physical tools you can't live without

Hey gang!

i was friggin around re-terminating some jacks at some cubicles the maintenence dept snipped off without asking the other day.... fun

and it got me to thinking about all the tools that have followed me along my career and that i can't live without but then i see other admins and IT people from newer schools that have never touched the things.

so just for some thursday morning jibber jabber, what are some of the tools you got in your tickle trunk that you can't live without or you have taken with you along your career from job to job just because you like to have them? fun to talk about but my current company likes to invest in capabilities so i can add some gems to my war chest based on recommendation :)

I'll start, my 110 punch tool, my tone genny and my netscout - (previously a fluke DTX when i was RUNNING more cable than troubleshooting cable but i was too cheap to re-certify it/ it got old)



https://redd.it/1nq4toh
@r_systemadmin

Do y'all ever roll in late to the office?

Been in IT for a minute now and I've never had any issues with IT comings and goings at any "reasonable" time. I've always had leaders that said, "as long as your work is done, I don't mind when you leave or come in."

Started new gig and boy......they have a hard start time of 8am and end time of 5pm. I was doing some work around the office at one point and still had my backpack and drink in hand and it was around 8:45am when I walked by a C level. I got an email a few hours later stating "if you need accommodations for coming later let us know otherwise start time is..."

What's really irritating me the most is that my days are easily within the realm of 9-12hrs of work at and they say nothing when I have early start times or late days. Even less for weekend in office work. Skipping lunches is a frequent thing here with the current work load I have. I told my direct boss about this but they said that's just the way it is here. Man, that sucked to hear.

Just feels hypocritical to me. Sucks, cuz I get paid pretty decently for the area I think, but this along with a few very strange things I've seen (cameras everywhere, active snooping/watching of said cameras at all times) that have been putting me off this job/office. CEOs got their offices locked up and they've blocked the walk ways a certain way so that they don't see people walk by their office...despite having a whole ass wall where they can't even see out. Some mistreatment of operators...etc etc. Just weird vibes...

Maybe I'm just being a little bitch boy about it but hot damn....I've just never had any leadership give a shit in the past.

https://redd.it/1nq63z2
@r_systemadmin

How do you prove nothing happened?

Does your c-suite freak out every time there is a phishing email or attempted malicious phone call? How do you prove it wasn't a breach on our end?

Someone in our org got a phone call from "the bank" stating they stopped a fraudulent check cashing attempt. The bad actor apparently had valid account and/or user info for our company. Now the C-suite thinks we've been breached, wants a "full analysis", along with a whole slew of other precautions. Initial indications are the bank has the "leak", but how do I prove to them that we are not compromised?

https://redd.it/1nqbgm7
@r_systemadmin

Broadcom only wants to give us 3-year pricing

In the "At least things couldn't get any worse, right?" Department, after significantly scaling back our VM footprint in light of the Broadcom fiasco, we went to renew and the resellers only gave us 3-year pricing even though we didn't ask for it. I asked one of them for 1-year pricing and a reseller is telling us it needs to be escalated up the chain at Broadcom with a "business justification", and warning there will be a 60 - 80% increase next year.

https://redd.it/1nqb9au
@r_systemadmin

AI Acceptable use policy.

I've recently taken initiative to draft a AI AUP for our org after an incident of some proprietary info being uploaded into ChatGPT to do... something, I'm not sure what, this person is gone now.

I haven't determined next steps yet as far as blocking AI services / getting copilot for business / localized generative models...etc.

Just curious how many of you have AI policies in place?

https://redd.it/1nqfx8o
@r_systemadmin

3 requests to help find a file in the past week - WTF

3 different users, 3 different companies altogether. Prior to last week, I had maybe 3 requests in the past 10 years. I'm not even sure what to say anymore.

https://redd.it/1nqi7gk
@r_systemadmin

Employee monitoring software that only monitors when employee clicks "Start Monitoring"?

I'm going down my first rabbit hole with employee monitoring software. A small business customer of mine made the request, but here's the catch: it's only for 1 contractor, and it's for the contractor's own personal computer. I informed my customer about how invasive these things can be, especially on a computer he doesn't own, but what I couldn't answer was if there's an "opt in" kind of way for the contractor to manually turn on the monitoring when they start their billing clock, so to speak. When they are done their billing, then can turn off any monitoring. Do we know if any of the players in this space offer that specific feature (ActivTrack, Time Champ, Hubstaff, Monitask, CurrentWare, Time Doctor, Cattr, Teramind, et al)?


The other important consideration for this ask is that it's a basic, simple-to-use software with low/no contract commitments and reasonable monthly fees. Preferably the data is cloud-hosted, I don't want to set up any kind of on-prem server for this. Thanks in advance!

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

What the hell do you do when non-competent IT staff starts using ChatGPT/Copilot?

Our tier 3 help desk staff began using Copilot/ChatGPT. Some use it exactly like it is meant to be used, they apply their own knowledge, experience, and the context of what they are working on to get a very good result. Better search engine, research buddy, troubleshooter, whatever you want to call it, it works great for them.

