A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

-- Frank Herbet (Dune)

Systems Administration is one of the most complex, fulfilling and misunderstood professions within the computing arena.  Everybody who uses the computer depends on the Systems Administrator doing their job correctly and efficiently.  However the only time users tend to give the Systems Administrator a second thought is when the computer system is not working.

Very few people, including other computing professionals, understand the complexity and the time-consuming nature of Systems Administration.  Even fewer people realise the satisfaction and challenge that Systems Administration presents to the practitioner.  It is one of the rare computing professions in which the individual can combine every facet of the computing field into one career.

The aim of this chapter is to provide you with some background to Systems Administration so that you have some idea of why you are reading this and what you may learn via this text.

Systems Administration is an old responsibility gaining new found importance and acceptance as a profession.  It has come into existence because of the increasing complexity of modern computer systems and networks and because of the economy's increasing reliance on computers.  Any decent size business now requires at least one person to keep the computers running happily.  If the computers don't work the business suffers.

It can be said that Systems Administrators have two basic reasons for being

§         ensuring that the computing system runs correctly and as efficiently as possible, and

§         ensuring that all users can and do use the computing system to carry out their required work in the easiest and most efficient manner.

These two reasons often conflict with one another.  Management will wish to restrict the amount of money spent on computer systems.  The users on the other hand will always want more disk space and faster CPUs.  The System Administrator must attempt to balance these two conflicting aims.

The real work required to fulfil these aims depends on the characteristics of the particular computing system and the company it belongs to.  Factors that affect what a Systems Administrator needs to do come from a number of categories including: users, hardware and support

Users

Users, your colleagues and workmates that use computers and networks to perform their tasks contribute directly to the difficulty (or ease) of your task as a Systems Administrator.  Some of the characteristics of people that can contribute to your job include:

§         How many users are there? 
Two hundred users are more difficult to help than two users and also require completely different practices.  With two, or even ten/twenty, users it is possible to become well known to them and really get to know their requirements.  With two hundred, or in some cases two thousand users, this is simply not possible.

§         The level of the user's expertise.
This is a combination of the user's actual expertise and their perceived expertise.  A user who thinks they know a lot (but doesn't really) can often be more trouble than a user who knows nothing and admits it.

§         What are the users trying to do?
If the users are scientists doing research on ground breaking network technology you will be performing completely different tasks than if your users are all doing word processing and spreadsheets.

§         Are they responsible or irresponsible?
Do the users follow the rules or do they make their own?  Do the users like to play with the machines?  Being the Systems Administrator in a computing department at a University, where the users are computing students who want to play and see how far they can go is completely different from working in a government department, where the users hate computing and only use them when necessary.

§         Who do the users know?
A user, who has a 15-year-old, computer nerd son can often be the cause of problems since the son will tell the parent all sorts of things about computers and what can be done.  Very few people have an appreciation of the constraints placed on a Systems Administrator and the computers under their control.  Looking after a home PC is completely different to managing a collection of computers at a place of work.

Hardware/Software

The computers, software, networks, printers and other peripherals that are at a site also contribute to the type and amount of work a Systems Administrator must perform.  Some considerations include:

§         How many, how big and how complex?
Once again greater numbers imply more work.  Also it may be more work looking after a network of Windows NT machines than a collection of Windows 3.1 computers.  Some sites will have supercomputers, which require specialised knowledge.

§         Is there a network?
The existence of a network connecting the machines together raises additional problems and further increases the workload of the Systems Administrator.

§         Are the computers heterogenous or homogenous?
Is the hardware and software on every machine the same, or is it different.  A great variety in hardware and software will make it much more difficult to manage, especially when there are large numbers.  The ability to specify a standard for all computers, in both hardware and software, makes the support job orders of magnitude easier.

Support

One other area, which makes a difference to the difficulty of a job as a Systems Administrator, is the level of support in the form of other people, time and resources.  The support you do (or don’t) receive can take many forms including:

§         Are you alone?
At some sites there is one administrator who does everything from installing peripherals, fixing computers, doing backups, helping users find the enter key and a range of other tasks.  At other sites these tasks are split amongst a range of administrators, operators and technicians.

§         Are you a full time administrator?
In some cases the administrator looks after the machines in addition to performing their "real job".

§         What are the feelings of staff and management towards the Systems Administrators?
In many companies the management and staff see Systems Administrators or other computer support people as overhead.  This impression of Systems Administrators as an unnecessary expense influences how the users will act.  Similar feelings can occur if previous Systems Administrators have been unprofessional or unable to perform their jobs.

