Without using Google or books, I tinker around the Ubuntu desktop. Thankfully, the mouse and keyboard are working, so those drivers aren't needed!
An icon with a wrench and a gear tell me this might be useful, so I give it a click. Hey! This looks like the Windows Control Panel! I can do this!
I look at the time and date. The time zone was right, the date was right, but the time was not. :-) This was due to no internet. I still need to install drivers!
I move on to click Details. Ahh...this is where I can set some defaults, but it doesn't show my hardware information so back to All Settings. Nope, nothing else there to install new hardware (or existing for that matter).
The Ubuntu logo button, again, much like Windows, allows me to type in a search. I type "hardware" and I get nothing. Alright, then it's time for Google on my Windows machine to get me going. I'm anticipating that I simply need to download the drivers, put them onto my handy thumb drive, and install away, but I don't know what else Ubuntu hasn't installed by default, so I'm going to Google for "Ubuntu Device Manager" and see what I get.
That took me to "askubuntu.com" which told me to go into the Ubuntu Software Center and search to install "System Profiler and Benchmark", however, I still don't have wireless and internet, so I have get a little more specific. Google "install Ubuntu drivers" and it's still a little to general, so "Dell studio 1537 Ubuntu drivers" should do the trick. Yup! I get pointed to a forum where someone has provided a link. Lo and behold, the only driver listed is for wireless. Let's see if it works!
The 1.1MB file is copied to my thumb drive, then copied from the thumb drive to the laptop. Hmmm...ok...not like Windows. No .exe file. OK...Google "install Ubuntu wireless driver without internet". I have to sift through a few pages and forums before I get to a site at help.ubuntu.com that helps you identify the device, get the driver, and install it. I learn I need to do this from the Terminal (CTRL + ALT + T). Ahhh...this looks like the Windows command prompt. I can do this!
I follow the guide. I have the BCM4312 802.11b/g wireless card. Cool...
I discover I need to learn a little about the command lines. I'm familiar with DOS and PowerShell, but not with Linux, so I need to learn how to change directories and find the files I just downloaded and extracted. :-)
Aha...while the command similar, it's case sensitive. cd /Downloads/drivers worked when cd /downloads/drivers did not (note the difference in "downloads"). Reading the notes for the driver, I need to make sure the right headers and tools are installed. Hmmmm...this is a bit more complicated than I'm ready for. But, being stubborn as I am, I dig deeper into how to do all of this without an internet connection yet (funny how we are immediately dependent on the internet even on a fresh OS install). Ahhhh...reading a little bit more in the readme file, Ubuntu should already have these files (pre-compiled driver) and I should not need to install these from the download.
But then I fell into a whirlpool of trying to figure out how to get the pre-compiled drivers installed. Well, I ended up finding a network cable and connecting to the internet that way. Many things started working, mostly the apt-get commands as they go directly through the internet to get the files/updates needed. *sigh*
I've made a mental note that learning to do an Ubuntu install completely offline should be one my goals as an administrator. If it can be done with Windows, it can be done with Linux and all of its variations. It's just a matter of how, finding the best practice, building it, then testing it....many, many times! :-)
Back to getting wireless working. Through my various Google searches, I find that others have struggled with this particular wireless card and its driver. But now that I've given myself internet access, things are moving along. Some of the prerequisites are now installing. I learned that I need to use "sudo" in most of my command lines so I don't get the "lock" error. All of this will make sense once I pause and review, then Google some more to understand exactly what I did. :-)
Once the prerequisites installed, the command in the readme file still didn't work, but I found another thread that since I had internet, I only needed to do an install-broadcom-kernel command and the files downloaded/installed automatically. Other updates were installing in the background, so I waited for that before rebooting to see if wireless was working. It didn't look like any other drivers needed to be added or updated at this point, but, I'm still just a beginner and may discover otherwise at a later time. The joy of being a computer geek!