However, there are some that are just not meant to have that power. The copy paste warriors. The “I am not an expert but Copilot says you must fix this issue”. The ones that follow steps or execute code provided by AI blindly. Worse of them, have no general understanding of how some systems work, but insist that AI is telling them the right steps that don’t work. Or maybe the worse of them are the ones that do get proper help from AI but can’t follow basic steps because they lack knowledge or skill to find out what tier 1 should be able to do.

Idk. Last week one device wasn’t connecting to WiFi via device certificate. AI instructed to check for certificate on device. Tech sent screenshot of random certificate expiring in 50 years and said your Radius server is down because certificate is valid.

Or, this week there were multiple chases on issues that lead nowhere and into unrelated areas only because AI said so. In reality the service on device was set to start with delayed start and no one was trying to wait or change that.


This is worse when you receive escalations with ticket full of AI notes, no context or details from end user, and no clear notes from the tier 3 tech.

To be frank, none of our tier 3 help desk techs have any certs, not even intro level.

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

One for all you ASA users

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-25-03-identify-and-mitigate-potential-compromise-cisco-devices

Not sure how many folks saw this one today.

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

Cisco ASA Under Fire: Urgent Zero-Day Duo Actively Exploited, CISA Issues Emergency Directive

Another nasty exploit which can cause headaches to fellow admins if it is not mitigated on time.

Cisco identified two zero-day issues:

CVE-2025-20333 (CVSS score: 9.9): An improper validation of user-supplied input in HTTP(S) requests that could allow an authenticated remote attacker (with valid VPN credentials) to execute arbitrary code as root via crafted HTTP requests.
CVE-2025-20362 (CVSS score: 6.5): Also stemming from improper input validation, this flaw lets an unauthenticated remote attacker access restricted URL endpoints without authentication, again via crafted HTTP requests.

"According to the agency, the campaign is “widespread” and involves unauthenticated remote code execution and even manipulation of a device’s read-only memory (ROM) to maintain persistence across reboots or firmware upgrades."

Sources:

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/09/25/cisa-directs-federal-agencies-identify-and-mitigate-potential-compromise-cisco-devices

https://hoodguy.net/cisco-asa-under-fire-urgent-zero-day-duo-actively-exploited-cisa-issues-emergency-directive/

https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/comments/1nqf3bw/cisco\_asaftd\_zerodays\_under\_active\_exploitation/

Happy updating everyone!

https://redd.it/1nqu8wa
@r_systemadmin

W10 longer support in EU - any info on enterprise environments?

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-will-offer-free-windows-10-security-updates-in-europe/

Good news for consumers in Europe.

I'm wondering now what this means for enterprise environments. Will this be extended to Wsus / MECM / WuFB updating? Would the pc need to be hybrid or Entra joined for that?

This won't change our upgrade path and timeline to W11 but it might offer a solution for those problem cases where a bit of extra time would come in handy.

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

Weekly 'I made a useful thing' Thread - September 26, 2025

There is a great deal of user-generated content out there, from noscripts and software to tutorials and videos, but we've generally tried to keep that off of the front page due to the volume and as a result of community feedback. There's also a great deal of content out there that violates our advertising/promotion rule, from noscripts and software to tutorials and videos.

We have received a number of requests for exemptions to the rule, and rather than allowing the front page to get consumed, we thought we'd try a weekly thread that allows for that kind of content. We don't have a catchy name for it yet, so please let us know if you have any ideas!

In this thread, feel free to show us your pet project, YouTube videos, blog posts, or whatever else you may have and share it with the community. Commercial advertisements, affiliate links, or links that appear to be monetization-grabs will still be removed.

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

Too many alerts, hard to know what to prioritize

We have been running vulnerability scans on our container images as part of our CI/CD pipeline, and its generating a ton of alerts. Between high, medium, and low severity findings across base images, dependencies, and custom layers, its hard to focus on what actually needs attention right away. Our team ends up spending more time triaging than fixing, and some critical issues might slip through because of the noise.

We’re using tools like Trivy integrated with our build process, but the volume is overwhelming, especially with frequent image rebuilds for different environments. Im wondering how others structure their monitoring setups to cut down on false positives or irrelevant alerts, and what signals they prioritize for immediate action.

For example, do you filter alerts based on exploitability scores, or tie them to runtime behavior in the cluster? Any tips on integrating this with overall observability to make alerts more actionable? Would appreciate hearing about real world approaches from teams dealing with container heavy workloads.

Thanks in advance.

https://redd.it/1nqykz9
@r_systemadmin

Who broke the internet today?

Looks like CloudFlare is down. Lots of websites not working.

https://redd.it/1nr0pdo
@r_systemadmin

Cloning SSDs that are in a RAID? Possible?

For some reason management wants to get some new computers with RAID1 and we are 100% on prem so that means going old school with Master Image -> Ghost to the rest.

