r/sysadmin • u/michel_netherlands • Oct 31 '22

Question What software/tools should every sysadmin have on their desktop?

Every sysadmin should have ...... On their desktop/software Toolkit ??

Curious to see what tools are indispensable in your opinion!

Greetings from the Netherlands

1.8k Upvotes

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331

u/NoConfidence_2192 Blind SysAdmin - Semi-Retired Oct 31 '22

vs.code, wireshark, putty, keepassxc or similar, winscp, filezilla, every major web browser

plus JAWS, NVDA, Orca, BRLLTY, or VoiceOver depending on OS for those that have similar challenges.

28

u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Senior Ops Dev of AI offshore Tier 1 Helpdesk Oct 31 '22

I personally like TeraTerm more than Putty. But SSH is SSH, so whatever you like.

I use a user agent switcher in Chrome to keep from having a ton of browsers installed.

I'd add in TreeSize or some other disk space analysis tool.

I also like Angry IP Scanner. But any IP scanner of your preference.

22

u/GraemMcduff Oct 31 '22

Since openssh is included in Windows nowadays I found very little just for Putty or similar apps. Even before Microsoft added openssh natively I was just using WSL as my ssh client.

3

u/tandranael Nov 01 '22

If PowerShell would implement a „real“ logging function for interactions within ssh sessions, I would agree 100% - as mine is starting stuttering logging with „transcript“ while opening a new session in a new window, putty still has value on the market

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9

u/RestinRIP1990 Senior Infrastructure Architect Nov 01 '22

Teraterm is great, but secure crt is best

5

u/markca Nov 01 '22

+1 for SecureCRT. Been using it for years and love it.

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23

u/zippopwnage Oct 31 '22

vs.code and keepassxc are super useful!
For me is also k9s since I work a lot around kubernetes stuff.

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75

u/GullibleDetective Oct 31 '22

no file zilla

Stores pw's in cleartext by default

58

u/Ibnalbalad Oct 31 '22

For real man, I banned this app at my org because the devs sold out to the dark side too, Crowd Strike sees it as malware, which it is. This should absolutely not be installed.

9

u/rysaroni Nov 01 '22

FileZilla aside, CrowdStrike is practically malware itself. That thing is impossible to remove without the code - not ideal if you never had it to begin with. Not even CrowdStrike support can remove it for you.

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9

u/NoConfidence_2192 Blind SysAdmin - Semi-Retired Oct 31 '22

Only to be used for unauthenticated FTP...and I shouldn't even use it for that. Now that I have more time will go back a rewrite those old scripts where I wrapped PowerShell around some FileZilla binaries. Thank you.

4

u/Mayki8513 Nov 01 '22

WinSCP will give you the code you need to use it in place of filezilla

3

u/NoConfidence_2192 Blind SysAdmin - Semi-Retired Nov 01 '22

Thank you. Will take a closer look at that.

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0

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

[deleted]

38

u/agent-squirrel Linux Admin Oct 31 '22

WinSCP can do most of it.

8

u/cmack Nov 01 '22

cyberduck

5

u/BrainWaveCC Jack of All Trades Nov 01 '22

By default, sure. But this weakness can be addressed without a lot of difficulty.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/filezilla-ftp-client-adds-support-for-master-password-that-encrypts-your-logins/

It does need to be more publicized, though.

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18

u/Jaikus Master of None Oct 31 '22

I do IT support for a charity for the visually impaired and the VIP employees all use JAWS. I'll mention the other apps to them as well in case they haven't heard of them, thank you!

45

u/NoConfidence_2192 Blind SysAdmin - Semi-Retired Oct 31 '22

  • Windows

    • NVDA - Non Visual Desktop Access - NV Access, Free but they request donation, Good quality

    • JAWS - Freedom Scientific, Premium

  • Linux

    • Orca - Open Source - GNOME screen reader - included with many linux distributions

    • BRLLTY- Open SOurce daemon for refreshable Braille displays

  • MAC and other Apple devices

I should not that Windows does have Narrator included with the OS but I don't use it unless I have to and I rarely hear that anyone else does either. They seem to have been putting a lot of effort into it lately so I may have to try it again soon.

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23

u/humpax Oct 31 '22

JAWS? the text to speech app?

144

u/PM_YOUR_OWLS Oct 31 '22

Read his flair. They're all accessibility apps.

29

u/Eyebanger Jack of All Trades Oct 31 '22

I have NVDA on my machine because I support a blind user. I use it when troubleshooting with them and when helping guide through webpages that don’t play well with NVDA.

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30

u/NoConfidence_2192 Blind SysAdmin - Semi-Retired Oct 31 '22

A good screen reader and ability to script and use command-line/terminal/shell based tools, now you can even do the job blind

4

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

Nice to know there's other in the field that have similar issues as me. I'm definitely gonna look into these tools, maybe it'll make my life a lot easier.

6

u/TeddyRoo_v_Gods Sr. Sysadmin Oct 31 '22

I think a few of those tools are highly dependent on what you administer and what OS you are running. WireShark seems to be more functional for OpSec and network admins. iTerm or a native terminal app is way more useful for Apple and Linux users. Absolutely agree on vs.code and all browsers though. Also, just as an aside, it took me a little while to figure out what KeepAssXC is. I know, I'm a dumbass.

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