17
Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
FreePBX - Purchase Orders
Anybody have experience purchasing licensing for FreePBX using a Purchase Order and mailed check?
Whether direct with Sangoma or using a reseller?
https://redd.it/1bhxwis
@r_k12sysadmin
Gyms are for PE, not the SAT.
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/episode-158-gyms-are-for-pe-not-the-sat/ and all major podcast platforms.
The guys discuss a security bulletin from Papercut, the launch of the digital SAT, and the release of an artificial intelligence framework for district leaders by ILO Group. They also address listener emails, including a question about parental access to web filters. The main topic focuses on tips for preparing for online testing season and large-scale assessments, prompted by a listener's story about a failed testing attempt in a cafeteria.
https://redd.it/1bhuwsm
@r_k12sysadmin
Chromebook Cases for Taking Home
We are looking to purchase a bulk order of Chromebook cases for our students this coming year as we did in the past. We went with UZBL the first time, which included a pocket for the charger. The case isn't bad, but the quality is fairly poor. The zippers break very easily and fray along the stitching. Some of them had the charger pocket on upside down, Some had our logo upside down. It was just poor quality. The handles also seemed to break fairly quick as well.
We are looking at the Higher Grounds Datakeeper 2.0 right now, but I wanted to get other people's thoughts. Any recommendations?
https://redd.it/1bhorhs
@r_k12sysadmin
Acer laptops advice experience?
We're having to get quotes on our device rotation. Acer is coming in strong with something we want. I have no experience with Acer. Any advice? good bad?
Thanks in advance.
https://redd.it/1bh7zit
@r_k12sysadmin
Should I feel guilty?
Would you feel guilty applying for another job in the middle of a major project you're headlining and in charge of?
https://redd.it/1bftlmu
@r_k12sysadmin
Has anyone tried Starlink for a backup connection?
My boss asked me to investigate options for redundant internet connections after a car accident took out a telephone pole near our school. Since all the wired options come through the same poles, I was wondering if Starlink might be a viable alternative. I've seen articles about it being used in rural schools and it seems to be robust.
Does anyone have any experience with Starlink in a school?
https://redd.it/1bfdt3q
@r_k12sysadmin
Be on the lookout: Reddit's new paid ads look exactly like user posts
If you aren't aware, there are paid advertisements that can now look like user posts.
This community in particular, where access to post is vetted could be manipulated because of this. There are no moderator tools for advertisements and unless I am missing something, it would be trivial for vendors who previously had no access to simply pay for an advertisement targeting the community that looks like a legitimate peer post.
​
https://redd.it/1bevwd3
@r_k12sysadmin
Snipe-IT inventory & Google Ldap.
I was told at my District the "Main" inventory charges by user and to just keep spreadsheets and hand them in every once and again for changes, I know its stupid so that's why I spun up a snipe-it instance on a old machine and a backup on another old computer and put it in another network closet. Anyway I have been attempting to integrate our google users with LDAP, I made the service enabled it allowed user read, imported the Cert and Key, and made credentials in the service to use in the snipe-it ldap.. But I keep getting a invalid credentials message!
What do?
https://redd.it/1benqet
@r_k12sysadmin
Rammerhead and Interstellar Proxies- How are you handling these
Hello All,
I have been looking at some YT videos and that are listing all of these proxy addressed to get to these 2 browsers and normally, if it is a random weird domain I just put the domain in (apps.dj) for example to be blocked. One of the urls was 11-10-24.apps.dj. I assume they just make a new one each day. Does any have a good way of dealing with this. Anybody have a compiled list of sites. I am not wanting to check out the links because who knows where they go. If you have not looked at these you may want to. Our filter gets a few of these already but certainly not all of them. Any suggestions and sharing would be welcomed!
​
Thanks
https://redd.it/1bel4nd
@r_k12sysadmin
Dameware Alternatives - Remote Support
Hello all!