After rebooting...wireless is working!!! One hurdle/learning experience down....countless to go!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Hello, Linux
Having been pretty much an exclusive Windows user since DOS 6.22, it's time to touch base with other Operating Systems such as Linux and the MacOS. I have, but don't use an old Mac Mini, whose sole purpose was for me to get familiar with the Mac world. Finding it not too different than Windows, the Mac mini has since been in storage.
Before the Mac mini, I had installed Red Hat Linux, but never got beyond that. It was installed, it also looked very similar to Windows, and thus, abandoned.
But now, several years later, Linux has made its mark in the world of computers, so I must go beyond simply installing it. Below is what I wrote as I installed Ubuntu on an old laptop of mine...
Installing Ubuntu 13.04 for the First Time
Dell Studio 15, Model 1537 - an older laptop that was originally Windows Vista. I later installed Windows 7 and only used it for gaming and internet browsing.
The last time I took at stab at a Linux OS, it was RedHat and it was several years ago. I installed it on a machine, used it for a day or two, then never went back to it again. I simply wanted to see it. At the time, it didn't seem much different from Windows as it had a GUI interface, etc.
Now at the point where much more devices and companies are using Linux, I'm taking a stab at it again and not just at the very basic level. I want to know it as well as I know Windows. I know Windows pretty well, but even there, there's always something new to learn. I never got into the deep dive of administrative options such as PowerShell and WMI.
Getting into Linux I think it will help me both expand my horizons and, ironically, get a better understanding of managing Windows systems. Because Linux is managed a great deal by command lines and scripts. PowerShell does the same thing for Windows. But concepts like "objects", "methods", etc. can get very confusing for me. I am a person that learns visually. I need to see it to understand it. I can copy and paste code as easily as the next geek, and most of the time, I can tweak it to my needs. But I want to do these kinds of things on my own and from scratch.
HTML came very easy to me because I could see what each command was doing by looking at the results a comparing it to the code. For some reason, I've always had difficulty doing the same thing with VBScript and PowerShell. Somehow, I'm hoping that by learning Linux from scratch, I'll get that light bulb over my head to come to life and everything will simply fall into place. "Ah, ha! I see it, now I get it!" From there, the possibilities are endless as is the challenge.
So today, I fire up my old Dell laptop and have chosen to use Ubuntu as it has become increasingly popular and I see it listed as one of the preferred experiences one should have if job hunting.
I had to download the ISO file three times (794MB). The first two times, it was corrupted. Third time was the charm, finding a mirror that was both a decent speed and non-corrupted! :-) The price of freeware, I suppose.
The Dell still had Windows 7 installed as I wanted to see if Ubuntu would wipe out the drive and do a fresh install. Microsoft just loves giving you this chance. :-)
After choosing to boot to the CD/DVD drive, I see the Ubuntu logo and five little dots for a few minutes; the disk spinning up and down, until finally...a big grey screen with a pointed cursor. Woohoo! Another minute later, I finally see the options Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. I go all out and choose Install ubuntu. It says it shouldn't take too long. It's 6:06pm as I click the Install Ubuntu button.
I choose to follow the defaults, knowing that I can change options later. I am not connected to the internet because I'll rely on wireless once the OS is installed. I choose to not install the third-party software option either.
Continuing on, I choose to Replace Windows 7 with Ubuntu, which will wipe the drive and do a fresh install. I skip the options of encryption and Logical Volume Management. These are things I will look into later.
Install Now is clicked at 6:09pm. I set my location, choose English, fill in the Who are you? window (I think it's funny my password is considered "fair" in Ubuntu, when Windows considers it "strong" - it was 10 characters with upper and lower case letters and a couple of numbers in between but no special characters). 6:11pm and the install finally begins. 6:18pm...Installation Complete. Restart Now...drum roll...
