Everything Sysadmin

xed 2.0.2 released!

xed is a perl script that locks a file, runs $EDITOR on the file, then unlocks it.

It also checks to see if the file is kept under RCS control. If not, it offers to make it so. RCS is a system that retains a history of a file. It is the predecessor to GIT, SubVersion, CVS and such. It doesn't store the changes in a central repository; it comes from a long-gone era before servers and networks. It simply stores the changes in a subdirectory called "RCS" in the same directory as the file. (and if it can't find that directory, it puts the information in the same directory as the file: named the same as the file with ",v" at the end.)

[More about this little-known tool after the jump.]

Verizon FIOS: No outage so far!`

Well it is the first of the month and it seems like I have internet access still. That's good news.

Lets see what happens my DHCP lease expires. That's the real test.

I don't want to push my luck, but it looks like good news so far!

Verizon FIOS Update

I know y'all can't live without another update so here it is.

The VerizonSupport twitter account sent me a secret URL to give them my account info and problem description. After filling it twice (separated by 2 days), I got no phone call, no email, no results.

Today I called and was told that the IVR system transfered my phone call to billing because I was entering my phone number (as asked) but since I don't have Verizion phone service it was confused. That is the phone number on my account, and it certainly is able to look up my account after I've entered it, but the person assured me that this was the problem. I should select the option where I enter my account number instead of my phone number and it should work.. promise.

When I got home (where I have the account number) I did as requested and of course the system said it is transferring my account to billing.

So what to do?

Well, I've tried billing and tech support with no luck. I decided to call sales. Stephanie and I had an ok conversation. She said that last month my account was "in treatment" and now it definitely isn't so there should be no outage on Wednesday. I pointed out that the IVR system disagrees, but she said I should "let it go". She also said that if I do have an outage on the first of the month, they can cancel the account and recreate it. I'd have a 20 minute outage. She wrote all of this up in my account notes.

Wednesday I'll be "oncall" for work from 4pm to midnight. If there is an outage in the morning, I'll be spending all day getting it fixed so that I can have connectivity for my oncall shift.

I've spent more than 10 hours on the phone with Verizon at this point.

Ohio Linux Fest: you don't have to be from Ohio!

What surprised me when I attended Ohio Linux Fest was that it is a national conference; it draws people from all over.

One of the little-known gems at OLF is their training sessions called "OLF University." It is excellent training that is at a very nice price. Considering the high-caliber trainers that they've recruited, I think (and I've told OLFU coordinators) that training like this should be priced 2x or 3x higher. The productivity boost from just one class will pay for itself in a month or two. I recommend people sign up before the organizers start listening to me.

Beth Lynn Eicher wrote a great article about OLF and the training. Check it out.

If you aren't going to OLF University, but are going to OLF, be sure to stop by the LOPSA table!

Exciting news about LISA 2010... soon

I'm going to have a completely new tutorial at LISA 2010. I'm developing the material right now and the more I see, the more I like it.

I'll announce the topic soon :-)

FIOS update

Quick update:

1. no manager called me back.

2. I found @verizonsupport on twitter.

3. They gave me a URL to visit that asks for my account info (and my twitter name) so that they can investigate.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

Non-technical strategies

In the last few weeks I've written about ways to get peers to adopt a technology you like, and how to get your managers to adopt it too. Today I'd like to point out some "non-traditional" strategies you might employ when those fail. This list was created when talking with a reader about how to get approval for installing a trouble-ticket system.

Often the non-technical push-back is against the entire concept of ticket systems and nothing will be "good enough". In that case, don't bring a knife to a gun fight. In fact, find a way to avoid the fight entirely.

The Art of War and other strategy books would suggest alternate strategies like these:

• Privately confront the primary dissenter directly: talk privately with the person to find the reasons behind their actions and settle those issues. Enlist them as a supporter.
• Go around the dissenter entirely: set up the ticket system of your own choosing for a project they are not involved in, when it is successful it will be politically difficult not to expand its use to all projects.
• Go over the dissenter's head: get the dissenter's boss on board.
• Leverage influential people: If there is someone that the dissenter feels walks on water and can do no wrong, get an endorsement from that person.
• Act faster: install something and put it into action before they can push back.
• Act slower: are there benefits to putting off the decision? For example, will the dissenter retire or change jobs soon? (You may not be allowed to know that they are on the way out. If your boss smiles knowingly when you ask, maybe they know something you don't know.)
• Produce more data: Gather data and produce charts that show undeniably you are right (don't show a single charts that disagrees; if the dissenter doesn't have the raw data, they can't make those charts).
• Produce less data: Work in secret to build the system.
• The power of crowds: Can you get a lot of other people on board such that the dissenter is outvoted?
• The Power of the Demo: Are they rejecting a system they haven't actually used? Install your preferred solution on a VM and give demos to likely supporters. (The secret to a successful demo is doing at least 5 dress rehearsals)
• Divide an conquer: Find out where the opposition isn't in agreement with each other and play one side against the other.
• Isolate dissent: Identify the dissenters and exclude them from the process (find a politically viable justification for this).
• Overload the dissenter: Give them so much other work to do that they don't have time to dissent; or put so much of the research on their shoulders that they ask to be taken out of the decision process.
• Reduce the choices: Don't show 15 different models and hope they pick the one you want. Only show options that you will accept.
• Give too many choices: Show so many potential products that they are overwhelmed; declare your expertise and recommend the one you want.
• Selective comparison: Show 1 really awful system followed by a perfect demo of your system. (In a related note: At a singles bar always stand next to an ugly person.)
• Force a "win": Get agreement to default to your solution if a decision isn't made by a certain date ("because we can't delay ProjectX"). Make sure you've given them more work than can be accomplished by that date so-as to trigger the default.
• Make the dissenter think they are making the decision: If you ask a child "what do you want for dinner?" they'll ask for ice cream. If you ask, "Should we have hamburgers or hotdogs?" they'll think they're making the decision even though you've already made it for them. (Worst of all: don't list choices one at a time, they'll keep saying "no" until you run out of choices: "Do you want hamburgers?" "no" "Do you want hotdogs?" no "Umm... well, we have ice cream" "yes!").
• Take advantage of emergencies: In an emergency the normal decision process goes away. Can you create a situation (or wait for a situation) where you can get permission to install RT or ORTS "just for this one emergency" and then take advantage of the fact that "nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution"?)
• Bullies only respect other bullies: Declare that your solution is the ONLY solution and brow-beat anyone that disagrees.
• Discredit the enemy: If the dissenter is always going to find reasons to reject something, don't try to deal with the points they bring up; discredit the dissenter's opinions. ("He isn't a real stake-holder, why should we listen to him?" "He rejects anything new, remember the time....", "He won't even be using the system, why is he causing trouble for us?")
• Running code beats vaporware: a running system beats the theory that it won't work.
• Avoid the issue: Find another project to work on that will make you a success; leave this "can't win" situation to co-workers that are suckers.

