System Admin Checklists

Daily (before everyone else starts):

Check servers - log in and test critical apps

Check firewall logs
Check backup logs
Check connectivity to externally hosted apps
Check AV console

Daily (Whenever)

Change tapes

Weekly

Physical check of servers

Wipe pool/loan equipment and test
Check WSUS for desktops

Monthly

Month end data dumps to offsite storage

Update inventory/patch list
Check WSUS for servers

Quarterly

Review licensing

Yearly

Update insurance figures

Year end data dumps to offsite storage

1) daily: plan to do things, reschedule due to shifting demands and lack of proper help and
management support
2) weekly: almost get caught up with all the daily tasks (albeit they got done on a weekly
rather than daily basis)
3) monthly; almost get caught up on some weekly tasks - something goes wrong and have to
answer to management about why it happened and what we can do about it - they see dollar
figures and nothing changes
4) yearly - take a vacation, something goes wrong while I'm on vacation - response time is
dismal- and management thinks they should get more help for "redundancy" but of course
they soon forget about that. Vacation puts me behind schedule.

Basics of the Early Morning List:

Check WAN, failover VPN and Servers all up using TheDude
Log onto domain, file and branch servers, check for errors etc
Check Branch system Print servers logs etc
Test ERP and Trading systems
Check ERP Trading system Logs and services
Check and test Email
Check Firewalls/internet
These are some of the normal daily/weekly/monthly tasks to be done
Normal Daily list:
Change Tapes, check Backup logs
AV checkup
Spiceworks Alerts
Redundant systems update checks
Weekly List:
Spares and Inventory check
Restart servers
Full manual Antivirus cleanup on any problem PCs
Monthly List:
Updates and Patches
Changed User audit - emails, logins, system access
Check client AV versions and updates

Shared storage requirements and availability

Test tape and other Backups
Test generators and UPS's
ERP system setup checks - print maps, terminal setups

Daily:

Have a cup of coffee - most important

Check and test servers' functionality (e.g. mail server: outgoing,incoming email)
Review firewall/UTM logs, perform adjustment if necessary
Review backup status, perform adjustment if necessary
Review Anti-virus Logs, perform adjustment if necessary
Check UPS Status for critical devices
Check data center temperature
Have a slight conversation with your office crush - last but very important ^_^

Weekly

Review incident reports

Create weekly reports

Monthly

Month end data dumps to offsite storage

Update inventory/patch list
Check WSUS for servers

Quarterly

Inventory all LAN devices

Inventory all software installations

Yearly

Disposal procedure for defective/for disposal devices

Rehabilitation of data center if needed

Daily:

swap nightly backup tape/drive

check that antivirus updates were pushed out to all systems

Weekly:

swap weekly backup tape/drive

clean temporary files from all systems

defrag all systems

Monthly:

plan infrastructure improvements

deliver/send obsolete equipment to electronics recycler

rebuild or replace aging workstations

test restore from backup

Annual:

rebuild or replace aging servers

replace UPS batteries

TECH BRIEFING
Your System Admin Checklists
We compiled this item in last year, but I got SO many requests for it on a regular basis from
people that lost it, heard about it, and wanted it that I decided that it was time to re-run it with an
update. Here you go!
Most of us wear many hats: Systems Manager, Network Admin, Security Admin, Database Admin,
Telecommunications Admin, Email Administrator, and sometimes WebMaster but senility is setting
in and we can't remember them all. :-))
A thread on the NTSYSADMIN list server discussed what a System Admin really needed to do.
Out of the 40 postings or so, I grabbed all the items that seemed not duplicated and plugged

them into one list, for daily, (nightly) weekly, monthly and 'incidental' activities.
I'm not claiming it is complete, but it's at least a good start. Items are not in order of importance,
and of course the activities are determined by the size of your site. You can add the items that are
relevant to your own job. A lot of this can be automated with tools, but then you have to continue
to check if the tools do the job. Here is the updated version. You can even use this as a start for a
job description. Hope it helps!
Daily:

Check event log of every server, fix/try to fix as needed.