My Ubuntu install boot CD is spit out of the machine automatically and I press Enter to kill the processes and reboot. I see a couple of brief errors about KVM, but the OS continues to boot. It takes about 20 seconds to get the login screen. It was about 30 with my vanilla Windows 7 install.
My "fair" password is entered and a few seconds later, I'm in! It's very orange/purplish. I like the purple, but not a big fan of orange (though my son looks great in it!).
Before I get the chance to click on anything, I see a pop-up to install some missing components in regards to Language Support. Since wireless isn't working yet, I don't think it'll work.
Since I see familiar wireless icon in the upper right corner (it would be lower right if it was still Windows), I right mouse click it and see the option for Edit Connections...
My wired connection shows (no cable connected), but wireless does not appear. As expected drivers will be needed.
I will continue the driver install experience in my next blog, but step 1 is complete. I have an official Ubuntu box up and running. It's just not doing anything...yet! :-)
Before the Mac mini, I had installed Red Hat Linux, but never got beyond that. It was installed, it also looked very similar to Windows, and thus, abandoned.
But now, several years later, Linux has made its mark in the world of computers, so I must go beyond simply installing it. Below is what I wrote as I installed Ubuntu on an old laptop of mine...
Installing Ubuntu 13.04 for the First Time
Dell Studio 15, Model 1537 - an older laptop that was originally Windows Vista. I later installed Windows 7 and only used it for gaming and internet browsing.
The last time I took at stab at a Linux OS, it was RedHat and it was several years ago. I installed it on a machine, used it for a day or two, then never went back to it again. I simply wanted to see it. At the time, it didn't seem much different from Windows as it had a GUI interface, etc.
Now at the point where much more devices and companies are using Linux, I'm taking a stab at it again and not just at the very basic level. I want to know it as well as I know Windows. I know Windows pretty well, but even there, there's always something new to learn. I never got into the deep dive of administrative options such as PowerShell and WMI.
Getting into Linux I think it will help me both expand my horizons and, ironically, get a better understanding of managing Windows systems. Because Linux is managed a great deal by command lines and scripts. PowerShell does the same thing for Windows. But concepts like "objects", "methods", etc. can get very confusing for me. I am a person that learns visually. I need to see it to understand it. I can copy and paste code as easily as the next geek, and most of the time, I can tweak it to my needs. But I want to do these kinds of things on my own and from scratch.
HTML came very easy to me because I could see what each command was doing by looking at the results a comparing it to the code. For some reason, I've always had difficulty doing the same thing with VBScript and PowerShell. Somehow, I'm hoping that by learning Linux from scratch, I'll get that light bulb over my head to come to life and everything will simply fall into place. "Ah, ha! I see it, now I get it!" From there, the possibilities are endless as is the challenge.
So today, I fire up my old Dell laptop and have chosen to use Ubuntu as it has become increasingly popular and I see it listed as one of the preferred experiences one should have if job hunting.
I had to download the ISO file three times (794MB). The first two times, it was corrupted. Third time was the charm, finding a mirror that was both a decent speed and non-corrupted! :-) The price of freeware, I suppose.
The Dell still had Windows 7 installed as I wanted to see if Ubuntu would wipe out the drive and do a fresh install. Microsoft just loves giving you this chance. :-)
After choosing to boot to the CD/DVD drive, I see the Ubuntu logo and five little dots for a few minutes; the disk spinning up and down, until finally...a big grey screen with a pointed cursor. Woohoo! Another minute later, I finally see the options Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. I go all out and choose Install ubuntu. It says it shouldn't take too long. It's 6:06pm as I click the Install Ubuntu button.
I choose to follow the defaults, knowing that I can change options later. I am not connected to the internet because I'll rely on wireless once the OS is installed. I choose to not install the third-party software option either.
Continuing on, I choose to Replace Windows 7 with Ubuntu, which will wipe the drive and do a fresh install. I skip the options of encryption and Logical Volume Management. These are things I will look into later.
