A Linux Admin's Guide to Windows? 86
Rexburg asks: "I recently took a job managing an all Windows network. While my knowledge of the OS is enough to perform the functions of my job, I want to have my bases covered. Naturally, I began the hunt for documentation, but all I can find are books to help Windows users/admins understand and use Linux. I need the opposite. Can the Slashdot crowd point a fellow OSS-head in the right direction?"
Hmm... (Score:2, Funny)
Short summary (Score:4, Funny)
A slightly longer summary would have a subtitle "How to run for your life in order to stand still" and an overview like this:
The actual content will say:
How to admin a Windows Network (Score:1)
The general idea is before the PC boots off the hard drive, you set it up to boot off the NIC. It searches for a DHCP server, uses TFTP to download a command interpreter called BpBatch.
Bpbatch is an extremely powerful tool. It can run scripts (stored on your hidden Linux server) which control the booting process. It can partition/format the local hard drive and download images (using a utility called MrZip (like Ghost)).
It has a bunch of capabilities. You seriously need to re
Picky? (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't think I've seen any of them titled "Windows HowTo: Don't read me if you know anything about Linux"
Face it, if you're going from Linux to Windows, you're in a pretty small minority.
Better Yet: Go here... (Score:5, Informative)
If you're admining a winblows system you need to check for security releases daily and run every single piece of shit software they offer to harden your system.
Good luck, you'll need it.
BTW I admin about 10 windows machines, 8 linux machines, 1 solaris machine and 2 os x servers. By far I spend most of my time admining the Windows boxes. I would venture to guess around 90-95% of the time. Windows sucks but until it no longer pays the bills, I'm stuck.
I dont see why you need it (Score:3, Informative)
but just in case you get stuck, the best resource is the MSDN [microsoft.com] library..
Re:I dont see why you need it (Score:2, Insightful)
"...if you are a unix/linux admin, then Windows to you should be very clear and straight forward."
That is total bollocks and you know it. I'd like to see someone who knows Exim and Postfix walk into an clustered Exchange 2000 site and hit the ground running. Yet more FUD from the "I know *NIX so therefore I know everything" crowd.
Re:I dont see why you need it (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I dont see why you need it (Score:2, Insightful)
Let's face reality, there are a lot of very complex Windows networks out there. You may deride them, but they do exist and they need competant admins. You can try to run them with a bunch of monkeys, but that's why issues like code red and SQLslammer are such a pain, bad software + incompetant admins = disaster.
No matter how good your UNIX skills are you still won't have a thorough understanding
You missed the point (Score:1)
One of the core arguments that linux users have against MS is that it's HARD to use. espec
Re:You missed the point (Score:1)
I was actually aware that you can recall the last command from MS, but they really are not in th
Uh... Oh.... (Score:3, Insightful)
"I recently took a job managing an all Windows network...."
Run...... run fast!!!
No.... seriously good luck. I went from a pure HP-UX enviroment to a Windows one... It's really fun to try and script mass file renames among other things
BE PATIENT AND YOU'LL LIVE!
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:1)
Yes! When I took over our HP System the old admin gave out the su password to EVERYONE! Then guess who has to be an asshole and tell everyone they can't install their own webshots anymore.
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
"asshole" a lot. You have to learn now to be firm
and tell people how it is. It's one of the reasons
why a lot of ex-admin types make great managers.
A good admin has no problem telling people how
things are.
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:2)
know that's not how it works. You can't make all the
people happy all the time. You will get called an
"asshole". An admin that's never called one is what
we call a "kissass". Kissasses don't last long
because they are bending over backwards trying to
please everyone. Someday when when and if you
become a real admin, you'll learn this lesson. In
the meantime, do some tech support. You'll learn
that lesson there as well.
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:2, Funny)
coping with the WinTel Software Distribution (WSD) (Score:1)
5 Minute mini lecture using WinInternals only!
introduction
WSD, it seemes to be allmost forgotten here in the civilised worlds but here and there you still need to bring support to some legacy systems as the WSD-2K/XP or the even more archane WSD-03
luckally there ARE ways to allmost be as productive in your new login shell CMD.EXE (aka Command Prompt or DosBox) as you where in your shell, *cough*
documentation
When you expect your now fairly standa
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Assuming your machines are all networked and you are administrator for all of them you only need to install cygwin on your box, you can then do most things remotely, probably using the '$' shares.
