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Questions tagged [administration]

Questions about Computer Administration

The duties of a system administrator are wide-ranging, and vary widely from one organization to another. Sysadmins are usually charged with installing, supporting and maintaining servers or other computer systems, and planning for and responding to service outages and other problems.

Other duties may include scripting or light programming, project management for systems-related projects, supervising or training computer operators, and being the consultant for computer problems beyond the knowledge of technical support staff. To perform his or her job well, a system administrator must demonstrate a blend of technical skills and responsibility.

bib ref : From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

215 questions
66
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6 answers

What's a good back-up strategy for 1 desktop PC?

No, this is not a comparison of back-up tools, nor is it a solicitation on What to backup or Why and only a little bit about Where to backup and When to do it. This is basically a strategy question: what, where and when all together. "How" is not…
Fabby
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66
votes
6 answers

How are administrators supposed to read root's mail?

What is the Ubuntu way for system administrators to receive system notifications, which typically take the form of e-mail sent to the root account? Examples of such notifications are the output of cron jobs, or degraded RAID notifications. On a…
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
  • 61,858
61
votes
4 answers

How to give nopasswd access to multiple commands via sudoers?

Below is what I know: I have to add this below line in sudoers file to give rights to the user for particular task. user_name ALL=NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt-get install In this case I want to give access to this user to restart 2 services (i.e. Apache…
Hrish
  • 2,399
56
votes
8 answers

See computer's uptime and history

I was wondering if it is at all possible to find out when the computer was switched on, what files where accessed what folders were opened, what programs run and when the computer was resumed and put back to sleep (just like in the movies). I know…
Vitaly
  • 901
56
votes
9 answers

How can I make shutdown not require admin password?

If more than one person is logged in on my computer, Ubuntu requires super user authentication when shutting down the computer. How can I make it so that any user can shutdown the computer without being asked for a password?
Isaiah
  • 60,750
44
votes
2 answers

How do I add myself into the sudoers group?

Possible Duplicate: How do I add a user to the “sudo” group? I've added myself back into the admin's group I think, by following this. But I still can't do commands like: sudo aptitude update I get the message oshirowanen is not in the sudoers…
oshirowanen
  • 4,047
43
votes
3 answers

Is it possible to enter password for sudo only once, and configure it to not require for password on other terminals?

I enter my first sudo command. I enter my password. For a while, I wont have to enter my password for subsequent sudo commands. Now the question. I am someone who opens a lot of terminals. It would be very convenient if I don't have to enter…
daltonfury42
  • 5,559
42
votes
1 answer

How do I add a network printer in Ubuntu 12.04?

I know the name and the IP address of a network printer, but I can't seem to be able to search by IP address or name. Ubuntu developers love to move things around to make it difficult for users, so now with Ubuntu 12.04 I can only go on Application…
Ricky Robinson
  • 1,484
31
votes
8 answers

Is there a GUI tool for managing systemd on Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver)?

Is there a GUI tool for managing systemd on Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver)? I want to be able to see the status of services and/or units (and/or whatever else systemd calls them). Ideally, I could also filter so as to only display running services. …
mpb
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30
votes
4 answers

What are the common maintenance tasks?

When i was using windows, i used to run defrags, ccleaner and revouninstaller once a month to keep the system and the registry clean. I know ubuntu (and all linux distro) has a different system structure and doesnt need defrags, but i've heard there…
Strae
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30
votes
2 answers

How can one restrict the number of CPU cores each user can use?

We have a computer whose CPU has 32 cores and it's going to be used for running programs by a few different users. Is there any way to restrict the number of cores each user can use at any time so that one user will not monopolize all the CPU power?
Reza
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25
votes
2 answers

ntpd vs ntpdate: pros and cons

In order to keep the time accurate on a Ubuntu system one can either: Run the ntpd (network time protocol daemon) which will run all the time and continuously adjust the system time when clocks drift. or alternatively: Call ntpdate periodically…
arielf
  • 2,883
24
votes
1 answer

The list of running daemons

How to get the list of daemons and theirs statuses (stopped, running, crashed, etc) for each runlevel? Like rc-status in gentoo.
zerkms
  • 1,502
19
votes
4 answers

Which logs should I pay attention to?

There are many logs in /var/log/ For a standard home installation, which ones should I be checking regularly?
Jeremy Stein
  • 756
19
votes
4 answers

Seeking an "operator present" indication for a remote system accessed over ssh

An elderly relative uses a Ubuntu 18.04 + LXDE desktop, mostly just for internet browsing and to play a few word games. They rarely shut the PC down...last time I checked, it had been turned on for over 15 days. I administer the system remotely…
Organic Marble
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