Introduction to

System Administration

CSCI N321 System and Network Administration

Copyright 2000, 2011 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 Users able to work in

Smoothly and Efficiently 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
Users
Management
Vendor Tech Support
Long hours
May not be your only job
And the Ugly
Most people dont understand the job

When things go well

Go unnoticed
They dont do anything
Game players
Web Surfers
Important to document everything
And the Ugly (Cont.)
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 System Integrity
Personal Integrity Education
Privacy Responsibility to
Laws and Policies Computing Community
Communication Social Responsibility
Ethical Responsibility

The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse

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