Was hoping to get some feedback from everyone as far as what they use as remote support within their district as well as maybe some recommendations that might line up based on some requirements we have in place.
Right now we use Dameware Mini Remote Control. While this program looks like it is still stuck in the early 2000s. It still works perfectly the way we like. We do not have to require a user to give us an access code or anything along those lines. As long as the device is on our network and is seen by dameware in active directory with the agent installed on the client computer, we can get to it without any issue.
We want to move away from it for a couple of reasons.
Agent/Software doesn't get updated as often as we'd like and has some issues with Windows 11 installs from time to time.
Unless we install the fully fledged server version and set up a Proxy/DMZ we can't remote help anyone outside of our network. (Unless theres a newer version I haven't seen)
SolarWinds support is spotty at times but overall useless in our experience.
SolarWinds sales literally drives me up a wall and has resorted to some weird "threatening" tactics that we will lose some very important things (literally they aren't) if we don't renew soon.
Are there any remote support tools that meet the following requirements?
Lightweight agent
Cloud or OnPrem
No access code required to connect to a device (obviously our current setup warns users when we connect)
Can connect to devices outside of network (obviously domained with an agent)
\Bonus* Integrated with IncidentIQ?
Any feedback is great feedback, so thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1be56dq
@r_k12sysadmin
want to quit.
\- Get a standing desk, and save yourself from a life of unnecessary back pain and insomnia and insulin resistance.
Interpersonal Relations and Networking
\- Ask tons of questions if you actually want to know the answers. Most people love talking about stuff that they do, so ask away. Don't, however, keep asking the same questions over and over. People will stop answering your phone calls and emails, and you deserve it if they do. Write down the answers.
\- If you ask someone for help—specifically, someone who you know knows how to do what it is you want to do—don't be a jackass when they give you an answer that doesn't make sense. Remember, you're the idiot in this situation, not them. You don't get to tell them that they're wrong until you've given an honest shot at their advice...gift horse in the mouth and all that, whatever that means.
\- Follow Schwarzenegger's advice and always be useful. Don't wait for someone to ask you for help. Assume they do, and let them tell you they don't.
Industry Insights
\- IT is an incredibly broad, interconnected, and ever-changing field. You never know which skill that you currently think is stupid will bail you out of a bad situation 10 years from now.
\- Imposter syndrome is real. Be humble, be gracious, work hard, and it will go away (until you start a new job).
\- A system administrator is a jack of all trades, master of none. A great system administrator is a jack of most trades, an expert in one or two of them, and a master at dozens of small tasks. They know enough to know when they need help, and they have a network of experts to call on.
\- If you want to know what the job is really like, go to the sysadmin subreddit, or k12sysadmin. It's a pretty good representation of the good, bad, and ugly elements of the job.
\- I like being a sys admin because it feels like an exponential idle game...you're basically in the business of manufacturing time; like "Cookie Clicker". When you start, you're running around to computers, manually fixing tedious problems (you're clicking). After a while, you add a tool that lets you get to those computers remotely to save you a trip; same results faster. Then you figure out how to monitor for that problem, and create an event trigger that notifies you when it happens before the end user even knows. Now you're 10 times more effective than you were. After a while, you get so good at fixing the issue that you write a script that fixes it automatically, once the event trigger catches it. Now you're 100x more effective. Eventually, you might get so good at fixing this specific issue that you design and develop a tool that other people in your field can use to fix the same problem. Now, you're 1000x more effective.
\- Most of your colleagues who aren't your immediate peers, won't know what you're talking about when you get into details. They also don't want to hear any of the jargon. They only care about what is affecting them. This is a hard lesson that has taken me almost two decades to figure out. Save yourself a lot of trouble; if you want someone to care about your problem or project, take the time to put it in terms they understand and pain points they can feel, and get to the point as quickly as possible.
