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cs471:cs_471_-_general_sysadmin_principles

Some General SysAdmin Principles


Documentation

  • Document your work.
    • Keep a journal.
      • Use at least a plain text file.
      • Date each entry.
      • If you have a boss that you send your journal to, spellcheck your journal.
      • The journal isn't just for your boss, it's for you.
        • It's your own FAQ.
        • It's your own collection of HOWTOs to help you and others reproduce work in the future on other systems.
          • When you make an entry in your journal, ask yourself, “Is this enough information to allow me and maybe others to reproduce this work that I just spent hours on?
        • It can get huge over time, which is why there may be a need for a better system of self-documentation than a flat text file.
          • Possibly something blog-like where you can add tags to each journal entry.
      • The journal has to be backed up and accessible from anywhere, at your fingertips.
        • This is why some admins keep logs in notebooks (paper notebooks), though this has several drawbacks.
        • If your journal is on a company server or your office workstation, and the network is down, and you're at home 30 miles away, and you need some vital information that's in the journal…now what?
    • Use comments in /etc/config files to document your changes.
      • Sign and date your comments for your future reference and for other admins.
  • In general, be well-organized.
    • whether that's the directory structure under your home directory or your written journal
  • Use technology in documentation.
    • Set up a web page or FAQ.
    • Use video or digital photography.
      • Sometimes, a picture is literally worth a thousand words.

The hard stuff (security and backups)

  • Take care of the hard stuff first.
    • The worst feelings for a SysAdmin (makes you fear getting fired):
      • The system got hacked.
      • Something important got deleted, and there's no backup.
    • Backups, security hardening, disaster recovery plan
    • How good is the backup?
      • Do you have a system and plan for doing bare-metal recovery?
      • Check if you can actually restore from the backup.
    • Run a file system integrity (FSI) checker.
      • Is your FSI database and configuration file on a read-only medium?
      • From read-only medium or NFS mount
    • Run a root kit scanner.
      • From a read-only medium or NFS mount
    • Be aware of recently discovered security problems and exploits and incidents.
  • Do you subscribe to newsgroups and mailing lists that might give you this information?
  • Run logwatch (https://sourceforge.net/projects/logwatch/) or other program that alerts you to irregularities in your system logs.
    • Run an intrusion detection system.
    • Use a firewall.
      • IP tables on Linux
        • There are useful front-ends and canned firewall rules that you can use.
    • Whitelist incoming connections using tcpd (tcp wrapper).
    • Whitelist users who are allowed to ssh in.
    • Is it obvious what OS you are running, what servers you are running?
      • Make it less obvious.
      • telnet banners, /etc/issue*, info obtained from telnet to port 25 (SMTP)
    • Beware the “It won't happen here” or “Our users aren't that smart” mentality that leads to security problems.
  • Think in terms of redundancy.
    • Is there a backup of the backup?

Efficiency Matters

  • Proxies can reduce bandwidth usage for over-the-internet installs and general internet usage.
  • Avoid mass manual installations.
    • Try to use cloning as much as possible.

Remote Access / Administration

  • Unless every machine you administer is only on from 9am-5pm, system administration is not a 9-to-5 kind of job.
  • The ability to work remotely is essential and something that SysAdmins should demand and set up.
  • Enable Wake-on-LAN and/or timed power-on in BIOS'es of systems.
    • If you have input into the systems that are purchased, stress that these systems come with these types of features.
  • Learn to use serial consoles, remote KVM switches.
  • Enable more than one way to access a system remotely.
    • ”# ifdown eth0“ will kill network access to your system.
      • Have you enabled another way to access your system when that happens?
  • Learn to use the command line.
    • Yes, even on Windows.
    • Remote administration is best done at the command line.
  • Learn SSH port forwarding.
    • One of the few services/protocols that is trusted enough to allow through firewalls.

Startup / Shutdown

  • Do some checks before shutting down / restarting a system.
    • Is anyone logged on?
    • How long can the system afford to be shut down?
    • Is there a backup? Is a backup needed?
    • Does the system really require a reboot?
    • Is the boot loader properly configured?
    • Is there an alternate way to access the system in case the bootup fails?

Automation and Scripting

  • Learn one scripting language well and use it consistently.
    • Using it consistently helps you to learn it well.
    • But not a language so obscure that only you use it and understand it.
  • Unless you really like typing, develop a set of aliases and short scripts that reduce typing.
  • Learn to use the command line (shell) history.
    • Increase the size of the command history.
  • Periodic processing (cron, at, etc.)
    • Processes must be non-interactive to be scheduled…
      • or learn expect or equivalent system.
    • Test cron script, as you would any other script you write.
  • Write scripts so that they are scalable.
    • Will still be useful as more systems are added to your admin stable.
    • Applies to any administration solution: Think in terms of scalability.

