Introduction to System Administration CSCI N321 – System and Network Administration Copyright © 2000, 2012 by Scott Orr and the Trustees of Indiana University

Section Overview What is a System Administrator? Personal Perspectives Ethics Documentation

References CQU COIT13146 Study Guide Chapters 1-3

What is a System Administrator? Someone who takes care of the systems others are using. System Running Smoothly and Efficiently Users able to work in Easy and Efficient Manner

Sysadmin .sig file “My job is like an airplane pilot's -- When I'm doing it well, you might not even notice me, but my mistakes are often quite spectacular.” Source: Unknown

System Administration Tasks User Management Hardware Management Software Management System Monitoring & Troubleshooting Documentation & Help Desk Backups Automation, Planning, Policies, and Auditing Firefighting!!!

The Good… Lots of variety Challenging Fulfilling Pays well Very employable

The Bad… Annoying at times Long hours May not be your only job Users Management Vendor Tech Support Long hours May not be your only job

And the Ugly… Most people don’t understand the job When things go well… Go unnoticed “They don’t do anything” Game players Web Surfers, Facebook, etc. Important to document everything

And the Ugly (Con’t.)… When there is a problem… Everyone is looking for you Highly stressful Some blame you for the problem May graduate to “Miracle Worker” status once problem is fixed 

Sage Advice… Kirk: “Scotty, Do you always multiply your repair estimates by a factor of four?” Scotty: “How else to maintain my reputation as a miracle worker?” ~Star Trek IV “Starship captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. The secret is to give them what they need, not what they want.” ~ST:TNG - Relics

SAGE/LOPSA Code of Ethics Professionalism Personal Integrity Privacy Laws and Policies Communication System Integrity Education Responsibility to Computing Community Social Responsibility Ethical Responsibility “The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse” ~Edmund Burke

Documentation Enables you to recreate system Contents include Wikis Configuration information Policies and procedures Useful commands and resources Daily log of modifications Wikis Request/Ticket Systems

Documentation Wiki

Ticket Systems

Conference!!!