Learn how to use the 'net' and other commands, I have a script to create new folders, share them and then set share pemissions and folder security to allow a group to have access - then another sets up users as members of that group. You can do somethings reasonably easily from the CMD prompt, others from cygwin. It's worth finding the non-gui ways to set things up, where they exist.
Re:Uh... Oh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed. And then read this [labmice.net]. And learn to use Perl's Win32::API. Most Unix people have no idea that Windows has all this stuff available - it's a bit different from Unix but if you want to use a command line a script everything, you can.
Ooooooh, I know!!! (Score:2, Funny)
Windows admin? (Score:2, Funny)
Were they aware that you have no idea what you're doing when they hired you?
Re:Windows admin? (Score:1, Funny)
Oh yeah, there's a chance he knows how computers & networks work, not just how to use version x.yy of the config wizard.
Re:Windows admin? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, as a couple of articles have pointed out, almost all *nix admins have at least some experience with Windows while Windows admins with *nix skills are less common.
If I were the employer, however, I'd be concerned about interest level. If you are dying to learn Windows and increase your overall skill level then go for it. For others, being forced to deal with Windows would be like sitting listening to blackboards being scratched all day. Still, you gotta eat.
Re:Windows admin? (Score:2, Insightful)
Not true. I've read plenty of stories and reports that *nix admins typically have a far better foundation in the fundamentals. My experience has been similar. *nix gurus tend to know what happens under the surface and can often do a much faster/better job of debugging and engineering
Yes and no. Yes, *nix people do tend to know a lot more about computers. On the other hand, they expect things to make sense and to behave deterministically, and on Windows, sometimes they don't.
I develop for and occasio
OReilly Is Your Friend (Score:5, Informative)
HUH? (Score:2)
Re:HUH? (Score:1)
Look for Microsoft Books (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft does publish large, thick texts on their network platforms. I remember them as being much better than most 3rd-party books.
Also, if you can get your hands on the books used in an MCSE course, you'll at least have something. My boss sent me to an MCSE course a long time ago. I remember the notebooks as being long on "click here" and short on "here's what the code does after you click", but you will get an overview of Microsoft's network model.
Re:Look for Microsoft Books (Score:2)
MSDN, Scripting, etc (Score:1)
For other needs, you can google your way out of most problems (since the chances of you being the first person to run into an issue with Windows are slim).
Learn vbscript, they're the only way to get things done sometimes (unless you want F2 to be your new best friend). Also, learn some of the old Batch scripting, many of those tricks can be applied to the vbscript tools.
Oh, and learn all the hotkeys, it'll speed things u
Re:MSDN, Scripting, etc (Score:1)
Search MSN (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm serious.
Re:Search MSN (Score:1, Funny)
Laugh! (Score:2, Funny)
Laugh! If you start crying at what Microsoft says and does, you'll never stop.\
(-: The page was probably trying to install an ActiveX wizard to do the changeover for you, and assumed you were using Exploder :-)
Universal Command Guide (Score:3, Informative)
There's plenty to complain about starting with the hubris of the "Every Command Every Operating System Cross-Referenced Together" subtitle Apparently TRON, Plan 9, vxWorks, etc. aren't operating systems (or "Some of the More Common Operating Systems, Many of the Common Commands" didn't get past the marketing department). The selection of commands in the book can sometimes seem odd and at $70 it isn't cheap, either.
Still, when you are used to "w", "ifconfig", "passwd" and the rest but find yourself sitting in front of a Netware/Mac/DOS/Windows machine thinking "there must be an equivalent instruction if I only knew what/where it is", then the cross reference in this book should at least get you pointed in the right direction.
I only pick it up every few months but even at $70 it doesn't take much time and frustration savings to pay for itself.
