Anyone want to drink in misery with a fellow sysadmin?

I had an admin user have the mainframe doods generate a new RSA key for the mainframe. They then emailed BOTH the public and private key from their gmail to a client because "our email system stripped the attachment" So now I have a live private key out there.


Boss said I can leave and 4 and drink early.

https://redd.it/1p2cgng
@r_systemadmin

Damn the printers!

My predecessor believed in serverless direct IP printing. It's 2025 and I have been hand installing print queues for people one at a time on their machines like some kind of neanderthal IT jerk from the dark ages.

We are finally moving to a modern solution involving PaperCut with automatic driver and queue deployment, new printers and actual, honest to god modern setups. Except it's more than 30 zones that we are just now defining and go live is in 2 days.

Because the bosses that signed the contract fucked about for months and didn't want any of the techs involved to "unfairly influence" the decision.

So now I'm spinning up servers, building queues, working with site techs to figure out zones, coordinating with the vendor to get the software (no, I don't even have the goddamn software yet) and somehow am expected to have the new hardware (that I wasn't involved in ordering) installed, tested, documented and ready to go by EOD Tuesday.

The only reason the boss is still alive at this point is that next week is a holiday and nobody will be around so I'll be able to get shit done.


My question to you all: how many drugs will make this bearable? Is it all of them? I bet it's all the drugs.

https://redd.it/1p2dcmj
@r_systemadmin

Which free/open-source SMS gateway should I use for OTPs? (Jasmin, Kannel, playSMS, or Gammu?)

Hey everyone!
I'm building an app that needs SMS-based OTP verification, and honestly, I'd rather not dump all my money into Twilio or similar services if I can avoid it. Trying to figure out if self-hosted/open-source SMS gateways are actually worth it or if I'm just setting myself up for pain.
So far, I've been looking at:
Jasmin SMS Gateway
Kannel
playSMS
Gammu / Gammu-SMSD
SMSTools3
jSMPP (just the library)


Here's what I actually need:
Reliable delivery (it's for OTPs, so... yeah, can't really afford messages not showing up)
Works with SMPP or HTTP APIs
Docker-friendly setup would be amazing
Delivery reports so I know what's going on
Needs to scale eventually — not looking to stay hobby-level forever


Questions for anyone who's actually done this:
Which one would you recommend for OTP stuff in 2024/2025? Is there a clear winner, or are they all kind of the same?
Any annoying surprises when hooking up to SMPP providers? Like hidden costs, weird config issues, that sort of thing?
Is the whole USB modem setup (Gammu/SMSTools3) still a thing people do for small-scale OTPs, or has everyone moved on?
Any good tutorials, Docker Compose examples, or GitHub repos I should check out? Bonus points if they're beginner-friendly.
Do I need to stress about country-specific rules? Like sender ID registration, carriers blocking stuff, etc.?


Full disclosure: I'm pretty new to SMS gateways and SMPP in general, so this is all kind of overwhelming. If you've got any "I wish someone had told me this earlier" advice or ELI5 resources, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks so much for any help! 🙏

https://redd.it/1p27aty
@r_systemadmin

What's your Microsoft Secure Score at?

For those that monitor that... Where are you at? After a good month or so of implementing recommendations, we've hit over 86% now which feels pretty good. According to Microsoft other orgs our size are at 43% on average.

https://redd.it/1p2hf1l
@r_systemadmin

Where do ya'll go to stay informed about zero-days now?

There used to be a few great options, free or cheap but after twitter's API changes long ago, and and a few of them ramping up subnoscription costs, I just wanted to check in for anything a little more relevant.

https://redd.it/1p2g9r3
@r_systemadmin

Managing Email Signatures within 365

Hi admins! I am curious on your guy's solutions on automatically deploying email signatures in 365 and pulling information like job tile, ect. While also instering a logo and hyper links. I have used external applications in the past but am looking to cut cost and use what we got.

https://redd.it/1p2f0c2
@r_systemadmin

How much are you paying for new desktops?

How much does it cost you to order a basic workstation computer for just MS Office and general office work?

Last year I was able to order 3 of them from my Dell Premier site for only $610 each, but now I can't seem to find anything under $1000...

https://redd.it/1p2kn34
@r_systemadmin

Sysadmin salary whinge

So, I've been with this company since 2017. Started as senior support on 85k. After a year, moved into unofficial sysadmin role, slight bumps (mostly just with inflation) until I am now on 114k. Been doing IT in some capacity for 20 years now. We are now offering a desktop support (l2) role for a site, 90k. Not one applicant who will take under 110k, so now recruitment team is suggesting they will just have to pay someone 110k. 110k for a l2 person with 2-3 years exp. I've been asking for a realignment for 3 years now and keep getting told no. Is it just time to walk?

Edit: Should clarify, Sydney AUS.

https://redd.it/1p2nn2s
@r_systemadmin

Is it just me or are enterprise workflows held together by absolute chaos?

I swear, every time I look under the hood of a big company, I find some process that makes zero sense and somehow everyone is fine with it.

Like… why is there ALWAYS that one spreadsheet that nobody is allowed to touch?
Why does every department have one application that “just breaks sometimes” and everyone has accepted that as part of the job?
And why are there still approval flows that involve printing, signing, scanning, and emailing in 2025???

It blows my mind how normalised this stuff is.

Not trying to rant, I’m genuinely curious:

What’s the most unnecessarily complicated or outdated workflow you’ve run into at work?
The kind where you think, “There has to be a better way,” but it’s been that way for like 10 years so everyone just shrugs.

I love hearing these because they always reveal how companies really operate behind all the fancy software.

https://redd.it/1p2nzey
@r_systemadmin

Weekly 'I made a useful thing' Thread - November 21, 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/1p2uqsd
@r_systemadmin

Google buys Wiz for $32B… what’s the backup plan now in a worst-case scenario?

