System Management and Backup

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System Management and Backup

• Nicholas Roy
• College of Pharmacy

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Overview

• Some issues facing sys admins
• Tools and strategies
• Specific cases
• Backup
• Inventory
• Updates
• Workstation Deployment

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Issues we face

• Not much time
• Not much money
• Not much staff
• Open network
• Users want control
• Thermodynamics (entropy)

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Not much time

• You have a large amount of systems to manage
• You cannot go to every system individually
• But you have a network

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Not much money

• You do not have a lot of to spend on fancy
  sys admin tools
• But you have the campus Microsoft
  agreement

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Not much staff

• You dont have a lot of helpers to go around and
  patch things for you
• You may be the sole sys admin at your unit
• But scripts are here to help

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Your machines are on an open network

• Nasties are everywhere
• Updates are essential
• Darwin applies here survival of the most
  up-to-date systems

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Users want control

• Would like to be local admins
• May not want management tools on their computer
• Will tend to degrade a system through various
  means
• Saying no may not be politically possible

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Thermodynamics

• A closed system will degrade to a disorganized
  state
• Must have input into the system to maintain order
• How do we do this considering the above problems?

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Tools and strategies

• Security Configuration
• Backup
• Inventory
• Updates

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Tools

• Windows Resource Kit Tools
• GPMC
• Adminpak.msi
• Sysinternals tools
• PSExec
• .bat, .vbs, .vbe, C, ADSI, WMI,MMC, etc

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Windows Resource Kit Tools

• Available from Microsoft download site
• Great stuff like robocopy and about 100 other
  indispensable tools

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The MMC

• Microsoft management console
• How you do almost everything to a windows machine
• Modular
• You plug Snap-Ins into it to do different things

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Controlling XP SP2

• You can use the MMC and group policy to control
  things like the Internet Connection Firewall
  (ICF) and automatic updates
• http//www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxp
  pro/maintain/mangxpsp2/mngdepgp.mspx

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Controlling XP SP2
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GPMC

• Group policy management console, more robust
  version of gpedit.msc- a snap-in for the MMC
• Allows you to see and control details of group
  policy easily

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Server 2003 adminpak

• Adminpak.msi, available from Microsoft downloads
• Contains all the MMC snap-ins you need for
  administration, including AD Users Computers

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DEMO MMC

• Server administration (building a console)
• Group policy
• Active Directory

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Sysinternals Tools

• http//www.sysinternals.com/
• Go there, get good stuff!
• PSTools (PSExec) allows you to control, run
  processes remotely- this is invaluable for doing
  scripted deployment

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More PSTools Stuff

• PsExec - execute processes remotely
• PsFile - shows files opened remotely
• PsGetSid - display the SID of a computer or a
  user
• PsKill - kill processes by name or process ID
• PsInfo - list information about a system
• PsList - list detailed information about
  processes
• PsLoggedOn - see who's logged on locally and via
  resource sharing (full source is included)
• PsLogList - dump event log records
• PsPasswd - changes account passwords
• PsService - view and control services
• PsShutdown - shuts down and optionally reboots a
  computer
• PsSuspend - suspends processes
• PsUptime - shows you how long a system has been
  running since its last reboot (PsUptime's
  functionality has been incorporated into PsInfo)

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DEMO Scripting

• Deployment
• Registry settings
• WMI
• \\computer\c is your friend
• Environment variables
• windir
• systemdrive
• computername
• username
• userprofile

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Strategies for Backup

• NTBackup
• Quick, cheap, dirty, inflexible
• 3rd Party Solutions
• Can be expensive or not too bad
• Can be very easy to use or difficult
• Can be flexible and scalable

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NT Backup

• Wizard interface

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NT Backup

• Select a destination
• Tape or share

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NT Backup

• Type of backup

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NT Backup

• Schedule the job

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Retrospect

• Flexible, scalable, relatively inexpensive
• Client-server based solution
• Encrypts data in transit
• Incremental backups
• Deals with tape robotics
• PCs, Macs, SQL server, etc

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Retrospect

• Client can be deployed via GPO, SMS or script
  with an MSI

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Retrospect server
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DEMO Inventory

• Inventory app via WMI/ADSI
• Uses SMS UI1 site

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Workstation deployment

• Now Symantec Ghost
• Pretty soon SMS OS Deployment feature pack (OSD)
• When Windows Vista hits Automated installation
  kit (AIK) and Ximage (built-in imaging tool) with
  OSD feature pack

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Symantec Ghost

• Build a base image
• Put all your drivers in C\Drivers
• Put sysprep directory in C\ and modify your
  sysprep.inf and cmdlines.txt
• Run sysprep and re-seal the system
• Pull an image

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Symantec Ghost

• Sysprep

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Symantec Ghost

• Use the Ghost Console and clients to manage your
  systems
• You can push clients out to systems from the
  console
• Configure settings like system name
• Image multiple machines with the image you built

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Symantec Ghost

• Console

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Symantec Ghost

• A word about HALs

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Questions

• ???