A Suggestion (Score:1, Funny)
JSI (Score:5, Informative)
There is an incredable wealth of information on that site.
altp
There are these cd's I see on TV at 3am (Score:4, Interesting)
And this old white haired guy that has trained the
whole world is selling them and stuff. Strangely,
the shipping is 7 bucks.
Seriously though,
I knew UNIX first. When my buddies were raving about
dos and windows 3.0 being the next big thing, I was
busy with other stuff and kinda ignored them. Next
thing I knew I had NT 3.51 on a DEC workstation
staring me in the face in the form of a new
flight scheduling system. FUN! NOTHING like UNIX
in any way shape or form. So I started with the
basics. Operating systems all do pretty much the
same types of things. The idea is to find out how
to do those things. How do you:
Set up a network card
Install drivers
Configure user accounts
Change passwords
Modify the filesystem
Schedule jobs
and so on and so on.
The way I learned windows was to make a list of
all the things I could think of that I had to do
on a daily basis to admin a UNIX machine, and
do research to find out how to accomplish those
things on windows. After you've done that, you
can fill in the rest of the blanks later. I spent
a lot of time on USENET searching newsgroups for
answers to silly things. The Microsoft Knowlege
Database is an excellent tool. In the end, I
learned something truly valuable. Windows NT 3.51
sucked. Thoroughly. And I threw a party 5 months
later when they scraped the NT Alpha box and
replaced it with a Sparc running SunOS. Still,
that initial exposure to Windows NT has helped
me fix all kinds of things on family and friends
Windows machines for quite some time. You just
have to get used to touching a mouse a lot more
than a UNIX person should. You have to get
comfortable navigating point and click mazes
to find things that aren't always were you'd think
they would be logically. You have to get used to
not always having the blessed log file to look at
for help when something isn't working right, and
being fed error messages that make no sense at all
and give you no clue as to what the actual problem
is. Today, USENET can be searched very easily with
groups.google.com. A short time ago, you used
deja.com.
problem with any OS platform that someone else
hasn't already run into that problem and asked
someone on a newsgroup how to fix it. Hope this
helps.
Re:There are these cd's I see on TV at 3am (Score:3, Funny)
out in 3 years. I'm not even kidding.
point a fellow OSS-head in the right direction? (Score:1, Funny)
Uh, the door?
Pocket Administrator's Guides (Score:1)
The only usefull and/or needed reference guide I've ever found for Win32 server platforms are the (I'm sad to say) Microsoft Press, Windows Administrator's Pocket Consultant books.
They are more to the point and have much less fluff than most other books on the subject.They are a lot more like the books we Unix/AIX/AS400 guys are used to reading.
Just remember, a book about an OS can only be as good as that OS.
I'll pardon you... (Score:1)
Oh yeah... and... (Score:1)
Re:Oh yeah... and... (Score:1)
Back on topic, I've seen a lot of people mentioning Google as a place to look for help. A not-so-well-known fact about Google is that there is a way to target your searches at Microsoft-related sites at http://www.google.com/microsoft.html [google.com]. I've found this is actually a better method of searching Microsoft's site than Microsoft's own search feature. There's also a Linux-related search feature on Google at http://www.google.com/linux [google.com]
Re:Oh yeah... and... (Score:1)
It's going to the Galeon's myportal:
Dude, this transition is easy. (Score:3, Funny)
ROFL (Score:1)
Ye be a Troll, sir! (Score:1)
Cygwin and Python (Score:1)
Look for The Windows Users Guide for Dummies (Score:2)
But if you mean a book specifically pointing out the similarities between powerful unix/linux commands and their few, watered-down, dos/windows counterparts, you probably won't find one. There just isn't a enough of a market for migrations in that direction for something like that to get published. You know what they say, 'Once you go hack, you never go back.'
It's pretty easy (Score:3, Interesting)
If you are using active directory, you need to understand ldap.
If you are a good Linux admin, you'll be a good Windows admin too. Remember that groups.google.com is your friend.
Re:It's pretty easy (Score:2)
Here are a couple of articles that describe NT security.
http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?Art i cl eID=3143
http://www.winnetmag.com/Artic
Bases covered... (Score:2)
All your bases are covered by us!