The short and sweet answer is that to be a really good Systems Administrator you need to know everything about the entire computer system including the operating system, hardware, software, users, management, network and anything else you can think of that might affect the system in any way.

Failing that lofty aim the System Administrator must have the ability to gain this all-encompassing knowledge.  The discovery process may include research, trial and error, or begging.  The abilities to learn and problem solve may well be the two most important for a Systems Administrator.

At some time during their career a Systems Administrator will make use of knowledge from the following (far from exhaustive) list of fields, both computing and non-computing:

§         programming,
Systems Administrators have to be able to program.  They might have to write scripts that automate regular tasks or a Visual Basic program to help users perform certain tasks.

§         hardware maintenance and installation,
This may range from installing new hardware to cleaning old hardware so that it continues to work.

§         documentation and testing,

§         Human Computer Interface,

§         networks and computer communication,

§         user education,

§         diplomacy,

§         legal issues and contracts,

§         detective work,

§         management and policy setting, and

§         public relations.

 

 

This text and the unit 85321 aim to develop Junior Systems Administrators as specified in the SAGE job descriptions booklet, without the 1 to 3 years experience.

Some parts of Systems Administration are independent of the type of computer being used, for example handling user complaints and getting on with management.  However by necessity there is a great deal of complex platform dependent knowledge that a Systems Administrator must have in order to carry out their job.  One train of thought is that it is impossible to gain a full understanding of Systems Administration without having to grapple with the intricacies of a complex computer system.

This text has been written with the UNIX operating system in mind as the main computing platform.  In particular this text has been written with the Linux operating system (RedHat version 5.0), a version of UNIX that runs on IBM PC clones, in mind.  It is necessary to have access to the root password of a computer running RedHat version 5.0 to get the most benefit from this book.  It may be possible to do some of the activities with another version of UNIX.

The reasons for choosing UNIX, and especially Linux, over any of the other available operating systems include

§         UNIX has a long history both in industry and academia.

§         Knowing UNIX is more likely to help your job prospects than hinder them.

§         UNIX is one of the current industry buzzwords.

§         It is hardware independent.

§         Linux is free and runs on a cheap, popular type of computer.

Just as there are advantages in using UNIX there are also disadvantages.  "My Operating System is better than yours" is a religious war that I don't want to discuss here. 

The history of UNIX is an oft-told tale and it is sometimes hard to pick the right version.  The story has been told many ways and the following is one version.  Being aware of the history can provide you with some insight into why certain things have been done the way they have

 

 

At the current point in time it appears that UNIX has ensconced itself into the following market niches

§         server operating system, and
Machines running UNIX are acting as file servers and network servers for local area networks (LANs) of smaller client machines (running MS-DOS, Windows, or Macs).

§         workstation operating system.
Workstations are nominally powerful computers usually used by a single user.  Engineers, scientists and other people who require a lot of computing power generally use them.

Both these roles are being challenged by the arrival of new operating systems like Windows NT.

This book has been specifically written to centre on the Linux operating system.  Linux was chosen because it is a free, complete version of the UNIX operating system that will run on cheap, entry level machines.  The following reading provides you with some background into the development of Linux.

Systems Administration is not a responsibility specific to the UNIX operating system. Any company that relies on computers must have Systems Administrators. They may not call them Systems Administrators but studies have shown that it is cheaper to have a full time professional maintaining a company's computers than it is to expect the computer users perform the same tasks.

Many of the tasks of Systems Administration are not platform specific. For example a recent survey of Systems Administrators found that 37% of an administrator's time is spent helping users. This chapter examines some of the important platform independent tasks that a Systems Administrator must perform. Any Sys Admin that ignores these tasks is going to be in trouble very quickly.

For the purposes of this chapter these tasks have been divided up into four categories

§         daily operations,

§         hardware and software,

§         interacting with people, and

§         administration and planning.

There are a number of tasks that must be done each day. Some of these tasks are in response to unexpected events, a new user or a system crash, while others are just standard tasks that must be performed regularly.

Automate, automate and automate

A priority for a Systems Administrator must be to automate any task that will be performed regularly. Initially automation may take some additional time, effort and resources but in the long run it will pay off. The benefits of automation include

§         no need to reinvent the wheel,
Everytime you need to perform the task you don't have to remember how to do it.

