I am not trying to express the concerns about what sort of functions one should perform as a system administrator but just trying to put some points which can simplify your job as a system administrator and help you function smoothly in your daily baseline support activities.
Basically I am going to stress upon some tips and tricks which can help you create a stable account for administration.
1)Keep a server list ready
Always keep a server list ready containing servernames along with their details.The list should have basic field like servernames,IP Address of server,OS for those servers eg AIX,solaris,HP,etc,server location,asset tag,serial number,os-level,application running on those servers etc.
These are some of the basic fields that should be there in your server list,you can add more fields as per your convinience to make it more comprehensive.
Then share this serverlist at your common team sharing site so that anybody who is part of the team can look for any necessary information required.This sort of list comes very handy when one needs to find whether a particular server is supported by us or not,whether AIX or solarix person would look after the ticket of this server etc.
2)Maintain a Queue list
Manier times tickets of different queue or teams like DBA,SAP etc get interchanged so it becomes necessary to have a XML file which contain queue name of different teams so that tickets can be properly routed for smooth functioning and uncessary delays can be avoided to maintian the SLA.
3)Maintain a mksysb of servers.
Its very essential to have the mksysb backup of the images of the servers so as to restore the data in case server goes down due to any reason,shell script to create mksysb image of AIX boxes is avialable on IBM site,which can be deployed on servers to create a mksysb backup of servers on a NIM.Also maintain a UML which contains information regarding which servers's backup is being made on which NIM server.
4)Never Allow remote Root Login
Some admins have habbit of using root user for login purpose.It's a gross vioaltion of security ethics.Root should never be used for login purpose,use sudo instead which is as good as using root user.Then we can deploy some sudo log scripts to track which user ran which command.
5)Take backup of HMC's
HMC are consoles used for controlling LPAR's and managed servers,but also take a regular backup of HMC so as to have a proper console data at times of crashing of console.Most system admins neglect taking backup of consoles.
6)Automate the tasks
Use shell script as much as you can automate the various baseline activities from generic housekeeping,automating ftp,making mksysb's,collecting audit data etc.The more you can automate your work more quality time you will be saving to spend on more important activites.
These are some of the simple tips and tricks which should be followed by an system administrator in order to have a stable account and simplify its regular support job.There are many other things which can be in included here but that depends on scenarios presiding in account which differ on case to case basis but these are some generic points to be followed.
Basically I am going to stress upon some tips and tricks which can help you create a stable account for administration.
1)Keep a server list ready
Always keep a server list ready containing servernames along with their details.The list should have basic field like servernames,IP Address of server,OS for those servers eg AIX,solaris,HP,etc,server location,asset tag,serial number,os-level,application running on those servers etc.
These are some of the basic fields that should be there in your server list,you can add more fields as per your convinience to make it more comprehensive.
Then share this serverlist at your common team sharing site so that anybody who is part of the team can look for any necessary information required.This sort of list comes very handy when one needs to find whether a particular server is supported by us or not,whether AIX or solarix person would look after the ticket of this server etc.
2)Maintain a Queue list
Manier times tickets of different queue or teams like DBA,SAP etc get interchanged so it becomes necessary to have a XML file which contain queue name of different teams so that tickets can be properly routed for smooth functioning and uncessary delays can be avoided to maintian the SLA.
3)Maintain a mksysb of servers.
Its very essential to have the mksysb backup of the images of the servers so as to restore the data in case server goes down due to any reason,shell script to create mksysb image of AIX boxes is avialable on IBM site,which can be deployed on servers to create a mksysb backup of servers on a NIM.Also maintain a UML which contains information regarding which servers's backup is being made on which NIM server.
4)Never Allow remote Root Login
Some admins have habbit of using root user for login purpose.It's a gross vioaltion of security ethics.Root should never be used for login purpose,use sudo instead which is as good as using root user.Then we can deploy some sudo log scripts to track which user ran which command.
5)Take backup of HMC's
HMC are consoles used for controlling LPAR's and managed servers,but also take a regular backup of HMC so as to have a proper console data at times of crashing of console.Most system admins neglect taking backup of consoles.
6)Automate the tasks
Use shell script as much as you can automate the various baseline activities from generic housekeeping,automating ftp,making mksysb's,collecting audit data etc.The more you can automate your work more quality time you will be saving to spend on more important activites.
These are some of the simple tips and tricks which should be followed by an system administrator in order to have a stable account and simplify its regular support job.There are many other things which can be in included here but that depends on scenarios presiding in account which differ on case to case basis but these are some generic points to be followed.
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