedback session attended
• Internship evaluation completed