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A Linux Admin's Guide to Windows?
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?"
Look at the O'REilly series for NT/2K/XP system admin. They talk about doing the types of things you are used to on Unix (Scripting etc).
Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
http://www.jsiinc.com/
There is an incredable wealth of information on that site.
altp
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. I'll wager that if you were to compare *nix admins with Windoze admins, you would find a far higher percentage of *nix admins understand http/smtp/pop well enough to use telnet to access and debug a web/mail/pop server.
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.
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Get used to that. Being an admin means being an
"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.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
TechNet
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.
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.
I hereby inform you that I have NOT been required to provide any decryption keys.
Install cygwin.
Agreed. And then read this. 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.