Re: what should a unix sys admin know

["Scott R. Ehrlich" <user=81@nabble.blu.org>]

 On Tue, 13 May 2008, John Boland wrote: 

> folks, 
> i've been tasked with making a sys admin out of one of our support people. 
> where can i find a list of what a junior sys admin should know. 
> tasks, commands, theory, concepts. maybe a bit more comprehensive than 
> simply listing job requirements. 
> i'm sure this has been done once or twice already. ;>)) 
> 
> tia... 

I might take the approach of evaluating what I/you are responsible for - 

- proper security procedures 
  - including good passwords 
  - visiting trusted web sites 
  - obtaining software from legit sources 
  - license management (keeping track of who has what licensed products 
installed and ensuring more licenses are obtained, if needed) 
  - Virus/spyware protection 
  - secure protocols vs insecure (ssh vs telnet, scp vs ftp, http vs https 
    [lock symbol vs no lock] etc) 

Differences among MacOS, Windows, and/or Unix (depending on your 
environment) and respective vulnerabilities of each OS - and what a 
vulnerability really means 

Discussion of ports (http, https, ssh, etc) for basic common knowledge. 

Difference between ssl and non-ssl - what to look out for 

Good email practice (never email confidential info to unknown parties, 
including passwords) 

Never log into a system as admin/root - create auditable accounts and 
logging out when not in use, or locking for a short period of time if 
returning 

Regular patch management, and keeping up on respective security email 
lists and web sites for announced updates and vulnerabilities 

Why would you never put a brand new windows box on the Internet? 

Why would you want or need to disable unwanted services on a system? 
What _are_ services?  How do you manage/control them on each OS? 

Whatever else you might be responsible for.  I'd say all the common sense 
stuff, plus stuff that's good to know. 

Scott 

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