Install Now is clicked at 6:09pm. I set my location, choose English, fill in the Who are you? window (I think it's funny my password is considered "fair" in Ubuntu, when Windows considers it "strong" - it was 10 characters with upper and lower case letters and a couple of numbers in between but no special characters). 6:11pm and the install finally begins. 6:18pm...Installation Complete. Restart Now...drum roll...
My Ubuntu install boot CD is spit out of the machine automatically and I press Enter to kill the processes and reboot. I see a couple of brief errors about KVM, but the OS continues to boot. It takes about 20 seconds to get the login screen. It was about 30 with my vanilla Windows 7 install.
My "fair" password is entered and a few seconds later, I'm in! It's very orange/purplish. I like the purple, but not a big fan of orange (though my son looks great in it!).
Before I get the chance to click on anything, I see a pop-up to install some missing components in regards to Language Support. Since wireless isn't working yet, I don't think it'll work.
Since I see familiar wireless icon in the upper right corner (it would be lower right if it was still Windows), I right mouse click it and see the option for Edit Connections...
My wired connection shows (no cable connected), but wireless does not appear. As expected drivers will be needed.
I will continue the driver install experience in my next blog, but step 1 is complete. I have an official Ubuntu box up and running. It's just not doing anything...yet! :-)
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Trouble with cables
As expected, I've already fallen behind on this blog. *sigh* Well, I'll continue to plod along when I can.
Today, all I needed was a mini-USB cable too hook up my mom's Garmin and get the maps updated. I swear almost everything I buy comes with this type of cable and it always manages to disappear when I actually need it.
Sifting through the box I have yet to put into storage of old accessories, the cable failed to be located, but I KNOW it's around here somewhere! It does give me an excuse to go to my storage unit this weekend, however.
In that storage unit is a box of nothing but cables for both computer and entertainment center. All for that moment of when I need it, but, because I'm not in my own house yet, that convenience is now down the road a ways, locked away, rather than in my garage or a storage closet. :-)
No matter how many I have or how tangled they manage to get themselves, I will always have spare cables because there always comes a moment like today where it is needed.
Though wireless and bluetooth continue to make strides, there are many still using machines that do not have this convenience and many manufacturers still build that cable connection because it's typically faster and more reliable and easier to manage for some.
I imagine the day my son/nephew will only know of wires as power lines along the road, but none are used to communicate between devices. And his children...who knows? Undoubtedly, the day will come of "the waste" of using wires and finding alternatives for what to do with all of the "leftovers". Imagine the tons of copper...I could see it being recycled into kitchenware or something nifty like that. :-)
Now...back to digging for that stinker of a cable...
Today, all I needed was a mini-USB cable too hook up my mom's Garmin and get the maps updated. I swear almost everything I buy comes with this type of cable and it always manages to disappear when I actually need it.
Sifting through the box I have yet to put into storage of old accessories, the cable failed to be located, but I KNOW it's around here somewhere! It does give me an excuse to go to my storage unit this weekend, however.
In that storage unit is a box of nothing but cables for both computer and entertainment center. All for that moment of when I need it, but, because I'm not in my own house yet, that convenience is now down the road a ways, locked away, rather than in my garage or a storage closet. :-)
No matter how many I have or how tangled they manage to get themselves, I will always have spare cables because there always comes a moment like today where it is needed.
Though wireless and bluetooth continue to make strides, there are many still using machines that do not have this convenience and many manufacturers still build that cable connection because it's typically faster and more reliable and easier to manage for some.
I imagine the day my son/nephew will only know of wires as power lines along the road, but none are used to communicate between devices. And his children...who knows? Undoubtedly, the day will come of "the waste" of using wires and finding alternatives for what to do with all of the "leftovers". Imagine the tons of copper...I could see it being recycled into kitchenware or something nifty like that. :-)
Now...back to digging for that stinker of a cable...
