Added my 2 kilobytes in red. IMO, many of these things should be
automated to free up your time for other things. I added one main on at
the end for DR.
-Sam
Your System Admin Checklists
We compiled this item in last year, but I got SO many requests for it on
a regular basis from people that lost it, heard about it, and wanted it
that I decided that it was time to re-run it with an update. Here you
go!
Most of us wear many hats: Systems Manager, Network Admin, Security
Admin, Database Admin, Telecommunications Admin, Email Administrator,
and sometimes WebMaster but senility is setting in and we can't remember
them all. :-))
A thread on the NTSYSADMIN list server discussed what a System Admin
really needed to do. Out of the 40 postings or so, I grabbed all the
items that seemed not duplicated and plugged them into one list, for
daily, (nightly) weekly, monthly and 'incidental' activities.
I'm not claiming it is complete, but it's at least a good start. Items
are not in order of importance, and of course the activities are
determined by the size of your site. You can add the items that are
relevant to your own job. A lot of this can be automated with tools, but
then you have to continue to check if the tools do the job. Here is the
updated version. You can even use this as a start for a job description.
Hope it helps!
Daily:
* Check event log of every server, fix/try to fix as needed.
-Automate with filtered alerts
* Creating new directories, shares, and security groups, new
accounts, disabling/deleting old accounts, managing account policies.
* Make sure backup runs and make sure the restore works as
planned.
* Plugging Security holes, in both the OS and apps like IIS.
* Exchange Management including DL's, users, etc.
* Train the training people, helpdesk people, and end users.
* Answer all important emails from CFO/CEO/IT-MIS Director.
* Glance over T1-hookups, switches, hubs, make sure everything is
green. -Automate with Alerts, SNMP, etc. The server room should run as
if there is never anyone on staff. (Ie, if it's located in another
city).
* Check router logs.
* Check firewall logs.
* Check if Disaster Recovery Systems are still functioning
* Various calls to MS Support for things that really aren't your
fault.
* Check for free space on all servers, for file pollution and
quotas. -Automate with alerts
* Ensure that all server services are running. -Automate with
monitors
* Ensure that antivirus definitions are up-to-date. -Automate with
monitors
* Run defrag and chkdsk on all drives.
* Monitor WINS replication.
* Monitor directory replication.
* Maintain performance baseline data.
* Monitor RAM for runaway processes or memory leaks.
* Monitor network traffic with sniffer or NETMON to keep
performance up.
* Keep Service Pack (and/or) hotfixes current as per company
policy. -Daily? How about monthly?
* Monitor Web traffic for indications of attacks.
* Install software for users
* Monitor user email for corporate policy violations.
* Check Print Queues.
* Keep a log of everything you have fixed or performed maintenance
on.
* Make sure all apps are shared.
* Permissions and filesystem management.
* Check for bad system and .ini files on database server
(Btrieve).
* Make sure load on database server is acceptable and ghosted
users are cleared as well as multiple logons.
Nightly:
* Backups
(Next Applies to Terminal Server admins only)
* Reboot each Citrix server.
* Delete all autocreated printers stuck.
* Clear out rogue local profiles.
* Backups
Weekly:
* Clean Servers, check for .tmp files, and other file pollution.
* Implement any new policy, permission, logon script, or scheduled
script modifications.
* Research, Research, Research.
* Change any active monitoring & alerting (third party tools) as
needed.
* Update Website, External and Intranet, process website log
reports. -Automate with monitors
* Check PerfMon, NetMon, (or 3rd party tools) for OK baselines.
* Reboot Servers if needed.
* Keep up-to-date on IT news regarding my networks.
* Evaluate software for System Admin purposes.
* Try to get some MCSE study time in.
* Performance Monitoring/Capacity Planning- Budgeting for the
future.
* Uptime/Downtime reports. -Automate reports
* Auditing network for unauthorized changes, ideally both from the
inside but also outside-in.
* Plan for W2K migration. ???????????
Monthly:
* Rebuild Databases as needed.
* Gather statistics on Webservers. Send to CEO/CIO/CTO/CFO
(Whomever). -Automate reports
* Clean exchange mailboxes.
* Change Service Account Passwords (not doing this is Russian
roulette).
* Convincing your boss that most of this stuff _needs_ to be done.
* Extended testing backups with restores.
* Maintaining applicable Service Level Agreements.
* Set System and Application priorities: If more than one thing is
broken, what needs to be fixed first.
* Managing off-site storage of backup tapes, whether you take them
home or a service picks them up.
* IT System vulnerability analysis: like "This mail server uses
this mail router- what's the impact if one or both are down (if mail
server is down mail router will store inbound mail and may run out of
disk space).
* Periodically reviewing all of the above, is documentation up to
date? Has the Disaster Recovery Plan been updated to reflect changes in
the environment?
* Periodically reviewing workload. Are some things no longer done?
* Periodically review company technical environment. How can it be
improved?
Initial or Occasionally:
* Disaster Recovery to alternate site, in case of emergency.
Configure and maintain DNS - Internal and External, DHCP, WINS, TCP/IP,
etc.
* Document the full network.
* Rebuild corrupt servers.
* Test the Restore Procedure.
* Reconfigure domain structure.. again.
* Get a performance baseline for things like %Processor Time,
PageFaults, Disk Queues.
* Initial checklist should include status of administrative and
service passwords, status of the backups, check out DHCP scope(s), WINS,
DNS, remove unnecessary protocols.
* Quarterly: Work with management to keep a complete list of
emergency contact info (Phone, Circuit IDs, Contact Trees, Logins, etc)
for a disaster. Everything from building management, TI Providers,
Insurance, to your bank and lending trees. Make sure applicable parties
have an updated wallet card of whom they are responsible to contact in
the case of an emergency.
________________________________
From: Stu Sjouwerman [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 11:49 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: System Admin Checklists
Importance: High
Hi All,
It's high time to update these, looking at all the virtual stuff we work
with now.
http://www.wservernews.com/archives/w2knews-20010510.html
Send me the missing items off-line (please indicate the categories) and
I will create a new one !
Warm regards,
Stu
.
~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~
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