Creating new directories, shares, and security groups, new accounts, disabling/deleting
old accounts, managing account policies.

Make sure backup runs and make sure the restore works as planned.

Plugging Security holes, in both the OS and apps like IIS.

Exchange Management including DL's, users, etc.

Train the training people, helpdesk people, and end users.

Answer all important emails from CFO/CEO/IT-MIS Director.

Glance over T1-hookups, switches, hubs, make sure everything is green.

Check router logs.

Check firewall logs.

Check if Disaster Recovery Systems are still functioning

Various calls to MS Support for things that really aren't your fault.

Check for free space on all servers, for file pollution and quotas.

Ensure that all server services are running.

Ensure that antivirus definitions are up-to-date.

Run defrag and chkdsk on all drives.

Monitor WINS replication.

Monitor directory replication.

Maintain performance baseline data.

Monitor RAM for runaway processes or memory leaks.

Monitor network traffic with sniffer or NETMON to keep performance up.

Keep Service Pack (and/or) hotfixes current as per company policy.

Monitor Web traffic for indications of attacks.

Install software for users

Monitor user email for corporate policy violations.

Check Print Queues.

Keep a log of everything you have fixed or performed maintenance on.

Make sure all apps are shared.

Permissions and filesystem management.

Check for bad system and .ini files on database server (Btrieve).

Make sure load on database server is acceptable and ghosted users are cleared as well
as multiple logons.

Nightly:

Backups

(Next Applies to Terminal Server admins only)

Reboot each Citrix server.

Delete all autocreated printers stuck.

Clear out rogue local profiles.

Backups

Weekly:

Clean Servers, check for .tmp files, and other file pollution.

Implement any new policy, permission, logon script, or scheduled script modifications.

Research, Research, Research.

Change any active monitoring & alerting (third party tools) as needed.

Update Website, External and Intranet, process website log reports.

Check PerfMon, NetMon, (or 3rd party tools) for OK baselines.

Reboot Servers if needed.

Keep up-to-date on IT news regarding my networks.

Evaluate software for System Admin purposes.

Try to get some MCSE study time in.

Performance Monitoring/Capacity Planning- Budgeting for the future.

Uptime/Downtime reports.

Auditing network for unauthorized changes, ideally both from the inside but also outsidein.

Plan for W2K migration.

Monthly:

Rebuild Databases as needed.

Gather statistics on Webservers. Send to CEO/CIO/CTO/CFO (Whomever).

Clean exchange mailboxes.

Change Service Account Passwords (not doing this is Russian roulette).

Convincing your boss that most of this stuff _needs_ to be done.

Extended testing backups with restores.

Maintaining applicable Service Level Agreements.

Set System and Application priorities: If more than one thing is broken, what needs to be
fixed first.

Managing off-site storage of backup tapes, whether you take them home or a service
picks them up.

IT System vulnerability analysis: like "This mail server uses this mail router- what's the
impact if one or both are down (if mail server is down mail router will store inbound mail
and may run out of disk space).

Periodically reviewing all of the above, is documentation up to date? Has the Disaster
Recovery Plan been updated to reflect changes in the environment?

Periodically reviewing workload. Are some things no longer done?

Periodically review company technical environment. How can it be improved?

Initial or Occasionally:

Disaster Recovery to alternate site, in case of emergency. Configure and maintain DNS Internal and External, DHCP, WINS, TCP/IP, etc.

Document the full network.

Rebuild corrupt servers.

Test the Restore Procedure.

Reconfigure domain structure.. again.

Get a performance baseline for things like %Processor Time, PageFaults, Disk Queues.

Initial checklist should include status of administrative and service passwords, status of
the backups, check out DHCP scope(s), WINS, DNS, remove unnecessary protocols.

And then of course: drink lots of coffee, post Dilberts all over your cubicle, surf the web, smoke
cigars out back, walk around the office looking busy with a concerned look on your face, make
personal phone calls, look for better work on company time, download MP3s and other stuff that
slows down the T's .. you know .. important stuff like that.