Typically without RAID this is a cake walk.

Is it even possible to do or is the path simply:

Veeam Standalone Worksation Backup
Restore bare metal to each other workstation

?

https://redd.it/1nr0wsq
@r_systemadmin

What is happening with licenses?

I am in IT for almost 30 years but what I am experiencing with licensing is absurd.

Every license that expires and needs a renewal has price increases of 40-100%. Where are the "normal" price increases in the past had been of 5-10% per year. A product we rely on has had an increase from 900 euro a year to 2400 euro in just 3 years. I was used to the yearly MS increases, that also are insane, but this is really starting to annoy me.

Another move I see if from perpetual with yearly maintenance fees to subnoscription based. Besides the fact that if you decide not to invest in the maintenance fee anymore you can still use the older version, now the software will stop working. Lets not forget the yearly subnoscription is a price increase compared to the maintenance fees (sometimes the first year is at a reduced price, yippie).

Same for SaaS subnoscriptions. Just yesterday I receive a mail from one of our suppliers. Your current subnoscription is no longer an option we changed our subnoscription model. We will move you to our new license structure. OK fine. Next I read on, we will increase the price with 25% (low compared to other increases) but then I read further, and we will move you from tier x to tier y which is 33% lower.

(I am happy we never started with VMware though)





https://redd.it/1nr2ywh
@r_systemadmin

Sysadmin, 35, newly diagnosed with ADHD and wow a lot suddenly makes sense

Posting because maybe it helps one person.

Ops for 12 years, two speeds, 0 or 200. I can rip through an incident at 3am then freeze at 9am on a three line purchase order email. Twenty tabs open, three timers running, one notebook half scribbles half boxes. Some days the starter motor just won’t catch, other days I glue to a log line and forget lunch.

Numbers so it’s not just vibes. Ballpark 5–10% of people have ADHD, tons of adults got missed as kids because we didn’t fit the cartoon version. My waitlist was \~10 months. Since diagnosis my “stack” is dumb simple, 25 minute timers, externalized checklists, calendar alerts x3, tiny playbooks for repeat pain. Not discipline, scaffolding.

Work stuff. Queues and automation keep me afloat, context switching wipes me out. I can noscript for hours, then miss a renewal because my brain swapped projects and the pointer fell on the floor. If that sounds familiar, hi, same boat.

Big reframe I grabbed today from an AMA in a mental health community I lurk in, not IT, still useful. ADHD in adults isn’t “pay attention harder”, it’s planning, switching, starting, finishing. Once you name those four, you can pick tools that map to them. It's discussed here if you want to skim while your build runs https://chat.whatsapp.com/ESPGi3N9Opq3JY1AkWps2d?mode=ems\_copy\_t

Anyway, if you’ve got questions I’ll answer what I can. Not an expert, just a tired admin who finally has a label for why simple things felt uphill while the hairy stuff felt like play.

https://redd.it/1nr3mg5
@r_systemadmin

Reason # 100,999 Why Open Areas Suck For IT Work Spaces

Currently on a Zoom call and it sounds like the presenter is in a call center. The background chatter is annoying and distracting from the presentation.



https://redd.it/1nr4ehw
@r_systemadmin

US Jobs for Mid-Level Sys Admins Pay Nearly Double Compared to Canada

I don't know if it's just my Linkedin Feed making me feel bad..but something I’ve noticed with US IT job listings:

1. They actually post the salary range up front.
2. The pay difference is insane. I’ll see a mid-level (\~5-7 yeo) Sys Admin (internal IT) role in the US (Seattle, NYC, Chicago) listed at $120K–$180K USD, with the same day-to-day stuff: managing O365, MDM, servers, networking, user support, automations, security tools, etc. Then I’ll look at a Canadian (Toronto) posting with literally the same requirements, same responsibilities, same “must wear 10 hats” expectations, and the range is like $80K–$90K CAD

So yeah, it’s frustrating seeing how undervalued IT (especially internal IT/sysadmin work) is in Canada compared to the US. Would be great to hear some feedback from US Folks

https://redd.it/1nr6stq
@r_systemadmin

Startups Basic Info Security Tools

We are a 15 person startup with 10 of us being eningeers and 5 being other things like CEO, Chief Of Staff, Product, etc. About 3 of the engineers are remote but we are looking for a general device management/security solution. Right now we use SecureFrame and their basic agent to meet SOC2 but we want a real device management and security solution for our workers. What tools are light weight and more modern? I dont want to go back to the old like crowdstrike and others unless they truly are great for this size company and giving us the ability to make sure laptops are more secure, provide audit logs and general need you think an early stage startup needs.

https://redd.it/1nr7l0d
@r_systemadmin

Disabling IPv6 breaks mirrored networking for WSL2

Not sure if anyone is still doing this in 2025, but for anyone getting heaps of developers saying WSL2 won't work on the company network this might be why.

https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/11002#issuecomment-1934119518


https://redd.it/1nr4v3w
@r_systemadmin