If done right, these strategies could work or could get you fired. Proceed with caution. Work with your boss, or if you boss the problem, confer with peers.

Please post comments with your suggestions and experiences. (This website now supports OpenID and other systems.)

More Verizon FIOS pain

After my recent story about the problem Verizon FIOS is having with my account, I decided (with the prompting of Chris) to be pro-active and call them. Since I know the problem still is lurking, it is better to get it resolved rather than tempt fate on the next "first of the month."

Just to keep my dear readers (all dozen or so of you) informed, I'm going to post about my progress.

Today while at work I spent 90 minutes trying to get through to someone that could help me.

Attempt 1: The person transfered me to tech support who couldn't help me.

Attempt 2: For some reason I got transfered to billing in a state other than NJ. They couldn't help me but transfered me to the right billing center. (Why is their system not sending me to the right billing center? Could that be a symptom?) When talking with this person I created a 3-way call so he could hear the problem himself. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the point where I get transfered, and right before we got to that last, final prompt he shouted "agent" which made the system stop what it was doing and transfer me to a human. Thus, at this point no Verizon employee has seen the problem demonstrated. I was so frustrated at that point that I said something about being too upset to continue and hung up.

Attempt 3: the person at this billing center took the time to understand my problem but kept repeating that he couldn't change how the phone system works. I would calmly explain that this is triggered by something being wrong with my account, and could he help me with that. He said there is nothing wrong with my account. I agreed and said, "Since we both agree that there is nothing wrong with my account, I shouldn't be transfered, right?" At that point we would repeat our conversation. I literally got him to go in this circle 3 times. I was nearly laughing.

I feel sorry for the guy. He works at a payment center. His job is to take people's credit card info and process payment. Obviously I'm not talking to the right people.

I asked to have this escalated. He took my phone number and said that a manager will call me within 4 hours. That was at 11:30am.

Another data point: I just remembered that when I ordered the service I called from my desk phone in NYC and went to the NYC sales office. There was a problem because New Jersey is sold out of the New Jersey office. She was able to put the order in anyway. I wonder if my account is in some kind of limbo because the order was placed from the NYC sales office but the service was delivered to New Jersey.

Anyway... I've got a lot of work to do today. I'm putting this to rest until they call me back.

LOPSA providing tutorial slate at Ohio Linux Fest

As part of Ohio Linux Fest's training program (called "OLF University"), LOPSA will be offering the following classes on Friday, September 10th:

• IPv6 essentials and deployment Strategies
• Black Magic: Linux Troubleshooting and System Administration
• Application Acceleration and Tiered Storage and Archiving
• Monitoring and Nagios
• Introduction to Automating System Administration with Cfengine
• Data Centers: Planning, Expanding, Managing

These classes will be taught by community luminaries such as Dale Carter, Jonathan Billings, and John Sellens.

A full class schedule can be found at http://www.ohiolinux.org/olfu.html

LOPSA instructors return for the fourth year to Ohio Linux Fest in Columbus, Ohio on Friday September 10th - teaching 6 out of 11 classes at Ohio Linux Fest University.

LOPSA serves the public through education on system administration issues; Ohio Linux Fest promotes the education of Linux and Free and Open Source software.

Classes will give OLFU students an intense and personal learning experience. The traditional Ohio LinuxFest conference and expo will take place on Saturday, September 11th. Registration for OLFU is part of the Ohio LinuxFest "Professional Package", which costs $350. It includes OLFU training classes on September 10, admission to The Ohio LinuxFest on September 11, lunch on both days and an official conference t-shirt.

Class sizes will be limited so OLFU students can receive the very best personalized professional training. Classes are by available by pre-registration only. Registration for OLFU will not be available on-site. To register, please visit https://www.ohiolinux.org/register.html

Calling in an emergency

It used to be that when there was an emergency, such as a car accident, someone might go inside the house to call for an ambulance.

Now in that situation you go outside the house, to make sure you get a clear signal.

Hmmm...

Tom

P.S. Remember when people would say things like, "Could I use your phone?" and you'd walk them to the room in the house with the phone?