Make yourself a home... (Score:2, Informative)
Except for learning and using the MS tools (Active Directory, IIS, ACLs etc.), making yourself a home is the best thing you can do.
Most *nix Software has been ported either directly by the developers (Emacs, Vim, nmap etc.), MinGW [mingw.org] or CygWin [cygwin.com]. Insecure.org's tool list [insecure.org] gives a nice overview over the essential networking programs and ActiveState [activestate.com] has Ports of your three favourite scripting languages already.
After installing all these tools, Win2k becomes a pretty usable OS.
Mastering Windows 2000 Server (Score:1)
A word from the submitter (Score:3, Interesting)
To everyone who has had something useful to say, thank you. Your suggestions are what I was looking for. I have found a few resources in my own searching's, but felt that having the eyes and minds of the /. crowd helping would yield far greater results.
As for the rest of you: I have long wondered how many /.'ers were real sysadmins and hackers and who wasn't. Thank you for removing all doubt I may have had about your status.
Several of you have tried to make an argument that I am under qualified for the job I've taken. I read over my submission again, and at no point do I say "I've never seen one of these new-fangled Windows machines before". My specialty has been with implementing Linux solutions to Windows networks via Samba. I have a fair grasp of Windows technologies and am quite comfortable in said environment. However, it would be foolhardy to assume that I know all there is to know about Redmond's offering.
It is made clear to me by your statements that either you are wishful thinkers straining to install Corel's distro or that you haven't the self motivation necessary to stay competitive in this field. To the later, I look forward to cleaning up your network once you've been dismissed.
I realize this is a bit off topic, but I felt that it would be unfair to those in similar straits watching if I didn't address these comments. Now, as promised, the links which I have found most useful.
Re:A word from the submitter (Score:1)
Re:A word from the submitter (Score:2)
This would allow the rest of us to sort out the
I had a similar problem as a programmer (Score:3, Insightful)
I remember at one point I was having to write some VB code. It was during the dot com boom. There where certainly jobs for C++/Java people. However, there was a real demand for VB COM programmers. So I figured, I should at least take a look and try to figure out how the dark side works. Of course my first idea was to go around the office and ask if anyone had ever heard of a VB book for C++/Java programmers. (Actually I did run across a VB for COBOL programmers.) The immediate response was chuckles and outright laughter. Of course, my smart ass smirk probably didn't help. Anyway, there was a book that dove that deeply into VB. It was "Hardcore Visual Basic". There where a couple of good O'Reilly books as well. (As an ironic side note, the author stopped updating the book because he got so sick of microsoft abusing a perfectly good RAD tool).
Yes, programming a glorified GUI sucks. Yes, you're ultimately going to cut and paste and cleverly misuse the IDE when you write code. Yes, VB is a painful. It like trying to ride a tricycle when you've got a Harley in the garage. However, most of the world runs Microsoft products and from time to time I have to work with Windows. So I getting sick of the snide comments. The submitter is definitely NOT A TROLL! I don't claim to be a hacker or an ubergeek but I'm kind of sick of the unprofessional nature of the Slashdot crowd.
So, my best advice is that you take a look at some of the O'Reilly books and stroll through some of the reviews at Amazon. Let their data miners do the work for you.
Re:I had a similar problem as a programmer (Score:2)
Not to be a troll either or anything, but... why do you think the Slashdot crowd is supposed to be professional? Slashdot is just an overgrown blog populated by a slightly more tech-savvy subset of the regular population. It's more like a subway in Silicon Valley than it is like your average board room. If y
The definitive Windows admin book... (Score:3, Informative)
Ignore what some other posts say - knowing UNIX will not automatically mean you know everything about Windows. To be a *good* Windows admin takes time and effort in the same way being a *good* UNIX admin takes time and effort.
My perspective is as a primarily UNIX based consultant / administrator who needs to know about Windows. This book gets five stars for providing the info I need to understand the basics.
Mod me up - this was informative.
A Possible Solution.. (Score:1)
If your going to need to work on workstations, then you will need to get more creative. Hire one of those 11 year old windows addicts (you prob