Software Installation/Management, System Maintenance

  • Workflow for software installation:
    • Look for official (e.g., Debian, Microsoft) source for software that you want to install.
      • In the case of Debian, software that can be installed using “apt-get, aptitude, …” without adding third party sources/mirrors.
    • If official sources are not available, use a recommended unofficial source or mirror.
      • Be sure to get the source's or mirror's “keys” to ensure that the software that you get is “signed.”
        • Installed packages should still be upgradeable/maintainable using official package management commands (apt-get, aptitude, yum, etc.)
    • If no recommended unofficial source or mirror exist, then get the source code, if available, and attempt to build and install it yourself.
      • Here, can either try to build your own installation packages or install using package “sandboxing” tools like stow/xstow.
  • Multiple package management schemes on the same system
    • Apple, Fink, and MacPorts on MacOSX situation
    • Require fiddling with $PATH and library search paths (Linux:/etc/ld.so.conf*)
  • Just because a package is “official” does not make it up-to-date (in terms of currency and bug/security fixes).
    • These are maintained by people with real lives, and the people are often volunteers, doing this on their own time.
    • For timely fixes, you might have to manually compile/install/maintain regularly instead of relying on the “official” package management system.
  • Automatic updates
    • Sounds nice, but an admin should know what's actually being installed or upgraded.
    • Software installs/updates should be an interactive activity.
      • But downloading (but not installing) upgrades overnight via scheduling should be fine.
  • Upgrade the OS/kernel/software carefully.
    • (or apply security patches, services packs, etc.)
    • Does it have to be done now?
      • Is the system being used? Are users logged on?
      • Can it wait until the end of the quarter/semester?
    • Have you backed up the system first?
    • Will you be able to back out to a previous system state if your upgrade is disastrous?
    • Have you tested the upgrade adequately on a test system(s)?
    • Have you tested the upgrade after you have applied it?
    • Only the high priority security fix patches or packages can be applied/installed in lieu of the whole bundle of upgrades/patches.
  • Install only software that is actually used.
    • Unnecessary software may contain vulnerabilities.
    • But depriving users of software they really need may motivate them to install it themselves, in their home directories.
  • Not all software comes nicely packaged.
    • such as commercial or “non-free” software
      • Sun's Java, icc (Intel compiler), eclipse IDE, netbeans IDE, vmware
    • May require compiling it yourself
      • and installing in /usr/local or /opt
      • Before installing, think about the possibility of uninstalling.
        • Compile and install to /usr/local means files scattered to /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib, /usr/local/share, /usr/local/etc, /usr/local/sbin.
        • Does software's Makefile have a working uninstall target?

Users

  • Will rarely describe their problems with a level of detail that is needed to solve their problems.
    • Asking for their password so that you can login as them to diagnose their problems, should be avoided.
      • If you must, then they must change their password afterward.
    • Can use su - userid or some other method to start a process as another user.
    • Ask for a screenshot.
      • Sometimes as easy as hitting the <Print Screen> key
      • Or using their cell phones
  • “Eat your own dog food.”
    • Use the same environment as the users, the same machines on the same networks as the users, so that you can catch problems they may come to you with.
    • Be a user. Use user tools.
      • Can't be a UNIX admin w/o first being a UNIX user (Also applies to Windows)
    • Do concern yourself with the usability of the OS environment for your users.
      • This will have the added benefit of reducing your support headaches.
      • Use sensible settings in default shell profiles in /etc/skel
        • without compromising security
          • no ”.“ in $PATH, umask=077
        • an informative shell prompt
      • Will the default user interface (window manager or desktop) be familiar and intuitive enough for CS 175 students and also minimize complaints from professors?
      • No drive letters and easy access to USB flash drives could frustrate many users, whether they are Linux newbies or not.
        • Systems such as autofs work for removable media, though setting them up are usually not easy tasks.
        • Balance against ease of administration.
          • Simple window managers like IceWM: faster startup, smaller memory footprint, easy to configure (for the admin), familiar-looking interface
          • Desktop environments like Gnome/KDE: slower startup, bigger memory footprint, easy to configure (for the user)
  • User training
    • A support web page with FAQs?
    • Occasional “UNIX for Dummies” seminars?
  • Don't assume that the users aren't smart enough or that they are not aware of published security exploits.
    • The “would never happen here” mentality

Standardization vs. Diversity

  • Standardize on one distro of Linux or use multiple distros?
    • If standardize, choose your standard distro wisely.
      • Consider the projected continuity of a distro.
        • Debian's continuity seems like a good bet.
          • less so with many Debian derivatives
    • Multiple distros also a good idea
      • redhat still the most widely used distro, and rpm the most widely used package format
        • Good to be familiar with rpm-based distros and redhat-like distros.
    • Multiple UNIX versions also a good idea
      • What if, by some miracle, SCO wins and Linux is lost?
        • FreeBSD waiting in the wings
        • Solaris x86? (future looks bleak)
        • AIX? (not free; bleh)
        • Mac OS X (see AIX)

Advocacy

  • Should a UNIX admin advocate the use of UNIX?
    • Up to a point
    • An admin should advocate the right tool for the job ..
      • .. and learn the right tool for the job, even if that happens to be Windows.

Learning Administration

  • Learn administration by doing administration.
  • More likely to learn if something goes wrong.

Keeping up with the Joneses

  • What technologies are being used “out there,” and are we behind the times?
    • LDAP instead of NIS
    • cfengine instead of my own scripts
    • systemimager instead of my own scripts

Ethics and Licenses

  • A professor wants to use their single-user license for a language interpretor for an entire class of students ..
    • .. and wants you to install the interpretor on the server.
  • A student has 2 GB worth of mp3s in his home directory.
    • A student has 2 GB worth of legitimate research output in his home directory.
  • You have access to your boss' email spool file.

cs471/cs_471_-_general_sysadmin_principles.txt · Last modified: 2018/04/06 18:18 by jchung

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