\- You can make however much money you want as a sys admin. You can see what I make online if you want. Objectively, it's on the low end of the nationwide average, but it fits my life, which is what is most important to me. When I want to make more money, I take on side projects (working for the school district gives me the flexibility to do that), and I routinely charge a rate anywhere from 3-5x what I make here. If you get good enough, your income is only limited by your ambition.
\- Stuff doesn't "just break". Error messages don't "just pop up" for no reason. Everything in IT happens for an objective reason. The million-dollar question is, is it worth finding out? Rabbit holes make for fun adventures, but learn how to triage effectively so you don't die in
Advice for high school students at career day
I'm a K12 sys admin in a small town. I was asked to attend career day tomorrow at our high school. I don't know if I'm expected to present or just answer questions at a table, but I thought I'd start brainstorming advice to give the students if the opportunity presents itself. I don't plan to have any pamphlets or tri board posters, but I might just print out a QR to this thread if you guys add some gems to the list. Thanks!
Education and Career Entry
\- Get a degree, but don't spend too much money on it. It gets you in the door and removes most salary ceilings, but a specialty isn't really worth the trouble in IT early on. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology. Most hiring managers I know are way more interested in what you've done and what you can do than what school you went to.
\- Move. It's not impossible to start an IT career in Gallipolis, but why put yourself at such a severe disadvantage? Yes, you can work remotely, but chances are, you aren't going to land a good remote job fresh out of school. My advice: move to a city and cut your teeth for a couple of years. Once you have some experience and a more seasoned perspective, you can decide whether you want to move back.
Career Development
\- Certifications get you in the door and check a few boxes, but any company that insists you have a list of them is probably not worth working for. There are exceptions (for insurance reasons, price breaks in partner programs, etc.), but as a whole, the certification industry is full of hot air. Identify companies you might want to work for, find out what--if any--certifications you need, and get them (and only them). The rest of your time is better spent doing stuff.
\- Don't worry about a specialized focus now unless you already have it. Instead, start with a small project that you're pretty confident you can make an IT solution for...it can be a goofy passion project, or you can make an actual problem in your life easier to deal with. Keep doing this, and your areas of interest will reveal themselves naturally.
Workplace and Personal Growth
\- Your ultimate goal should be to find a place where you like to work. You like the people, the schedule, the challenge, and the workload. I've turned down higher paying jobs, working with sexier technologies because I knew I wouldn't be as happy. They're still there if I want them (I don't).
Communication and Professionalism
\- The most effective IT professionals can communicate effectively (both talking AND listening). IT is a foreign language to almost everyone who doesn't do it for a living. If you can be a good translator, people will want to work with you. If they want to work with you, they also might want to pay you. On a similar note, a lot of people like to tell you what they want because they think they know. Listen to what they're saying, find out what they really need, then offer to give them that.
Project Management and Efficiency
\- If you're bidding a project, and you're not already a seasoned expert (or maybe you are, but you don't have familiarity with the situation), conduct an honest assessment, create an estimate, then triple it. If you think the job will take you 10 hours, quote 30 on the project...you'll be glad you did.
\- Don't let scope creep kill your career. Here's an example of scope creep: you agree to paint someone's house brown. Halfway through, they ask if you can add red stripes, then they want to know if you can add windows, and eventually you're tearing down their house and building them a new one. If you're doing project work, take the time to outline what it is you're agreeing to do before you start, put it in writing, make the customer sign it, and stick to your guns...you have the right to say "no" at any point after doing this. A nice way of saying "no" is, "let's do that in phase two".
Self-Motivation and Learning
\- Don't wait to be trained. If you're "waiting for training" or for someone to show you how, you shouldn't be in IT. Ask for help, but don't wait for it.
Alternatives to MasteryManager?
We currently use MasteryManager for our online testing service. We do not have any major issues with this service. If you aren't familiar with it, this service essentially allows teachers to generate scantron-type forms (paper and online) as well as teacher-created test bank style assessments.