§         it is much simpler,

§         it can be delegated,
If the task is simple it can be delegated to someone with less responsibility or it can be completely automated by using the scheduling capabilities of cron (introduced in a later chapter).

For example

Obvious examples for automation include

§         adding and removing users,

§         performing backups, and

§         checking disk usage.

System monitoring

This responsibility entails keeping an eye on the state of the computers, software and network to ensure everything is working efficiently. Characteristics of the computer and the operating system that you might keep an eye include

§         resource usage,

§         what people are doing,

§         whether or not the machines normal operations are working.

Resource usage

The operating system and the computer have a number of different resources including disk space, the CPU, RAM, printers and a network. One indication of problems is if anyone person or process is hogging one of these resources. Resource hogging might be an indication of an attack.

Steps that might be taken include

§         killing the process that is hogging the resource,

§         changing the process' priorities,

§         getting more of the required resource.

What are people doing?

As the Systems Administrator you should be aware of what is normal for your site. If the managing director only ever connects between 9 to 5 and his account is currently logged in at 1 in the morning then chances are there is something wrong.

Its important not only to observe when but what the users are doing. If the secretary is all of a sudden using the C compiler then there's a good chance that it might not be the secretary.

Normal operations

Inevitably there will be problems with your system. A disk controller might die, a user might start a run away process that uses all the CPU time, and a mail bounce might result in the hard-drive filling up or any one of millions of other problems.

Some of these problems will adversely effect your users. Users will respect you more if they don't have to tell you about problems. Therefore it is important that you maintain a watch on the more important services offered by your computers.

You should be watching the services that the users use. Statistics about network, CPU and disk usage are no good when the problem is that the users can't send email because of a problem in the mail configuration. You need to make sure that the users can do what they normally do.

Major tasks that must be performed with both hardware and software include

§         evaluation,
Examining different packages and deciding which is the best for your company's purpose.

§         purchase,
Actually obtaining the software, spending the money and signing the contracts.

§         installation,
Placing the hardware or software onto your system and making it available to the appropriate users.

§         testing and maintenance,
Making sure the equipment works and keeping it working.

§         upgrading,
Modifying the product to a later version.

§         phasing out.
Removing the product from use at your company.

At many companies the Systems Administrator may not have significant say in the evaluation and purchase of a piece of hardware or software. This causes problems because hardware or software is purchased without any consideration of how it will work with existing hardware and software.

Evaluation

It's very hard to convince a software vendor to allow you to return a software package that you've opened, used but found to be unsuitable. The prospect of you making a copy means that most software includes a clause that once you open a packet you own the software and your money won't be refunded.

However most vendors recognise the need to evaluate software and supply evaluation versions. These evaluation versions either are a stripped down version with some features turned off, or contain time bomb that makes the package useless after a set date.

Purchase

Under UNIX there are basically two types of software

§         commercial software, or

§         shareware, public domain or free software.

Commercial UNIX software will come with the standard agreements and may also include a user limit. The software might be able to be used by 4 or 5 users simultaneously. Most commercial software is managed by licensing software that controls how many copies are being used. As part of the purchase you will receive license numbers that govern how the software may be used.

It must be remembered that free software is never free. It still requires time to install, maintain and train users. All this can add up. Some free software can be incredibly easy to install and maintain.

Installation

Most sites will have a policy that covers how and where software must be installed. Some platforms also have software that makes the installation procedure much simpler. It is a very good idea to keep local software separate from the operating system distribution. Mixing them up leads to problems in future upgrades.

Under Linux and many other modern Unices it is common practice to install all software added locally under the directory /usr/local. There will be more on software installation in a later chapter.

Hardware

At some sites you may have technicians that handle most of the hardware problems. At some sites the Systems Administrator may have to everything from preparing and laying cable through to fixing the fax machine. Either way a Systems Administrator should be capable of performing simple hardware related tasks like installing hard drive and various expansion cards. This isn't the subject to examine hardware related tasks in detail. The following however does provide some simple advice that you should keep in mind.

Static electricity

Whenever you are handling electrical components you must be aware of static electricity. Static can damage electrical parts. Whenever handling such parts you should be grounded. This is usually achieved by using a static strap. You should be grounded not only when you are installing the parts but at anytime you are handling them. Some people eagerly open packages containing these parts without being grounded.