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Mis-Information from too much Information
The nice thing about blogging is that you can write it anytime, anywhere, then upload it later. Thanks to Notepad, this is exactly what I'm doing. Mother Nature has struck down my internet connection, which means I won't stay up too late!
I shared the link to my blog on Facebook, so I'm hoping to get some questions to add to my list of things to blog about.
The recent tragedy in Boston re-inforced the dark side of the internet and so many having smart phones. Mis-information went on a rampage and continues days later. Real research is no longer done before a story is posted. In the rush for the scoop or exclusive, a catchy headline is posted and little details are given, almost always wrong the first time and several corrections later. This fuels gossip, speculation, and the imagination to the point where it makes it more difficult to determine the real truth.
What irks me the most is the lack of discipline against news agencies for mis-informing the public. Or at least, we never really see much. Once in a while, we get an "oops, we were wrong" article, but are there any fines? Were the ones responsible reprimanded or fired? We'll probably never know.
I can see how daunting it may be these days because everyone is "connected" and siphoning fact from fiction. But still, I would rather NOT read the scoop and the false headline and wait until the real story is ready to be written and shared. We are always in such a rush! Some news isn't news at all. I could care less about Tom Cruise's movie casting troubles or who won Dancing with the Starts. That kind of news can be found by those that are interested, but put the good and the bad in the headlines of what's going here in the US and in the rest of the world. Most of the news is bad and tragic, but there are countless stories of triumph and courage that are just as riveting as bad news. We never see enough of that.
On top of all of that is the politics between different news sites. I find myself going to BBC News rather than Fox, Yahoo!, or MSN because they see the news from the outside and tend to not be influenced by our own politics. It's hard to truly find non-biased news and stories and I guess it depends on an individual's definition of bias. Is it actually possible not to be? We are human, so how can one not be influenced by his/her own culture, faith, political views, and philosophy?
Meh, despite no internet, I still stayed up too late! And I'll probably stay up later reading a good old fashioned e-book! ;-)
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Passwords, passwords, passwords....
My poor dad gets so confused with all of the passwords my brother and I have set for him. I think it's time to set him up with a password manager. It's actually long overdue and will help if I'm not around or too busy to drop what I'm doing and fixed whatever got messed up again. :-)
I'm going to give Dashlane (https://www.dashlane.com/) a try and see if that does the trick!
I know passwords are a pain, but they are, unfortunately, highly necessary, especially on the Internet. My dad is a classic example of what I see every day when someone says they've been hacked. Simple passwords like "mousemickey" just don't cut it. And yes, he clicks on links from people he "thinks" he knows because it's a spoofed account all the time. Easy to remember passwords are just as easy to hack, especially if you "let them in" by clicking that link your "friend" sent you. I'll do another blog about recognizing those spoof e-mails.
Picking a password can be hard. Using a password generator is nice, but it's usually too complicated or not easy to remember. Phrases are a good way to go and can be personalized so they are easy for YOU to remember.
Examples:
I Love Puppies - 1LovePupp!e5
Babies are cute - B@b1esRcut5
It looks weird, but they are easy to remember and actually pretty easy to type, too!
"Yeah, but you work in IT, you HAVE to change your password or use complex ones!" True, but, so should "everyone else." It's the "average" user that typically gets hacked or experiences some form of identity theft that we, the geeks, end up trying to fix! :-) Don't wait for something bad to happen to decide it's time to make a new password that's more secure!
Being the geek I am, you'd think I'd have a password manager myself, but I don't. I keep all my passwords in my head and it takes about a day for me to "get used" to a new password. I keep the number of online shopping accounts to a minimum and use separate e-mail accounts for shopping, social networking, and "real" e-mail.There's also another that's my "junk mail" account. I do keep a spreadsheet of which sites uses a particular UserID, but I think it's time to give Dashlane a go for my own stuff and see how that goes. This isn't a plug for them, I did a quick Google search, it got good reviews, and it's free. :-) I'll do my own review of it when I get a chance, but I'm not going to be one of those bloggers that downloads ten different products to see which one is best. I just don't have the time and it takes time to properly review and compare those kind of products.
