IT Jobs Offshore?

Anyone out there hold an IT job that keeps you on a boat or rig, if so how did you find it?

Craving something different and the ocean has always called my name, would really hate to ditch a built career to scratch this itch but vacations at the beach only do so much!

https://redd.it/1nfoi4k
@r_systemadmin

Company policies that IT (Sysadmins) break.

I thought it would be fun to see what corporate policy type things IT people often break.

First thing I think of is dress code! Even our CIO does his own thing to push the norm. Wears nice shoes and a sportcoat, but almost always some tshirt, which might be more or less goofy depending on who has scheduled to see that day.

https://redd.it/1nfqvgd
@r_systemadmin

SharePoint online access NA

Anyone experiencing SharePoint Online connectivity issues in NA?

https://redd.it/1nfymen
@r_systemadmin

Power outage during Robocopy /MOVE

Hi guys, I need some help. I was copying a large amount of data to a new data structure using Robocopy on the same drive because of changes in the data structure and access rights (the company required this).

Command used:
robocopy "D:\\<SOURCE>" "D:\\<DESTINATION>" /E /MOVE

Everything was fine at first — it had already copied a few folders, moved the files, deleted the old ones, and didn’t copy the access rights to the files, which was exactly what was needed.

However, during the copy of a large folder (\~250 GB), we had a power outage. Now, the new location has about 213 GB and the old one still has 37 GB.

My question is: can I just repeat the same command? From what I understand, Robocopy with /MOVE won’t delete the original files if the new ones aren’t successfully created.
Is there anything I should be aware of?

Of course, I did make a checkpoint of the VM before starting, but I’d prefer not to re-copy the entire 1.5 TB from the beginning.

https://redd.it/1ng1es0
@r_systemadmin

RDP via WHfB, using hybrid domain joined endpoint

Hi Folks,

Below is a link to MSFT's guide for setting up authentication for RDP via WHfB.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/hello-for-business/rdp-sign-in?tabs=adcs

My test machine is hybrid domain joined, I've followed the doc to the letter and I don't get prompted to enter a pin. I'm prompted for biometrics, which don't work (per the doc) when you are on a hybrid domain joined machine. Something isn't working correctly.

Has anyone out there managed to follow the MSFT article below and RDP via WHFB to work?

P.S. - I can't use cred guard as my users connect via an RDS gateway (not supported).

Thanks!

https://redd.it/1ng3ekq
@r_systemadmin

KDC Proxy with Let's Encrypt? Possible to Automate?

I had a thought of setting up a KDC Proxy that isn't publicly accessible, but is still accessible through Entra Private Access. With it in place I would then remove the GSA Enterprise Application for the DCs. Is this a valid layer of the onion or just a fruitless endeavor?

https://redd.it/1ng34q1
@r_systemadmin

update IT journalist interviewing for a jr sysadmin position.

Hi all,
I made a post last week about interviewing for an IT support/Jr sysadmin position, pivoting away from full time journalism.

I had my interview last week and felt it went pretty well. At one point, the IT manager asked me about the most difficult technical challenge I've ever faced. I told him about how I solved a major data merge issue at my last job with some custom noscripts, and he said he was currently wrestling with the exact same issue I described. We were able to talk shop. The interview ended up running over.

I got a tour afterwards and met the team. The tour also went over (by about an hour and a half!) and he gave me a lot of valuable info about the organization, what pay to expect, etc. I felt like our personalities gelled pretty well.

I was told I'd hear back next week about if I'm moving on to the final round. Overall I feel pretty optimistic. Thanks for all the advice in my last post.

https://redd.it/1ng85mj
@r_systemadmin

Guest Wi-Fi DHCP solutions

Looking for some advice on whether or not this is a good plan.

Current state: we have several sites today with varying network architectures. Most of these sites have a guest Wi-Fi VLAN so to maintain consistency when it comes to DHCP, we've centralized the DHCP functionality with our primary firewall.

Problem is that unlike Windows DHCP server, the firewall requires a separate interface for each DHCP pool, so we've grown from a couple sub-interfaces on the firewall to dozens, and with plans to expand even further this is a really ugly situation.

We have an established DMZ with its own domain, and own Windows datacenter licensing, so my thought was to throw a Windows Server VM in our DMZ with MS DHCP Server, consolidate all of our guest Wi-Fi DHCP pools to that server, and create the necessary ACLs to allow Guest Wi-Fi clients to hit that DHCP server to get addresses.

Our DMZ does have its own AD domain and I would anticipate this server would be joined to that domain and the server would have our standard security suite installed on it and get patched regularly. Are there any potential red flags with this particular solution that anyone could see?

https://redd.it/1ngau1f
@r_systemadmin

Live migration for VMs through Hyper-V/FOCM

I am setting up a new Hyper-V environment for 40ish VMs. Right now I have two hosts that I am able to do live migrations with, but this third host I've added is giving me some trouble.