I am writing today to see if your school utilizes another "scantron" alternative and to find out about your experiences with it. We just want to be sure that we are still using the best service for our needs.
I appreciate your time and input!
https://redd.it/1bdvkv1
@r_k12sysadmin
GoGuardian to Blocksi?
Has anyone moved from GoGuardian to Blocksi (primarily focused on classroom management/student safety) willing to share any feedback? I have a Blocksi POC coming up; but GG is pretty in-grained here with the classroom teachers at this point so I am hesitant on transitioning. Any general feedback on Blocksi is also appreciated.
https://redd.it/1bds46t
@r_k12sysadmin
Server network connections
Just curious,
Are you sing a dedicated network switch for your server nics or are they just plugged into one of your normal stacks? I currently plug them into the regular stack and tag the vlans appropriately.
https://redd.it/1bdhf7u
@r_k12sysadmin
K12TechPro Community Membership is FREE
The K12TechPro Community is free to join thanks to sponsorships (click sponsorship on the last page when signing up). We're currently at 600+ vetted k12 techs in 48 states and beyond. Join for private message boards, chat, article discussion, podcast discussion, weekly vitals calls, swag, special Google licensing pricing, and more.
Go to https://k12techpro.com/ and click Community and "sign up."
https://redd.it/1bhuzfp
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin - Any possible way to see who signed into a chromebook when the device and user are on different domains?
We have a unique situation in my district where, for reasons beyond our control, our chromebooks are in one domain, and the users signing into them are in another. In GA, we can see that *somebody* signed into the device, and at what time, but not the specific user. Is there any way to be able to see the exact user who logged in, even if it's a paid service?
https://redd.it/1bhpth7
@r_k12sysadmin
No cell phone policies and MFA
It only takes one bad video and then the district bans cell phones during the day for students. On the edge case with juniors/seniors taking college credits and the local universities are requiring MFA for all and pushing Microsoft MFA/Duo mobile/Okta Verify (some are still allowing voice/sms but it’s the same issue), how is your area/region handling this scenario?
https://redd.it/1bhlhy3
@r_k12sysadmin
Do you give staff admin rights to their work issue device?
A few years ago I did a domain migration for our local college domain to the shared dioceses domain and as part of the process staff were NOT given admin rights as the previously had on the local college domain.
I explained that this was for security reasons and that staff had access to Workspace ONE (our MDM) and could download all they needed from there and if there was anything that wasn’t on there to submit a request and it could be made available. I also explained that it would mean that staff and students would have the same user experience and so that if staff could do something (other than content filter) that they could be assured that students could do the same thing.
I feel that this has worked well and has caused only minimal issues (I think I have only had one staff member request to be able to install a home printer and they never got back to me to arrange a time for me to do a remote session with them to get this installed).
Fast forward and with the start of a new member in leadership the topic of local admin rights has come up as the new member of leadership was unable to install something on their device during a training day and is being told that other schools in the dioceses allow staff to be local admin of their college issued device and that not having admin is “the old way of doing things”. The requested software was already available in WS1 and was available for install by all staff and once I issued the install command it was installed in a matter of seconds all remotely (I don’t blame the staff member for not checking to see if it was available to them and to be honest I had forgotten that I had put it on WS1).
While I know that the dioceses does in fact recommend that staff have local admin rights I disagree with this suggestion but also wanted to do a sanity check to see if things have indeed changed and that not giving admin rights is “the old way of doing things”.
So the simple question with a complex answer, do you give staff admin rights to their work issue device?
View Poll
https://redd.it/1bgmcf0
@r_k12sysadmin
MFA on shared accounts
I am currently in the process of activating MFA across our Google accounts and have ran into a possible issue.
We have generic shared accounts, things like communications@xxxxx.org, that all school communications come from. Several people have access to this account so it's kind of hard to lock it to a specific phone number.