At any rate, DO change your password at least once a month. DON'T use the same usernames and password for ALL of your accounts and sites where you have to log in or register. If you hate typing passwords or changing them, find a password manager program that suits you and take advantage of it! :-) Most are very easy to use and you only have to enter your information once. Some will even generate usernames and passwords for you, then log in automatically!
I'm going to give Dashlane (https://www.dashlane.com/) a try and see if that does the trick!
I know passwords are a pain, but they are, unfortunately, highly necessary, especially on the Internet. My dad is a classic example of what I see every day when someone says they've been hacked. Simple passwords like "mousemickey" just don't cut it. And yes, he clicks on links from people he "thinks" he knows because it's a spoofed account all the time. Easy to remember passwords are just as easy to hack, especially if you "let them in" by clicking that link your "friend" sent you. I'll do another blog about recognizing those spoof e-mails.
Picking a password can be hard. Using a password generator is nice, but it's usually too complicated or not easy to remember. Phrases are a good way to go and can be personalized so they are easy for YOU to remember.
Examples:
I Love Puppies - 1LovePupp!e5
Babies are cute - B@b1esRcut5
It looks weird, but they are easy to remember and actually pretty easy to type, too!
"Yeah, but you work in IT, you HAVE to change your password or use complex ones!" True, but, so should "everyone else." It's the "average" user that typically gets hacked or experiences some form of identity theft that we, the geeks, end up trying to fix! :-) Don't wait for something bad to happen to decide it's time to make a new password that's more secure!
Being the geek I am, you'd think I'd have a password manager myself, but I don't. I keep all my passwords in my head and it takes about a day for me to "get used" to a new password. I keep the number of online shopping accounts to a minimum and use separate e-mail accounts for shopping, social networking, and "real" e-mail.There's also another that's my "junk mail" account. I do keep a spreadsheet of which sites uses a particular UserID, but I think it's time to give Dashlane a go for my own stuff and see how that goes. This isn't a plug for them, I did a quick Google search, it got good reviews, and it's free. :-) I'll do my own review of it when I get a chance, but I'm not going to be one of those bloggers that downloads ten different products to see which one is best. I just don't have the time and it takes time to properly review and compare those kind of products.
At any rate, DO change your password at least once a month. DON'T use the same usernames and password for ALL of your accounts and sites where you have to log in or register. If you hate typing passwords or changing them, find a password manager program that suits you and take advantage of it! :-) Most are very easy to use and you only have to enter your information once. Some will even generate usernames and passwords for you, then log in automatically!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
What I Do
The question I get asked most is "what exactly do you do?"
Well, if you're not technical it can be hard to explain without using a lot of geek words and acronyms. So, I'll try to explain in "normal" words.
The first part is easy, I think.
I manage systems. OK, so what does THAT mean?
Many companies need a way to know who has what and what is on it when it comes to computers. There are programs that "manage" this information and it usually involves installing an agent that collects all the information and sends it back to the "mother ship" (a central server). I'm on board that "mother ship" and one of a few people that work in the "engine room" to keep things running smoothly.
What is typically collected is hardware, software, and user information. The agent can tell me what model computer you have, how much memory is in it, how big your hard drive is, how much space you have left on it, the last time you rebooted, and everything you have installed. I'm then able to use this information to determine if you need a newer version of software, if you are missing critical patches, if you are using unlicensed software, and if you are eligible for a system upgrade. That's really the point of managing systems. To know what's out there and what can potentially be a threat to the company or you as an individual and being proactive with that information.
