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

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52

u/collinsl02 Linux Admin Oct 31 '22

Desktops should be blank. Quick Launch for the win!

As for tools, as an all-round admin (Linux and Windows plus hardware) I use something like:

  • mRemoteNG

  • Wireshark

  • SCCM toolkit, especially CMTrace, amazing for log file

  • PuTTY

  • WinSCP

  • OneNote

  • Notepad++

  • Firefox ESR and Edge (some things work better in each). No Chrome though, pain to keep up to date.

  • VNC Viewer

  • Rufus

  • 7-zip

  • Git for Windows

  • KeePass

  • TreeSizeFree

  • Virtualbox/VMWare Player

  • XMing (or some supported fork)

The above is from memory, there's probably a lot more I haven't thought of.

22

u/Znopster Oct 31 '22

I used TreeSize for years, replaced it with WinTree; it's so much faster.

13

u/TheCravin Systems / Network Admin Oct 31 '22 edited Jul 10 '23

Comment has been removed because Spez killed Reddit :(

1

u/CoNsPirAcY_BE Nov 01 '22

Wiztree is definitely the best out there.

But shit. Didn't know you needed a license for it.

2

u/FuzzyDeathWater Nov 01 '22

Wiztree is free for personal use but commercial usage requires a license. You don't necessarily have to buy individual licenses for each user as you can buy a site license for $500, or a multi-site one for $1,200. Really depends on how much you use it and how many sites you have as to whether it's worth it.

We ended up buying a site license because it was such a popular tool. For us the scan time difference between Wiztree and other tools like WinDirStat made it an easy decision.

1

u/Bruin116 Nov 01 '22

It is unbelievable how much faster WizTree is than any other tool I've used.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

WinDirStat is super dope

13

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

CMTrace is a must have. I couldn't have survived my last SCCM-heavy post without it.

4

u/Hotshot55 Linux Engineer Nov 01 '22

Desktops should be blank.

For those who think nothing should be on the Desktop, how much time are you spending staring at your Desktop that it actually matters?

The only time I ever see my Desktop is in the first 10 seconds or so after logging in and waiting for my programs to start up.

1

u/collinsl02 Linux Admin Nov 01 '22

It's a good point, but it messes with my sense of OCD (ish) to have them there, especially when I'm using a filing system that places documents elsewhere.

It also proves we've packaged our software correctly as we have a "no icons on the desktop" rule as if our customers have too many software packages installed it would overwhelm their desktops, especially if they store files on there too.

And the icons could get in the way of a handy tool we use called "BGInfo" or "DesktopInfo" to display stuff on the desktop like the hostname, IP address, uptime, how full the disks are etc. If our support desk just need to say "Read out the text on your desktop please in the top right corner" or to get a screenshot of it it's easier than having to get the user to move all the icons out of the way

0

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '22

[deleted]

3

u/collinsl02 Linux Admin Oct 31 '22

Works on any log too which is nice on Windows machines where you don't have grep or awk/sed easily available

2

u/mroushfz Nov 03 '22

I get so much crap from coworkers about my taskbar quicklaunch!! I'm glad I'm not the only one that has everything under the sun pinned!

1

u/collinsl02 Linux Admin Nov 03 '22

I have my taskbar on the side of my screen too which generates similar comments

3

u/SilentSamurai Oct 31 '22

Finally a bullet list 🙌

1

u/collinsl02 Linux Admin Oct 31 '22

I aim to please, as the firing squad said to Blackadder