Does anyone else have emails like this and if so how did you handle it?
https://redd.it/1bfgm39
@r_k12sysadmin
Apple iCloud Private Relay and School Netowors
So I am fixing our guest network and planning on working on the other networks soon.
I ran across Apple's iCloud Private Relay when testing our Securly and found it would allow the users to bypass filtering on our guest network.
Question I have is, are you blocking the 2 urls to stop the private relay or are there better methods?
I am mainly looking to make sure people can't use our guest network maliciously if they get on it.
https://redd.it/1bevymd
@r_k12sysadmin
Certication (vetting) process for apps/extensions/websites
Has anyone developed a useable process for vetting online "products" (edtech or otherwise)? We constantly get requests to allow and/or add apps/extensions/Google Admin-blocked websites. We are finally starting to take certification seriously, but the process to verify security and privacy compliance, valid business use, etc. is VERY time consuming. We have a prototype process, but it has 8 decision points and is, in my view, over-complicated. Wondering how others deal with this? How do your faculty/staff submit requests, what is the approval process, and is there a timeframe for submissions and timeline for completing the process?
https://redd.it/1benfof
@r_k12sysadmin
Forced Password Changes
Would like to see where everyone stands with forcing password changes at a timed interval. In having a conversation with a collogue he believes that passwords should be force changed every 90 days. I pointed out this goes against current NIST guidelines.
I am curious what everyone is doing.
View Poll
https://redd.it/1bekbjf
@r_k12sysadmin
Cisco 3105 vs Fortinet 401D
We are a mid-sized school district. Due to EOL, we want to replace our existing Fortinet 600D firewall with a new model. We received two responses for our 24/25 eRate 470 submission. We have been quoted a Cisco 3105 and Fortinet 401D. We are happy with Fortinet experience the last 5 years.
I would appreciate any feedback that anyone can provide regarding the pros / cons of the two models or why we should go with one over the other.
​
Thanks.
https://redd.it/1be5wko
@r_k12sysadmin
one.
https://redd.it/1be0l9w
@r_k12sysadmin
Similarly, if you have to be asked to work on computers, you shouldn't be an IT pro...if my son wanted to be a professional guitar player, but only practiced when I made him, I'd advise against him having dreams of being a professional guitar player.
\- Don't BS people in a technical interview. They'll know you're full of crap, and you won't get the job. Just say you don't know. Then ask what the answer is, write it down to read more on it later. In doing so, you'll show honesty and coachability. You might even know the answer once they give it; several technologies have different proprietary and slang names. You might get to share direct experience that you have with the question that you just "got wrong". I didn't know what ILO was in an interview, but after he explained it to me, I got to educate him on DRAC.
Technology and Tools
\- There's a free and/or open-source alternative to almost every piece of software. It's not always as good, but sometimes it's actually better (I'm currently dabbling in video editing, and Davinci Resolve kills Filmora). If there isn't a free alternative, then the best product out there is usually worth paying for.
\- Don't be afraid that AI will take your job. It might, but in the meantime, your time is better spent making AI work for you. Make it work for you, and others might pay you to make it work for them. On a side note, Google has been around since 1998, and no one who pays me to use it has ever used it themselves.
Fundamentals and Best Practices
\- If you have no idea where to start, you'll never regret learning basic networking. If you think you want to code, but have no idea where to start, try Python.
\- Backup everything you care about. Follow 3-2-1. It sounds overly redundant. Unfortunately, it's not.
\- I struggle to think of a single field in IT where you, as an IT pro, don't have at least some say in security. Don't be lazy. You're going to go back and reset that default password later?...you won't, do it now. Don't skimp on security because you don't want to inconvenience people. People will be way more inconvenienced when their life's work is encrypted by ransomware, and you'll be the one they blame. Your customers don't know what's good for them. You do, so give them what they're paying for.
\- I also struggle to think of any job in IT where testing is optional. Test everything. If you didn't do your due diligence testing a new process or update, it's your fault that everything is on fire.