When I started managing systems, we had nothing. I was literally put into a room (aptly named the War Room), told to evaluate possible candidates for managing systems as well as build a new corporate image. This was the result of me giving two or three pages of feedback on the last corporate image build. I later learned that this task of building corporate images was "rotated" among the System Administrators, so it was never consistent and that's how I was selected to do the job. :-)
A corporate image - yeah, I get that blank look a lot when that's mentioned. So, to explain that, this is the best I can do. I take one computer and put everything the company wants on it for every user and "take a picture (a.k.a. image)" of it. That allows us to copy that "image" to other computers and keeps it consistent with who gets what when a new system is deployed. That's the simplest explanation, but it is a lot more complicated than that and that method I just explained isn't actually done anymore really, but the concept remains the same. :-)
LANDesk and Altiris were the two products I was evaluating and we were already leaning towards Altiris. We ended up going the Altiris route and thus my journey into system management and image building began. This was as a contractor. It would grow into much more and, when I look back, I'm still not sure how I did it. :-)
Seven years later, I was officially hired and was still the only person that did what I did with occasional help from a contractor. A team slowly started to build from there, contractors included. It was long overdue, not just being hired, but getting the help I needed to keep up with the growth of the company. On top of maintaining the images, I also built "packages" of software to deploy to systems, assisted with creating a database of "solutions" (the how-to articles referenced by the Help Desk), supplied endless reports, and become the person that people went to when help was needed beyond simple troubleshooting.
Now in my 13th year, I've been part of a team of experts for about three years now. My role has changed to focus on software compliance and patch management, but I still do most of what I've always done, which is manage systems. :-) Altiris faded way and Microsoft System Center is the direction we've gone as well as from Windows XP to Windows 7. I've adapted fairly well, but not near the level of administration with System Center than I was with Altiris. This was because System Center experts were hired to make the transition, thus relieving me of a huge responsibility and allowing me to focus on my new roles.
Software compliance is becoming a big deal, not just for where I work, but with every company. The fines are huge if not enough licenses have been ordered or the wrong version is being used. The process is unique to each company, so one must build a process from the ground up. This has been extremely challenging for me. Part of me enjoys the hunt, but another dreads the amount of data that must be collected and sifted to find the flaws to make the necessary corrections to prevent them. It's like untangling Christmas lights to give you an idea. :-) I'm still untangling the first string!
Patch management is exactly what it sounds like. We "patch" systems to hopefully block vulnerabilities and protect the company from virus infection. The only daunting part of this is the risk of causing the dreaded "blue screen of death" (BSOD) and getting people to reboot their machines (that's going to be another blog in itself).
The knowledge base tidbit I mentioned is where I decided that maybe blogging would be a good idea. I've written or co-written over 500 internal articles used by our IT department for how to install and configure most of our software, troubleshooting guides, performance tips, etc. I was reminded of how much I owned or was a part of when the technical writing team was tasked with reviewing all of our existing articles and validating with the authors if they were still relevant or needed updates. I had no idea I owned so many and last I looked there were 3700 overall.
This post ended up being lengthier than I thought it would be, but now you know "what I do" and I'm going to try and share what I've learned over the years that could be useful to those that are intimidated by computers or are just average users getting by with the tools and technology that changes almost every day.
Well, if you're not technical it can be hard to explain without using a lot of geek words and acronyms. So, I'll try to explain in "normal" words.
The first part is easy, I think.
I manage systems. OK, so what does THAT mean?
Many companies need a way to know who has what and what is on it when it comes to computers. There are programs that "manage" this information and it usually involves installing an agent that collects all the information and sends it back to the "mother ship" (a central server). I'm on board that "mother ship" and one of a few people that work in the "engine room" to keep things running smoothly.
What is typically collected is hardware, software, and user information. The agent can tell me what model computer you have, how much memory is in it, how big your hard drive is, how much space you have left on it, the last time you rebooted, and everything you have installed. I'm then able to use this information to determine if you need a newer version of software, if you are missing critical patches, if you are using unlicensed software, and if you are eligible for a system upgrade. That's really the point of managing systems. To know what's out there and what can potentially be a threat to the company or you as an individual and being proactive with that information.
