#sysadmin

Is there a better way to get values out of Linux /proc than grep e.g.: # grep size /proc/spl/kstat/zfs/arcstats #linux #sysadmin

Anyone else totally annoyed with "Alberta Time" yet? Because I am. #sysadmin #alberta

RE: https://m.ai6yr.org/@ai6yr/117533401914036933 And this, folks, is why every #sysadmin you know is absolutely hating life right now and actively reconsidering their career choices.

Hey friends, back in the day, Nagios was the go-to for server/network monitoring. What's the go-to these days? Preferably with ntfy.sh support. Thanks! #sysadmin

New server, so it’s time for a new #introduction I’m a #cloud engineer working with #esri #arcgis software in #aws. In the past, I’ve also done #devops, #networking, #sysadmin, and #machinelearning. I live in #philadelphia, I’m a dad, I’ve got a dog, and read or watch the #Sixers in the few minutes of spare time I find. I’m on a nonprofit working to protect and save green space in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. Go birds.

Heads up! WHOIS is being retired. It will be replaced by Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP). See the links below for more information. It will be strange not using the whois command-line tool to query domain info. I've used whois since forever. However, there is an rdap command-line tool for querying the new protocol. https://theukdomain.uk/rdap/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registration_Data_Access_Protocol https://www.openrdap.org/ #SysAdmin #Internet #domains

Lazyweb ( #sysadmin version), if you were to get a small scale external KVM over IP solution that also supported virtual media, do you have any particular views on what you'd get? We're looking at offsite machines we're going to need to reinstall someday with new OSes and that don't have good BMCs. One machine, 8 machines, it's all good if it has KVM over IP + virtual media. (Yes yes PXE etc, that's more troublesome and challenging than using our existing install media remotely.)

Then on Saturday night at 20, your favourite provider hits you up with an email: 'Ok, syspatch-ed the physical server and rebooted, all good. I'm here if you need anything'. They're truly inimitable. Thanks, @OpenBSDAms@mastodon.bsd.cafe ! #RunBSD #IT #SysAdmin #VPS

Ok, looks like this is the week of funny experiences. Customer: "I had an AI check our server and it says the SSH port is open and that's not very secure." Me: "Yes, you asked us to open it so you could access the server via SFTP (actually, you wanted FTP, but we discussed it a bit and found this compromise). Don't worry, it's only accessible from your IP and you land in a dedicated FreeBSD jail. From there, you can only access the 'exchange' directory on your server, where you can upload and download files without affecting the application." (NB: I had suggested a VPN, but they declined because it was too complicated.) Customer: "Yes, but maybe it's still insecure. Can't we close it?" Me: "No, unless you want to lose access to that directory." Customer: "Ok, thanks." One hour later: Customer: "Hi, I think we've found a solution. We've just created an app (!!!) with AI that lets us access the files anyway, but more securely than SSH (!!!). Can we install that and close SSH? Oh, and not in the dedicated jail, but directly in the application's jail, because it needs access to the application's files." Me: "Frankly, I trust SSH in a dedicated jail, restricted by the firewall, a lot more. I don't think this is a good idea." Customer: "Ok, thanks." Half an hour later: Customer: "Ok, now it's secure. I had another AI check it and it found some security issues, but it fixed them all. Can you install it and disable SSH?" Me: "I strongly advise against it. I can see problems coming." Customer: "Ok, thanks." One hour later, my phone rings. Their internal IT guy (who has access to the machine, which, after all, belongs to them) had given the AI the login credentials to go ahead with the operation. Except the AI had managed to lock itself out via the firewall, without even starting the app. And now they couldn't get back in. Fortunately, I had my own access, via VPN, to a separate jail that the AI hadn't touched (or even considered). Customer: "SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY! From now on, we do things your way." Well, at least it ended well. PS: The customer knows I'm sharing this story and agreed to it. #IT #SysAdmin

Hello Mastodon. I'm building Dashmox, a hosting control panel for Linux. It came out of paying more every time I added a website. Per account, per domain, per server. A site costs nothing to run, so this one counts nothing, on any plan including the free one. Nginx, Postfix, Dovecot, PowerDNS, MariaDB on your own box. Panel and agent idle at about 27MB. Commercial, closed source. Free tier live tomorrow, no card, no account. #Introduction #SelfHosted #SysAdmin #WebHosting #Linux