\- Of course, don't be afraid of starting fires. You will absolutely break things. You HAVE to fail in IT to make progress. It is unavoidable. No one ever is an exception. This is why we have testing processes, backups, and security measures...keep the fires fun...don't burn your house down.
Work Ethic and Efficiency
\- Write stuff down! No matter what you do, take notes. You say, "oh, I've been working on this problem for 13 hours straight in the middle of the night. There's no way I'll ever forget what I did to solve it"...yes, you will. Unless you want to spend 13 more hours three years from now when it happens again, you'll write it down. I've learned this the hard way.
\- If there's something you hate doing in your job, get rid of it. Find a way to make it go away through an upgrade, a process improvement, or outsource it and make it someone else's problem. IT allows you this flexibility more than any other field I know of. If you're lazy, but not afraid to work really hard every now and then, IT is the perfect field for you.
\- Make checklists. Complacency kills. Even if you've done a job 200 times--especially if you have--make a checklist. You don't have to do this with inconsequential processes, but if you care about the outcome, you really should.
Continuing Education and Growth
\- If you're ignorant about something in IT, don't quit because the first day learning it didn't live up to your expectations. Everything will let you down if you think this way. Stick with it until you're no longer making progress, then decide whether or not it's something you
Does anyone use Openpath out there?
So far we have migrated two of our 5 buildings to Openpath for ACU. So far, I'm seeing more positives than negatives if anyone was curious. My one challenge So far is with building secretary use. We have two video door intercoms in each building and I'm trying to figure out the best way for the secretaries to toggle between cameras. Our main door camera needs to stay streaming at all times since the occasional 5 year old doesn't ring to get in. So if someone rings our other door, toggling over to that door has been a challenge to answer. Is anyone that has this setup run into issues with this?
https://redd.it/1bdt3zy
@r_k12sysadmin
Email Relay to Gmail Failing unsupported protocol
My relay server stopped sending around 3:30 am today. I originally thought it was a windows update but that's not the case. I'm thinking it's most likely Google. Anyone else? If so anyone find a fix? I'm going to open a ticket with Google and will report back.
https://redd.it/1bdtnit
@r_k12sysadmin
Go Guardian Problems
Just to preface this we are currently running Go Guardian with what was supposed to be a year free of Beacon Core, which was actually Beacon Starter. Back in August I learned of Bark and implemented this as well. Everything has worked mostly fine all year, however I quickly found that Go Guardian is overpriced for what it offers. Last week Bark detected two separate threats of suicide that Beacon failed to detect. Go Guardian didn't even show that the student had searched these specific keywords, despite both Bark and the students personal device confirming. I have since reached out to Go Guardian for them only to tell me that the problem is Bark and not them. Although I was highly skeptical, I setup a test OU removing Bark from the equation and the problem still remains. It's spotty at best and will sometimes generate a beacon alert, however other times simply nothing. If I remove Bark, I may miss this which I will not allow to happen. The most infuriating part about this was when I first reached out to customer support, I was advised that this would be handled by an "engineer" and someone would be in contact soon. I confirmed the importance of this matter and that we need a resolution ASAP. I failed to receive a response for over 24 hours. While I completely understand not everything can be resolved in 24 hours. It is absurd to me with such an important issue that no one even reached out to advise it's being looked into. I called the next day for a frontline agent to advise that it's still sitting in que and has not been reviewed.
At this point we are switching to Senso next year, which will save us roughly $11,200. We have a couple school districts near us using Go Guardian who all completement it, however from my experience it is a Glorified porn filter. What is everyone's thoughts on this?
https://redd.it/1bdpwbg
@r_k12sysadmin
FME
Do any schools out there use FME? I used it for 8 years at a different job, and I'd love to start using it at my school district. I just want to know if PowerSchool allows connections from it. I can integrate it with the rest of the software we use, but PowerSchool is the one that I need the most information from.
https://redd.it/1bdbbwi
@r_k12sysadmin