Powering down and wiggling

Many hardware faults can be fixed by turning the system off (powering down) and either pushing on the offending card or SIMM (wiggling). Sometimes connectors get dirty and problems can be fixed by cleaning the contacts with a soft pencil eraser (in good condition).

Prevention

Regular maintenance and prevention tasks can significantly reduce the workload for a Systems Administrator.  Some of the common prevention tasks may include

§         ensuring that equipment has a clean, stable power supply,
Using power conditioners or uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) to prevent power spikes damaging equipment.

§         ensuring equipment is operating at appropriate temperatures,
Make sure that the power vents are clean and unblocked and that air can actually circulate through the equipment.

§         some equipment will need regular lubrication or cleaning,

§         making sure that printers are clean and have sufficient toner, ink etc.

This is a task that often receives less attention than others. However it is an essential task that can critically effect your performance as a Systems Administrator. One of the most important aims for a Systems Administrator is to be pro-active rather than reactive. It's very hard for your users to respect you if you are forever badly organised and show no planning ability.

Important components of administration and planning include

§         documentation,
Both for yourself, the users and management.

§         time management,
This is an essential ability for a Systems Administrator who must balance a small amount of time between a large number of simultaneous tasks.

§         policy,
There must be policy on just about everything at a site. Having policies that have been accepted by management and hopefully the users is essential.

§         self-education,
Computing is always changing. A Systems Administrator must keep up with the pack.

§         planning,
What are the aims for your site and yourself for the next 12 months? What major events will happen for which you must prepare?

§         automation, and
Anything that can be should be automated. It makes your job easier and gives you more time to do other things.

§         financial planning and management.

Documentation

Documentation is the task that most computing people hate the most and yet is one of the most important tasks for a Systems Administrator. In this context documentation is more than just documentation for users showing them how to use the system. It includes

§         keeping a log book that records all changes made to the system,

§         keeping records and maps of equipment, their location, purchase details etc,
Where all the cables are in your building. Which cables connect where. Where are all the machines physically located.

§         labelling hardware,
When you are performing maintenance on computers you will need to know information like the type of hard drive controller, number and size of disks, how they are partitioned, hostnames, IP addresses, names of peripherals, any special key strokes or commands for the machine (e.g. how to reset the computer) and a variety of other information. Having this information actually on the machine can make maintenance much easier.

§         producing reports,
Producing reports of what you are doing and the functioning of the machines is extremely important and will be discussed in more detail later.

§         taking minutes at meetings, and
Chances are you will have to attend meetings. Organising, running and recording the minutes of a meeting are all essential skills.

§         producing documentation on how to use the systems at your site.
The standard type of documentation required by both users and other Systems Administrators.

Why keep records?

It is not unusual for a Systems Administrator to spend two to three days trying to fix some problem that requires minor changes to obscure files hidden away in the dim, dark recesses of the file hierarchy. It is not unusual for a problem of this sort to crop up unexpectedly every six to twelve months.

What happens if the Systems Administrator didn't record the solution? Unless he or she is blessed with a photographic memory there is liable to be another two to three days lost trying to fix the problem.

Records of everything done to the system must be kept and they must be accessible at all times.

What type of records?

It is typical for a Systems Administrator and/or a computer site to maintain some type of logbook. There is no set format to follow in keeping a logbook.

There are two basic types of logbooks that are used.

§         electronic, or
Log information is stored using some type of program or by simply creating a file.

§         paper based.
Some form of book or folder in which entries are written by hand.

Table 1.1. compares these two forms of logbook.

Electronic		Paper
For	Against	For	Against
easy to update and search	if the machine is down there is no access to the log	less prone to machine down time	harder to update and search
easy to include command output	can be hard to include diagrams	can be carried around	can become messy and hard to read

Table 1.1.
Electronic versus paper log books

What to record?

Anything that might be necessary to reconstruct the current state of the computing system should be stored. Examples of necessary information might include

§         copies of policy regarding usernames, directory structure etc,
Your site might have a set way of assigning usernames or particular locations in which certain types of files need to be placed.

§         diagrams of the physical connections and layout of the machines and network,
Any information required to reconstruct your system, for example CMOS settings on an IBM PC.

§         a copy of a full listing of the device directory,
The /dev directory is likely to contain information specific to your machine. If this directory is trashed having a copy in your logbook will enable you to reconstruct it.

§         copies of major configuration files,

§         daily modifications to configuration or other files,

§         lists of useful commands, and

§         solutions to common problems.