I just read that Google is acquiring Wiz for $32B to boost its cloud security footprint. While the deal hasn’t closed yet, this feels like a huge move, and honestly, I’m a bit nervous about what it could mean long term. Google’s track record with security acquisitions (Impermium, Mandiant, VirusTotal, Chronicle, etc.) hasn’t exactly been reassuring. It has merged or shut down parts of other acquired companies in the past.

Here’s why I’m concerned:

* There’s a real risk that Wiz’s multi‑cloud neutrality could be compromised. Some analysts worry Google will prioritize GCP features over AWS or Azure.
* Integrating Wiz into Google Cloud could lead to architectural changes or feature shifts that don’t align with how teams use it today.

How are other teams handling this?

* Are you sticking with Wiz or looking at alternatives?
* What’s your contingency plan if Google starts prioritizing GCP?
* Has anyone already switched to Orca, Prisma, or Lacework? Would love to hear comparisons.



https://redd.it/1p2unat
@r_systemadmin

Are printers just always broken?

I've been working as a sysadmin for a company for over a year already. There is always an issue with printers. Clogged up queues, connection issues, restarts long overdue, print errors that windows just refuses to fucking elaborate on so I could troubleshoot. Every single week for over a year. We buy fresh new printers - they have issues. Buy old and simple models - they have issues. HP, Canon, Xerox, doesn't matter, they all have issues.

I've been reinstalling drivers, rebooting, browsing forums, poking at settings for over a year and I'm tired, man. Is it a skill issue or do printers just suck in general?

https://redd.it/1p2w52o
@r_systemadmin

Browser extensions are becoming a huge security headache

Our employees keep installing random Chrome extensions some harmless, some sketchy as hell. We can’t realistically block the entire Chrome Web Store, but letting everyone install whatever they want is turning into a mess. Looking for something that can actually control or monitor this without constant manual policing.



https://redd.it/1p2wsni
@r_systemadmin

Cloudflare CTO apologises after bot-mitigation bug knocks major web infrastructure

https://www.tomshardware.com/service-providers/cloudflare-apologizes-after-outage-takes-major-websites-offline Tom's Hardware

Another reminder of how much risk we absorb when a single edge provider becomes a dependency for half the internet. A bot-mitigation tweak should never cascade into a global outage, yet here we are, AGAIN.

Curious how many teams are actually planning for multi-edge redundancy, or if we’ve all accepted that one vendor’s internal mistake can take down our production traffic in seconds... ?

https://redd.it/1p2ypz5
@r_systemadmin

As sysadmins/endpoint engineers/etc, what do you appreciate from your help desk, and what do you wish they did better?

I'm starting as a new manager of an IT help desk, and I hear I'm inheriting a bit of a mess, and I'll have to do some rebuilding. I'm looking to build some good habits early on, and so I'd like to hear your input in what you guys like to see out of your help desks.

https://redd.it/1p2zjc0
@r_systemadmin

Again?

X/Twitter seems to be having issues. Down detector is beginning to show some spikes as well, including AWS and cloudflare. Anyone else seeing impacts?


https://redd.it/1p32c8j
@r_systemadmin

CloudFlare..... again? Come the fuck on

Here we go again, multiple sites showing Cloudflare issues......

Why? Why a fucking Friday? Really?!

https://redd.it/1p32ry5
@r_systemadmin

40k a year for first sysadmin job

Hi everyone! I am about to finish grad school and I finally got a job offer as a systems administrator. However, I am kind of upset about the salary of 40k a year. Is this really low for a sysadmin job, or a good salary for entry level position? Can I work my way up and make more money in the future? Any advice would be great.

https://redd.it/1p37r9d
@r_systemadmin

Vendors Using Teams for Remote Support

I'm not sure if it's just me, but it feels like more and more vendor support teams for line of business apps are trying to use Microsoft Teams instead of investing in proper remote support tools.

I just had another one this morning asking me to install Teams on a production server so they could troubleshoot an issue with their product. People think I'm the bad guy for making receiving support "more difficult", but c'mon, man.

Am I the one that's out of line here?

https://redd.it/1p33dgb
@r_systemadmin

Place your bets. which vendor is next to screw themselve...and all of us

Its starting to look like the year where hackers barely need to do anything because the biggest vendors keep taking themselves down with their own hands.

Cloudflare One bad configand half the internet offline.

AWS ...DNS chain reaction and banks, apps, and services collapsed.

Azure... A routing/config change and global authentication failures.

Google...Stacked flawed updates and couse massive outage.

Zoom...Registrar glitch and zoom.us disappears.

Slack.. Internal update issue and no messaging, no channels.

So what’s the real common denominator?

Misconfigurations!

One bad file, one flawed update, one DNS change and entire ecosystems shutdown
Not attackers. Not Ransomware

Place your bets...
Which vendor do you think is next to hit the global outage button?

https://redd.it/1p3afoz
@r_systemadmin

How the hell do I stop apps being installed for new users logging into a Windows 11 PC?

Server admin here. Vary rarely get to play with client devices but I've got a task at the moment to stop certain apps being installed for "new users" logging into a PC for the first time.


Outlook. One Drive. Xbox Games etc.


I've run the below and works well. But only for existing users. But when a new user logs in... boom... it's back.


Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.OutlookForWindows | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers


I tried to use to remove the underlying provisioning package:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online-PackageName Microsoft.OutlookForWindows


But the command fails but I've seen the above mentioned in a lot of places online. I'm at my wits end here. Why make it so sodding complicated MS?




https://redd.it/1p35yf7
@r_systemadmin