How I Mastered Chaos (Testing): My LFX Journey with CloudNativePG

#cncf #lfx #devops #opensource

The Stakes Were High, and the Threat Was Real

It all started with Akash Bhaiya tagging us on the Point Blank group - an order for all of us to apply for the LFX Mentorship program. The message was clear: "If y'all do not apply for LFX this term I will personally GG you."

I knew the stakes. LFX's acceptance rate is less than a percent, even tougher than GSOC. I wrote my proposals (the cover letter) and resume, but after submitting, I forget about it.

Chaos, CNPG, and 36 Hours

Then, the email came. Subject: 'Interview Invitation - LFX Mentorship Program, CloudNativePG Project.' The email was from Francesco Canovai, thanking me for my application and inviting me to schedule an initial interview.

The reason I believe I was selected for the interview? A tiny, but critical, mention in my proposal about my past experience with Litmus Chaos during a hackathon.

The project was CloudNativePG: Chaos Testing.

The Goal: Set up robust chaos testing using Litmus Chaos for CloudNativePG (CNPG).
The Problem: I knew chaos testing basics, but CNPG was a black box.

I had 1.5 days. I was super nervous. That 36 hours was only Litmus Chaos, Kubernetes, and diving into the CNPG GitHub repo and their existing tests.

Accepted!

When I finally met the team including Francesco, Gabriele, Marco, and Jonathan for the interview, the questions focused heavily on my chaos testing knowledge. They appreciated that I hadn't just studied the project abstract - I had already deep-dived into the CNPG repository.

I was relieved and genuinely happy with how the interview went. But nothing compared to the feeling when the final result email landed in my inbox. I was beyond happy and truly excited to have been selected and couldn't wait for the term to start.

Hitting a Wall (And Breaking Through It)

I officially started the project on September 17th, guided by my fantastic mentors: Gabrielle, Jonathan, Marco, and Francesco.

We hit some major roadblocks right away. The biggest hurdle? Litmus Chaos, a key part of the project, didn't natively support the AppKind of CloudNativePG. But this obstacle was actually a big opportunity! To make the project work, I got the chance to contribute directly to Litmus Chaos itself.

I learned and grew more in this single term than I had in months. My LFX mentorship term finally concluded on December 10th.