Example Log Book Layout

The type of information recorded will depend on your responsibilities and the capabilities of your site. There might be someone else who looks after the physical layout of the network leaving you to worry about your machine.

It is possible that a logbook might be divided into separate sections. The sections might include

§         configuration information,
Listings of the device directory, maps of network and cabling information, and any other static information about the system

§         policy and procedure,
A section describing the policy and procedures of the particular machine (usernames, directory locations etc).

§         useful commands, and
A list of commands or hints that you've come across that are useful and you would like to remember.

§         daily modifications.
The daily modifications made to the system in the normal course of events. The main reason to store this information is so that you have a record of what is being done to your system.

Each entry in a logbook should contain information about time, date, reason for the change, and who made the change.

If you intend using a paper based logbook then one suggestion is to use a ring binder. Using a ring binder you can add pages to various sections if they start to fill up.

Think of the computer systems you manage as an environment in which humans live and work. Like any environment, if anarchy is not to reign supreme then there must exist some type of behavioural code that everyone lives by. In a computer system this code is liable to include such things as

§         a single person shall not hog all the resources (disk, cpu etc),

§         users who work for accounting have xyz access, those who work for research have zyx access, and

§         no-one should endeavour to access areas in which they are not allowed.

Penalties

A set of rules by themselves is not enough. There must also exist

§         a set of penalties to be applied if one of the policies is broken,

§         a person(s) charged with detecting the breaking of policy,

§         a person(s) charged with deciding the appropriate policy,

§         a mechanism for the change of policy and penalties, and

§         a mechanism for informing users of the policy and the penalties.

If any one of these necessary components is missing the system may not work to the best of its ability.

It is essential that every computer site have widely recognised and accepted policies. The existence of policies ensure consistent treatment of all cases. Policies provide guidelines of what to do in particular cases and what to do if the policies are broken.

Types of Policy

The types of policies you might want to have include

§         the level of service you provide,
What operating systems, software etc that you can and will support. What services you provide your users. When will the Systems Administrators or help desk available.

§         the rights and responsibilities of the users, and
What they can and can't do. What happens if they break those rules.

§         the rights and responsibilities of the administrators.
An often over looked policy. Should Systems Administrators look at other people's mail?

Creating policy

Creating policy should include many of the following steps

§         examination of what other similar sites have in the way of policy,

§         widespread involvement of users, management and Systems Administrators in the development of policy,

§         acceptance of policy by management, and

§         checking of the policy by lawyers.

As the Systems Administrator on a UNIX system you have total control and freedom. All Systems Administrators should follow some form of ethical conduct. The following is a copy of the SAGE-AU Code of Ethical Conduct. The original version is available on the Web at http://www.sage-au.org.au/ethics.html.

SAGE-AU code of ethics

In a very short period of time computers have become fundamental to the organisation of societies world-wide; they are now entrenched at every level of human communication from government to the most personal. Computer systems today are not simply constructions of hardware -- rather, they are generated out of an intricate interrelationship between administrators, users, employers, other network sites, and the providers of software, hardware, and national and international communication networks.

The demands upon the people who administer these complex systems are wide-ranging. As members of that community of computer managers, and of the System Administrators' Guild of Australia (SAGE-AU), we have compiled a set of principles to clarify some of the ethical obligations and responsibilities undertaken by practitioners of this newly emergent profession.

We intend that this code will emphasise, both to others and to ourselves, that we are professionals who are resolved to uphold our ethical ideals and obligations. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the computer systems we manage, for the benefit of all of those involved with them.

No single set of rules could apply to the enormous variety of situations and responsibilities that exist: while system administrators must always be guided by their own professional judgment, we hope that consideration of this code will help when difficulties arise.

(In this document, the term "users" refers to all people with authorised access to a computer system, including those such as employers, clients, and system staff.)

SAGE-AU code of ethics

As a member of SAGE-AU I will be guided by the following principles:

Fair Treatment
I will treat everyone fairly. I will not discriminate against anyone on grounds such as age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, or national origin.

Privacy
I will access private information on computer systems only when it is necessary in the course of my duties. I will maintain the confidentiality of any information to which I may have access. I acknowledge statutory laws governing data privacy such as the Commonwealth Information Privacy Principles.

Communication
I will keep users informed about computing matters that may affect them -- such as conditions of acceptable use, sharing of common resources, maintenance of security, occurrence of system monitoring, and any relevant legal obligations.

