Developing Useful Admin Tools

L.Jenkins

I've developed a few tools for myself as needed. For example, the usual automation tasks of updating/upgrading my system and cleaning up afterwards. Another little script I developed was a Jenkins script, which downloads any necessary files, sets up a repository as required, installs, then configures and runs when complete.

I only seem to develop tools as I think of them and my GitHub repository is a little sparse at the moment.

Has anyone else developed their own tools for home or work, in order to automate certain things?

DeconSheridan

L.Jenkins wrote: »

I've developed a few tools for myself as needed. For example, the usual automation tasks of updating/upgrading my system and cleaning up afterwards. Another little script I developed was a Jenkins script, which downloads any necessary files, sets up a repository as required, installs, then configures and runs when complete.

I only seem to develop tools as I think of them and my GitHub repository is a little sparse at the moment.

Has anyone else developed their own tools for home or work, in order to automate certain things?

I wrote some WINS10 powershell basic scripts to run rsync for a some tasks and also bash scripts for the UBUNTU server and set them to run every hour using cron jobs.

Nothing spectacular just the powershell / bash / apple script telling rsync do something.

Found out something using rsync with apple script on OSX; If the external backup drive is not mounted or path is incorrect then the script creates a folder in volumes and backs up there; => outcome internal drive can become full before completion, should check first if drive mount do{something}

L.Jenkins

I'll take note of this. Getting a lot of ideas in the Development forum as well, as I wanted other perspectives.

beauf

I've done a load of automation over the years but never really been admin or linux related. Its all been on Windows. Usually business process, or support desk automation. Was doing a bit this morning, some file automation for excel. Took a job that previous person doing it took 2hrs to do. My script does it in 10mins, without any input required from me.

At work we are so heavily siloed its almost impossible to do it these days. Roadblock after roadblock.

In the back of my head I've always wanted to write my own offline file sync application, for my external drives etc. I've never found one I've liked, they either don't do what I want, or they are just too convoluted. For example if change the name of folders or file name the tool should realize its just a name change, and do that and not delete and copy files, or at least prompt with its best guess.

One of the biggest time saver sometimes, is collating complex error checking , and fault finding reports into something that can be read at a glance.

Tom Dunne

Back in the day, I did an awful lot of scripting to automate tasks.

My job back then was as an Oracle DBA that almost always veered into system administration, across three platforms (Windows, various flavours of Unix and VAX/VMS). So I would jump between Windows batch files, Unix shells scripts and VAX DCL files. We used to use a Perl wrapper around the various OS specific scripts.

Utterly head-wrecking at first, but once you got up to speed, it made sense.