All of our VMs are set to migrate to hosts with different processors (the VM setting in HV). When I try to migrate the VM, it looks like it's going through the process of trying to migrate but eventually stops without an error, staying on the host it started on. This happens to all of our VMs regardless of the network they use.


I've made sure all of our hosts are up to date with Windows patches. Our hosts are a Dell R650 and two Dell R940s. I haven't enabled any BIOS settings on the hosts with no migration issues (the R650 and one of the R940s).


Any ideas? Thanks!

https://redd.it/1ngckfk
@r_systemadmin

Allow only Teams but but block SharePoint/OneDrive on unmanaged devices

We’re in the process of setting up a conditional access policy to block access to OneDrive and SharePoint on unmanaged devices.

The problem is that this policy ends up blocking Teams as well, since Teams relies on SharePoint in the backend. That means users on mobile or unmanaged PCs can’t even use Teams for communication, which isn’t what we want.

Has anyone here successfully implemented a setup where:

Teams chat/communication is allowed on unmanaged devices (mobile or PC), but SharePoint/OneDrive is completely blocked?

Please help.

https://redd.it/1ng8yay
@r_systemadmin

Is mixing 1Gbps and 10Gbps links in an iSCSI MPIO setup ever acceptable?

I’m a Systems Administrator at my company, and our IT Director insists it’s fine to have an iSCSI multipath configuration where one path is 10Gbps and the other is 1Gbps. He believes MPIO will “just handle it.”

Everything I’ve been able to find in vendor docs, whitepapers, and community discussions suggests this is a **very bad idea**—unequal links cause instability, latency spikes, and even corruption under load. I’ve even reached out to industry experts, and the consensus is the same: don’t mix link speeds in iSCSI multipath.

I’m looking for:

* Real-world experiences (good or bad) from people who’ve tried this.
* Authoritative documentation or vendor best practices I can cite.
* The clearest way to explain *why* this design is problematic to leadership who may not dig into the technical details.

Any input, war stories, or links I can use would be greatly appreciated.

xposted

https://redd.it/1ngh4em
@r_systemadmin

Another week, another massive leak… are we failing at cybersecurity or just making it too complex?

NPM hack a few days ago and now today the GFW leak. Feels like we are just stacking up incidents one after another. The scary part is most of these come down to the same thing, messy networks with too many tools, configs, and blind spots.

If attackers get hold of firewall rules, logs, or internal configs it is basically like handing them a map of every road into your system. At this point I do not even know if the problem is hackers getting smarter or if we have just made our environments too complex to secure properly.

So what is the actual way out? Consolidation, zero trust, something else?

https://redd.it/1nghuay
@r_systemadmin

from UAT to PROD to PREPROD to DEV !


i work as a system admin but as usual i handle other roles out of my scope like application installation and implementation until it goes live.

so Have you ever seen an application rollout that went completely against the usual SDLC flow?

I recently faced a case where an application with compliance implications was installed in a very unusual order:

1.UAT first loaded with customer data cloned straight from production databases.

2.Then cloned into Prod, manually tweaked to make it work.

3.Another clone from Prod to Pre-Prod, reconfigured again to be compatible with the environment configuration.

4.Finally, a clone from UAT to Dev so essentially dev env got created after the application went live for more than 6 months and we still getting major incidents Tickets from end user.

Normally, i expect environments to follow a flow like: Dev to Test to UAT to Pre-Prod to Prod, with increasing stability and stronger controls.

It made me wonder is this just a one-off, or do other organizations also end up making these kinds of “reverse” environment decisions under pressure?

Have you ever experienced something like this in your organization?
How did you handle it?

https://redd.it/1ngn08a
@r_systemadmin

eWaste frustrations due to lack of asset management

I work for a global company, and I was put in charge of eWaste. The last guy didn't do it for over a year, and we literally have over 400 laptops to get rid of.

Our company uses D3LL for eWaste and they charge us $25 per piece of equipment we get rid of! I have several sites in the US, and some send all their crap back to our office, and some collect their own eWaste and I schedule a pick up for their site... but to me, it's diabolical to spend money to get rid of a device, and to have sites pay shipping to send things back to our office (some numb nuts ship using overnight for this, which blows my damn mind even more)

With Windows 10 support ending soon, we have SO MANY PCs that have been replaced in the last few months, it's crazy. Basically after 3 years support/warranty is up they get replaced is supposed to be our policy but we have people who keep their laptops much longer. An end user can have a laptop for 6 years and you tell them it's end of life, and suddenly they say the laptop is slow, broken, etc and start belly aching about wanting a new one right NOW.