System Integrity
I will strive to ensure the integrity of the systems for which I have responsibility, using all appropriate means -- such as regularly maintaining software and hardware; analysing levels of system performance and activity; and, as far as possible, preventing unauthorised use or access.

Cooperation
I will cooperate with and support my fellow computing professionals. I acknowledge the community responsibility that is fundamental to the integrity of local, national, and international network resources.

Honesty
I will be honest about my competence and will seek help when necessary. When my professional advice is sought, I will be impartial. I will avoid conflicts of interest; if they do arise I will declare them.

Education
I will continue to update and enhance my technical knowledge and management skills by training, study, and the sharing of information and experiences with my fellow professionals.

Social Responsibility
I will continue to enlarge my understanding of the social and legal issues that arise in computing environments, and I will communicate that understanding to others when appropriate. I will strive to ensure that policies and laws about computer systems are consistent with my ethical principles.

Workplace Quality
I will strive to achieve and maintain a safe, healthy, productive workplace for all users.

The ability to interact with people is an essential skill for Systems Administrators. The type of people the Systems Administrator must deal with includes users, management, other Systems Administrators and a variety of other people.

The following reading was first published in "The Australian Systems Administrator" (Vol 1, Issue 2, June/July 1994) the bimonthly newsletter of the Systems Administrators Guild of Australia (SAGE-AU). It provides an example of how a real-life System Administrator handles user liaison.

Communicating with Users

Copyright Janet Jackson

Next to balancing conflicting demands, communicating with users is the hardest part of my job. I tend to make a great effort for little gain, whereas in technical endeavours a little effort can produce a major, long-lasting improvement (for example, taking ten minutes to set up regular, automated scratch area cleanups has saved me hours of tedious work and the users a lot of frustration).

Also, with users there are emotions to take into account. It doesn't matter whether the computer respects you, but if the users respect you life is a lot easier.

My aim in communicating with users is to make life (my job and those of the users) easier by:

getting them to respect me (my judgment; my abilities; my integrity and professionalism).

teaching them all sorts of things, such as how to remove jobs from the printer queue; what they have to do to keep the systems secure; and when not to interrupt me with questions.

In this column I'm going to describe some of the communication vehicles I've tried, and how effective they've been for me. I'll start with those I've found least effective overall, and work my way up.

Probably the method most useless with the general user community is the policy statement. The typical user just isn't going to read it. However, it can be a good way of communicating with management. Drafting a good policy statement (based on discussions with everyone, but especially with them) shows you mean business and understand how your work fits into the organisation. It should cover the responsibilities of the systems administrator as well as those of the users.

Group meetings, whether of the users in general or of a committee of representatives, can help people -- again, especially senior people -- feel more confident that things are going OK, but aren't much use for disseminating information. If a meeting is run well you can have a productive discussion of major issues, but if run badly it is likely to turn into a gripe session.

Paper memos are to be avoided, because they encourage stiffness and formality. I use them only to answer other people's paper memos (which are usually complaints) and then only when I don't think the person will read it if I do it by email. Replying by email to a memo has the effect of saying "There's no need to be so formal".

There are a number of leading-the-horse-to-water methods, which only work if the user makes an effort. You can use electronic information services, such as bulletin boards, newsgroups, Gopher, or online manuals; and you can get together a library of printed manuals and books. If you provide easy access to high-quality information, the interested user can learn a lot. Unfortunately it's often the disinterested user that you really want to reach.

People often come to my office to ask me things. You'd think that face-to-face communication would work the best, but in this particular setting it doesn't because I am not comfortable. It's not so much that I resent interruptions -- it's that I don't have an office, only a desk. There's no room for a visitor's chair; to talk to anyone I have to swivel round and face backwards; and people make a habit of sneaking up on me. Hopefully, one day my campaign for proper accommodation will be successful, and it will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.

Talking on the phone is only good for emergencies. Someone is always interrupted; there's no body language; and you tend to forget half of what you wanted to say.

I write a column, "Computer Corner", in our staff newsletter. I sometimes write about issues (such as what I'm trying to achieve) and sometimes about technical tips. This column isn't as useful as I'd hoped. The first problem is that there isn't room to say much, because the newsletter is short and a bit, shall we say, irregular. The second problem is that the rest of the newsletter tends to be kind of dull (lists of visitors; dry field-trip reports; the occasional births and deaths) so people aren't so eager to read it. When I pointed this out I was told that it is deliberately impersonal and non-funloving because some of the more senior readers are rather easily offended. Sigh.

