New Sys Admin job…Where do I begin?

Question

Look for some advice. I've decided to take my first sr. sys admin position...I don't start until July 12, but in the meantime I'd like to prepare for the position.

For those of you that have walked into this role at some point in your career, what are the first objectives when starting?

The company's IT operations seem a bit unorganized so I know I will need to work to setup processes...but where should I start?

The end users for the company use a mixture of 4-5 different distros of Linux in addition to both Windows and Mac. This is a like to support so I think I will limit the users to a single distro of Linux, in addition to Windows which will have setups controlled by WSUS, and then the damn Macs will be on the same build.

I also think ensuring a good backup system is in place is an absolute necessity. I'm not sure how exactly they have the backups being performed now, but that will be a necessity to get taken care of.

After that though, I'm not sure what the most important objectives should be. What do you guys think?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

I'm surprised that there are so many jaded answers here. Here's my $0.02.

• First, relax. You're in your first more senior gig and have all sorts of new challenges.
• Second, buy and read Limoncelli's The Practice of System and Network Administration
• When you start, remember that you're an outsider looking in. That's cool because you're coming with no baggage -- you can assess and observe to learn about the environment. Just remember that you don't know everything, and act that way. Don't be a "soup nazi".

When I did something similar at a small company, here's what I did:

• Observed and dug into everything for a couple of weeks.
• Identified and started stabilizing applications/systems that were going to be troublesome soon. In my case, our main database had a critical issue that would have completely crashed it.
• Started a "security audit" to cover most everything IT. I ended up founding all sorts of interesting stuff, including a modem bank that was being used by former employees as an ISP. (This was back in 2000.
• Assigned various tasks to the folks on the team as "deliverables" and started learning about how they worked.

Answer 2

I don't agree that you should try to get rid of Mac/Linux. Unless those OS choices are negatively affecting those users productivity, it would make more sense to allow them to use the OS that grants the most productivity which in turn leads to higher profits, which makes your boss and the company happy.

I do agree that you should go in, document, diagram, assess before making any changes. Based on the question, if you were going to work for me as a Sr. anything and I saw you asking Jr. questions like this, you probably would have your offer letter rescinded.

Answer 3

Start by not changing anything. STart documenting at least for yourself and think about changes. Give it a month, then slowly propose changes. But do not jump in head start. How high up the food chain will you be?

The end users for the company use a mixture of 4-5 different distros of Linux in addition to both Windows and Mac. This is a like to support so I think I will limit the users to a single distro of Linux, in addition to Windows which will have setups controlled by WSUS, and then the damn Macs will be on the same build.

WSUS does nmot control setup ;) Sorry - do you know what you talk about?

That said - the number of lnux distros for USERS (i.e. does not even take servers into account) is too high. Consider getting rid of Linux altogether if it makes financial sense (Windows is not that expensive). Same for Macs, long term - especially Macs. There is a reason mac has a small corporate market share.

That said, Windows - check licencing. Do they buy bulk (SELECT PLUS) or blue boxes in stores (which surprising amounts of stupid sysadmins do)?

I also think ensuring a good backup system is in place is an absolute necessity. I'm not sure how exactly they have the backups being performed now, but that will be a necessity to get taken care of.

Consider NOT doing backups for users. I have done so in a couple of companies. Important stuff belongs on a server. Point. Documents folder in windows redirected etc. So the user workstation is pretty irrelevant (fast setup anyway). No need to back it up.

Answer 4

The company's IT operations seem a bit unorganized so I know I will need to work to setup processes..

I suspect the first thing you may need to do is try to avoid making assumptions about what you may believe they need and instead try and figure out why things got to the point it is.

For example if they hired you as a senior system administrator, are you sure there is even an expectation that you will start doing desktop support tasks?

I suspect I would start by putting out fires as needed.

But as your first project work on making sure any documentation is up to date. Get to a point where you have a thorough understanding of the way things are currently working. Without a good understanding of how things are currently working how could you possibly start proposing major changes and know if what you are suggesting will be an improvement?

• If they don't a wiki or something for network documentation set one up.
• Select some kind of tool for logging changes you make.
• Try and start collecting baseline performance data for any critical system or servers.
• Figure out if they have good monitoring system(s), and set that up.
• If they don't have a issue management system put that into place immediately, even if it is as simple as mailbox where requests will be sent.
• As you mentioned learning how the backups work and improving that is a pretty safe project. It will be a very good thing to know you have something to restore from before you start making lots of changes.

Answer 5

The first thing you do is... nothing except get to know the people and get to understand the business.

Find out what the needs and expectations are. All those different Linux distros sounds like a pain to me, and one I'd like to try and reduce down to one distro if I could... but what if there are 5 distros in use for a perfectly good reason?

Same for the macs - I see someone suggested getting rid of those as they are expensive - well having already been purchased, that boat has already sailed, and again, what if they were selected for a perfectly valid reason.

It's our job to advise management on what a good IT purchasing strategy is, and it's our job to manage implementing a good strategy, but if people really do need 5 different Linux distros or a mac and you say no, then this is the IT tail wagging the business dog, and that is a very big no-no.

• Get to know the people and build their confidence in you, which will help gain acceptance for any changes you propose.
• Get to know the business, and its processes which might stop you making daft suggestions that blow your credibility.
• Find out why previous choices were made.
• DOCUMENT the current situation.
• THEN, finally, you can make changes based on what will improve things for users (and making things easier/possible for you to support counts, but your primary focus MUST always be meeting the needs of the business and the users.

Answer 6

I took my first senior position about a year after I started in the IT field and it was a trial by fire (that feels like it never really ended). While I did learn a lot in that first position, I never had a senior admin that I could work with and seek guidance from so I only had myself to validate what I was doing and what I thought I knew. I've been in the field for 11 years now and I still have lingering confidence issues, and there are times when I question whether I really know what I'm doing or not.

With that said, here's my advice (for good or bad): Moving in to your first senior position can be daunting and nerve racking. Take your time, breathe, be patient, don't rush to make changes or to make judgements on how things are or how they should be. Immerse yourself in learning about the technology in use and why it's in use. Seek to understand the company and the business it's in.

Find some local IT related groups you can join for support and guidance.

Don't pat yourself on the back too vigorously when you hit the mark, but also don't kick yourself too hard when you foul up.