Anyways, I wish I could have a few of these PCs being returned, but we can't take them. They are all SSDs with Bitlocker so no one's getting the data anyway. I proposed a local nonprofit but was told it's in our global contract with D3ll to use them for eWaste. They do give us some credit for the laptops but it's pennies on the dollar of what they're worth. AND I just found out they require us to sort, separate and lay out everything for pick up, which is impossible with the amount that we have. We can sign a waiver and they will pack and take it all but we lose so many rights and protections with that it's risky to me.

What does your company do for eWaste and asset management? I'd love to hear others experiences.

https://redd.it/1ngmmm8
@r_systemadmin

Most efficiënt remote workplace?

Hi all,

I have a client who wants a server environment. He wants a server where he and 8 to 10 other employees will work. His goal is to work centrally, but currently they all work locally.

I was thinking about offering him the serverless solution with Entra, SharePoint, and Intune. But he insists on a server environment.

I'd like to know if my plan is the most efficient.

I thinking of:

• ⁠one RDS (?) server, identity management via Entra, and storage (Azure Blob), then connecting that to the RDS server.

His ultimate goal is:

• ⁠A remote workspace with authentication and policies.
• ⁠Remote working, and keeping data secure within the environment.

They also want to work remotely. What's the best solution for that?

They don’t have on-premise applications, all applications are SaaS (via webbrowser)

The plan must be cost efficient and fulfill its purpose

What would you do ? ;)

https://redd.it/1ngnfsk
@r_systemadmin

Anyone else getting false positives on PurpleKnight?

I'm getting NTLM V1 enabled and LDAP channel binding not required, which obviously isn't true. Maybe it's the context or the location I'm running from?

https://redd.it/1ngoat8
@r_systemadmin

How do fellow sysadmins relax after (or during) work?

I'm genuinely curious — as a system administrator, what do you do to relax after long working hours or even while you're on the job during a quieter moment?

Personally, whenever I need to unwind and feel truly calm, I just fill my bike with a full tank of petrol, head far outside the city, and reach the most peaceful spot I can find—where vehicles are few and far between. I park my bike by the roadside, lie back to watch the stars above, and listen to people passing by, overhearing their conversations. It’s actually funny to hear how everyone has their own problems and is rushing through life in such different ways. Somehow, that whole experience helps me disconnect and find real peace.

What helps you feel calm and recharged? Do you turn to hobbies, music, gaming, small breaks, or something totally different?

I’d love to hear what makes your soul feel lighter and happier outside (or in between) all the troubleshooting and firefighting of our workday

https://redd.it/1ngth6g
@r_systemadmin

windows Server 2016 azure VM Stuck in Reboot Loop after Sept9th updates - any ideas?

HI,
Yes, I'm aware I should not be running 2016 still, but that's besides the point ;)

We have an RDS farm in Azure and all our servers took the update fine, except our RDS Broker which seems to be stuck in an infinite reboot loop.

We had to roll it back to a previous backup, but when the updates went on again, to no surprise, the issue returned.
I cannot find anything out there about this issue (checked the megathread), so I"m hoping for any ideas here.
We can't really get on it to check logs. We don't have Bastion setup so can't really connect to it upon bootup unfortunately.

The updates it's trying to install are below.

2025-09 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server 2016 for x64-based Systems (KB5065687)
2025-09 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 4.8 for Windows Server 2016 for x64 (KB5065749)
2025-09 Cumulative Update for Windows Server 2016 for x64-based Systems (KB5065427).


The one thing I thought of doing was changing the underlying server hardware (moving it from a Bseries to a Dseries) though I don't really get why I'd need to do that either though...

Kinda running blind here...looking for ideas. Thanks!

https://redd.it/1nguilz
@r_systemadmin

InTune Migration

Hey, everybody.
My organization is currently using hybrid AD. We have an on prem domain controller in both locations which replicate to Azure. We are setting up InTune to take over device management and group policy.
Any recommendations as far as best practices or pitfalls to be aware of? What was the your best method for joining existing devices to InTune?
Thanks!

https://redd.it/1ngu50b
@r_systemadmin

Windows 10/11. A service added by a Software kill/Stop Events

Hey Team,

I've been banging my head on where are the events in the Event Viewer.

I did a quick test to see if any service stop events can be seen; I did

sc stop spooler

but in the Event Viewer > System > No logs are generated.

Can anyone help please!!?????

https://redd.it/1ngyu9c
@r_systemadmin

I am so confused is a Corporate Intranet still called an 'Intranet' or are we now using language like 'Digital Workplace', 'Employee engagement platform' etc

After 25 year in what I have always called the "Intranet" Software Industry, I'm finding that since the Pandemic and subsequent work from home phenomenon prospective customers are now using new terms for the platform. How do I square this when I'm trying to put together our marketing plans for next year. Can anyone help clear this up? Is this a generational language shift?

https://redd.it/1ngz72i
@r_systemadmin