When I started managing systems, we had nothing. I was literally put into a room (aptly named the War Room), told to evaluate possible candidates for managing systems as well as build a new corporate image. This was the result of me giving two or three pages of feedback on the last corporate image build. I later learned that this task of building corporate images was "rotated" among the System Administrators, so it was never consistent and that's how I was selected to do the job. :-)
A corporate image - yeah, I get that blank look a lot when that's mentioned. So, to explain that, this is the best I can do. I take one computer and put everything the company wants on it for every user and "take a picture (a.k.a. image)" of it. That allows us to copy that "image" to other computers and keeps it consistent with who gets what when a new system is deployed. That's the simplest explanation, but it is a lot more complicated than that and that method I just explained isn't actually done anymore really, but the concept remains the same. :-)
LANDesk and Altiris were the two products I was evaluating and we were already leaning towards Altiris. We ended up going the Altiris route and thus my journey into system management and image building began. This was as a contractor. It would grow into much more and, when I look back, I'm still not sure how I did it. :-)
Seven years later, I was officially hired and was still the only person that did what I did with occasional help from a contractor. A team slowly started to build from there, contractors included. It was long overdue, not just being hired, but getting the help I needed to keep up with the growth of the company. On top of maintaining the images, I also built "packages" of software to deploy to systems, assisted with creating a database of "solutions" (the how-to articles referenced by the Help Desk), supplied endless reports, and become the person that people went to when help was needed beyond simple troubleshooting.
Now in my 13th year, I've been part of a team of experts for about three years now. My role has changed to focus on software compliance and patch management, but I still do most of what I've always done, which is manage systems. :-) Altiris faded way and Microsoft System Center is the direction we've gone as well as from Windows XP to Windows 7. I've adapted fairly well, but not near the level of administration with System Center than I was with Altiris. This was because System Center experts were hired to make the transition, thus relieving me of a huge responsibility and allowing me to focus on my new roles.
Software compliance is becoming a big deal, not just for where I work, but with every company. The fines are huge if not enough licenses have been ordered or the wrong version is being used. The process is unique to each company, so one must build a process from the ground up. This has been extremely challenging for me. Part of me enjoys the hunt, but another dreads the amount of data that must be collected and sifted to find the flaws to make the necessary corrections to prevent them. It's like untangling Christmas lights to give you an idea. :-) I'm still untangling the first string!
Patch management is exactly what it sounds like. We "patch" systems to hopefully block vulnerabilities and protect the company from virus infection. The only daunting part of this is the risk of causing the dreaded "blue screen of death" (BSOD) and getting people to reboot their machines (that's going to be another blog in itself).
The knowledge base tidbit I mentioned is where I decided that maybe blogging would be a good idea. I've written or co-written over 500 internal articles used by our IT department for how to install and configure most of our software, troubleshooting guides, performance tips, etc. I was reminded of how much I owned or was a part of when the technical writing team was tasked with reviewing all of our existing articles and validating with the authors if they were still relevant or needed updates. I had no idea I owned so many and last I looked there were 3700 overall.
This post ended up being lengthier than I thought it would be, but now you know "what I do" and I'm going to try and share what I've learned over the years that could be useful to those that are intimidated by computers or are just average users getting by with the tools and technology that changes almost every day.
Trying to Keep Up
I'll be trying to keep up with little tidbits and quibbles of stuff I know how to do, learn how to do, learn how to do better, or showed someone how to do. It seems a day never goes by where someone asks me a computer, social networking, or internet question. Some of it I know by heart, but a lot of the time, I'm on a search engine trying to find the answer. I usually do find one, it typically works, and I have one of those memories of "Oh, yeah! I've done that! Let me go look it up again!" So, I'm hoping to have my own "lookup" location from my own little blog and see if that helps me (and YOU!) maintain the geek in me.
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