Next on the scale are signs (on doors, noticeboards, etc) and electronic messages-of-the-day. People have a strong tendency to miss the former and ignore the latter. It may help to make them more interesting with graphics, pictures and human-interest items.

Seminars and workshops are worthwhile if you can get people to attend, but they're a lot of work. If not many turn up, you don't get much return on your investment. Students can sometimes be induced to attend by making it count towards their marks. In other situations, offering food, door prizes, alcohol, sex, drugs or rock-n-roll may help.

For explaining specific information (how to pick a good password; how UNIX file permissions work) I've found paper handouts reasonably effective. Some users take them quite seriously, even filing them for later reference. Unfortunately, others toss them straight in the bin.

After about 3 months in my current job I emailed everyone a questionnaire, asking such things as what they used the systems for, what new services they would like to see, and how often they did backups. I offered a chocolate frog to each person who replied. The subject line "Apply here for your FREE chocolate frog" caused some of the more pokerfaced members of staff to delete the mail without reading it, but otherwise the response was surprisingly good. In hindsight, I guess the questionnaire generated more PR than information, although it did confirm my suspicion that most people did not back up their data even though they were supposed to.

For me, the second most effective communication vehicle is email. Email is as informal as a personal visit or phone call, but you can get in a lot more information. It is also asynchronous: no-one has to be interrupted, and you don't have to wait for people to be available.

I often use email broadcasts for notification -- to tell people about impending downtime, for example. Email is quick, convenient, and reaches people who are working offsite. It is also informal and I think people feel more at ease with it than they do with paper memos and printed signs.

1-to-1 email gives people a sense of personal service without much of the hassle that normally entails. At my site people can email problem reports and questions to a special address, "computerhelp". Our stated aim is to respond within 2 working days. We don't always make it. But it does give people a point of contact at all times, even after hours, and it means we get a few less interruptions.

You'd think all of that might be enough, but no. My boss said, "You need to communicate more with the users, to tell them about what you're doing". I agreed with him. So I now produce a fortnightly emailed bulletin. It is longer and more formal than a typical email message, with headings and a table of contents. Most of the information in it is positive -- new software that we've installed, and updates on our program of systems improvements. I also include a brief greeting and a couple of witty quotations. Judging by the feedback I've received, this seems to be working remarkably well -- much better than the staff newsletter column.

The only thing that works better than email is personal visits where I am in their office, usually leaning over their screen showing them how to do something. Taking an interest in their work helps a lot. I find this easy where they are graphing the temperature of a lake in glorious colour, but more difficult where they are typing up letters. I don't do enough personal visiting, partly because I'm so busy and partly because I'm not keen on interrupting people. It usually happens only when they've asked a question that requires a "show me" approach.

A disadvantage of personal visits is that they help only one person at once, whereas with email you can reach all your users.

To sum up: in communicating with users, I aim to teach them things and get them to respect me. By sending email I can help the most people for the least effort, although personal visits have much more impact. There are other useful methods, such as policy statements, newsletters, handouts and seminars, but they may not reach the ones who need it most.

It's hard. Very hard. If you have any insights or ideas in this area, I'd love to hear them, and I'm sure the rest of the readers would too.

Communicating with management

Relationships between Systems Administrators and management can be tense generally because both sides don't understand the importance and problems of the other. Having good Systems Administrators is essential. As is having good management. Management is a difficult task which you won't understand or agree with until you have to perform it.

As a Systems Administrator you should keep in mind that the aims of management will not be the same as yours. Management is about profit. When you deal with management keep this in mind.

If you need an upgrade of a machine don't argue it on the basis that the load average is running at 5 and the disks are full. Argue it on the basis that due to the lack of resources the sales force can't take orders and the secretaries are loosing documents which is leading to loss of customers.

Generally Systems Administrators tend to focus on achieving a good technical solution. This must be balanced with helping the company you are working for make money.

How not to communicate with users

The Bastard Operator from Hell is a classic (amongst Systems Administrators) collection of stories about a mythically terrible operator.  It provides an extreme view of a bad system support person and is also quite funny (depending on your sense of humour).  Some of the language may offend some people.

 

 

Systems Administration is a complex and interesting field requiring knowledge from most of the computing area.  It provides a challenging and interesting career.  The UNIX operating system is an important and available competitor in the current operating systems market and forms the practical system for this subject.