Dashmox goes live later today. A hosting control panel for Linux servers. One command on Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 and you have websites, mail, DNS, SSL and backups in one place. The free plan is the whole panel on one server. No card, no licence key, no account to create, and nothing is counted. Pricing and docs are up now; the download follows in a few hours. https://dashmox.com #SelfHosted #SysAdmin #WebHosting #Linux

I got a call from someone I don't know. "Hi. We have a FreeBSD server. It's been working perfectly for years, but it hasn't been updated since then. We asked AI to update it, but now it won't boot anymore. It didn't even make a backup before starting. The AI keeps trying things, everything is down, and we've already spent over €500 in tokens. Can you help us?" "Sure. €500, plus the time it'll take me to try to fix it. Assuming it can still be fixed and nothing important has been deleted." "That much?" Some silence. "Well, I hope AI takes your job away!" And he hung up. Believing that autopilot automatically makes you an invulnerable professional pilot will ruin far more people than job losses will. I don't know if AI will take my job away, but it's already cost them €500 and, probably, their server. #IT #SysAdmin

Mal angenommen ihr würdet am Tag des offenen Rechenzentrums in einem solchen zu Gast sein. Welche Fragen würdet ihr vorbereiten? Was würdet ihr euch genauer anschauen vor Ort? Und was würdet ihr vor Ort machen (wollen)? Bitte kreative Antworten :) @HeisseLuft@mastodon.social#tdorz #heisseluft #noAI #rechenzentrum #sysAdmin #datacenter

The Q3 2026 issue of the FreeBSD Journal is now available. This edition explores Production Deployments, with articles covering home lab consolidation, cloud operations using FreeBSD Compute, USB in user space, auditable credential-exposure checks, and more. Inside, you'll also find the Foundation Letter, a EuroBSDCon trip report, and the latest 2026 events calendar. 🔗 Read it here: https://freebsdfoundation.org/our-work/journal/browser-based-edition/production-deployments/ #FreeBSD #FreeBSDJournal #OpenSource #SysAdmin

Hello Fediverse. srvScripts is a small site for people who keep servers running: cPanel, DirectAdmin, Linux, Windows Server, Microsoft 365 and VoIP.

What's free:

• online checks for email deliverability, IP blacklists, DNS and SSL
• scripts you can read before you run them
• fix guides that start with the short answer and say how they were tested

Run by a working sysadmin. Questions and corrections are welcome.

https://srvscripts.com

#introduction #sysadmin #Linux #cPanel

I know, sounds strange, but: Microsoft SQL Server can be installed on Linux. Some people told me it's a bad idea as it works quite badly. Is it true? Did any of you try it? What's your experience with it? #SQL #IT #SysAdmin

Hi Mastodon 👋 We're VPSPioneer, a small hosting company serving customers across Europe: web hosting, reseller hosting and cloud VPS. Here we'll share practical, no-fluff guides on Linux, server admin, Plesk, DirectAdmin, WHMCS, DNS and email deliverability, and join conversations with the #SelfHosted and #SysAdmin crowd. Guides: https://vpspioneer.com/blog #introduction #Linux #WebHosting

"I need the full DevOps workflow to publish the site." "It's a static site. Here are the SFTP credentials to upload the files you have, which were generated by the client's SSG." "You don't understand. I need to upload the site; I need the DevOps procedure." "No, you don't understand. It's generated by BSSG; all you have to do is upload the output via SFTP into the FreeBSD jail and the deploy is automatic." Silence. "But how does the deploy bot handle it?" Silence. The person who hired him (as an intern) gets on the line: "Just humor him, the kid is sharp-he's really good with AI!" I tell him we're talking about two completely different things. He fires back: "If you can't keep up with him, I think you need to update your skills. That's what we're paying you for." And that was that. I've decided that for 80 Euros a year - while providing a dedicated FreeBSD jail, over 100GB of hosting, backups, monitoring, and custom BSSG tweaks - they can definitely find someone more "up to date" elsewhere. #TGIF #IT #SysAdmin #HorrorStories

SmartOS: The illumos Way of Thinking About Servers A practical look at SmartOS, illumos, zones, LX compatibility and the way this operating system approaches servers. Not a complete guide, just enough to understand why I like it. https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/09/28/smartos-the-illumos-way-of-thinking-about-servers/ #SmartOS #illumos #Hosting #Server #IT #SysAdmin #OwnYourData #ITNotes #Tutorial

Minutes since the last "your network isn’t secure because it doesn’t use XYZ" email: 0 Where XYZ is, as usual, some procedure copied from a compliance handbook that would actually make the current setup less secure. #IT #SysAdmin