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Reddit SystemAdmin. Thanks @reddit2telegram and @r_channels.
Will there be an influx of EOL Windows 10 PCs coming into the market?
I want to start a business repurposing old PCs to work with Linux for schools in Africa. I'm curious as to what will happen to all the EOL PCs this fall. If there will be, where can I buy them in bulk? I've seen govdeals.com, what else.
I do contacting work for a major big US company and they're phasing out a whole lot of Dell and HP PCs. Not sure what they'll do with them.
https://redd.it/1k4x2dr
@r_systemadmin
Foxit!
Your results may vary, but if you are sick of adobe pro for PDF work or if you have even the slightest desire to move off adobe, try Foxit. We are switching at my employer and I am super impressed with the product. Foxit pro is way faster, almost no bloat, and we are saving close to $10,000 a year on licenses (we are a company of about 60-70 users). We were paying through the nose for adobe. I always thought adobe was a necessary evil but I was very wrong. I am impressed with Foxit so far.
Again, your results may vary, or you may already be years ahead of me on this, but just know there is hope if you feel like you are stuck with adobe. Plus you can also make yourself look great to management when you show them the cost savings!
https://redd.it/1k4mqgq
@r_systemadmin
NeverSSL.com is now using SSL?
I was troubleshooting a captive portal issue, and when I used neverssl.com to try to get it to redirect it never did, when I tried going back to it on my laptop I didn't get a security warning, I realized the site has a certificate installed now and was using https. Is anyone else seeing this happening or am I going completely crazy? Fortunately I was able to use httpforever.com to use for my troubleshooting.
Screenshot: https://imgur.com/47IRQtU
https://redd.it/1k4cvad
@r_systemadmin
Slow computer
Tickets like these are the bane of my existence.
What are some go to processes you all go through when you get a ticket for general performance issues?
Besides restarting the computer and updating it until you’re blue in the face. When nothing seems to stand out as to the cause of slowness, it’s just slow.
https://redd.it/1k4k6kp
@r_systemadmin
Water will always find the easiest path
We have a nice ticket system. Based on the drop-downs selected, it will assign it to the right person and search a knowledge base for solutions. It walks the user through a few simple questions, and makes them chose a category for the problem, their location and department, how severe it is, and how many users are impacted.
OR they can send an email to tickets@ with the subject line "My Internet is broken" and nothing else. Inbound email tickets are assigned highest urgency automatically (??)
Which method of starting a ticket do you think 98% of users use?
https://redd.it/1k4hqsh
@r_systemadmin
How to handle users not participating in pilot programs they were selected for?
My users are some of the most uncooperative and stubborn bunch I've ever encountered. Numerous times, we pick about 20-25 different people for pilot rollouts. I'm lucky if 2 or 3 join the kick off call. They don't ask questions nor do they seem to care. Trying to get them to demonstrate any level of participation is like pulling teeth. Having to follow up individually multiple times with each user just for the chance of them doing what I ask them to do has long since worn thin. I'm at a complete loss of how to handle this.
It's not like most of these rollouts are replacing an old solution that I can turn off on a certain date either. This is usually some brand new functionality for our users.
https://redd.it/1k4eldh
@r_systemadmin
If money wasn’t an issue, what Asset Management tool would you buy?
As the title says. If you were not constrained by costs and looking for the best IT asset management system, what would it be and why?
https://redd.it/1k4ci4m
@r_systemadmin
Moronic Monday - April 21, 2025
Howdy, /r/sysadmin!
It's that time of the week, Moronic Monday! This is a safe (mostly) judgement-free environment for all of your questions and stories, no matter how silly you think they are. Anybody can answer questions! My name is AutoModerator and I've taken over responsibility for posting these weekly threads so you don't have to worry about anything except your comments!
https://redd.it/1k49u02
@r_systemadmin
I'm not liking the new IT guy
Ever been in a situation where you have to work with someone you don’t particularly like, and there’s not much you can do about it? Or let’s say — someone who just didn’t give you the best first impression?
My boss recently hired a new guy who’ll be working directly under me. We’re in the same IT discipline — I’m the Senior, and he’s been brought in at Junior/Entry level. I’ve worked in that exact position for 3 years and I know every corner of that role better than anyone in the organization, including my boss and the rest of the IT team.
Now, three weeks in, this guy is already demanding Administrator rights. I told him, point blank — it doesn’t work that way here. What really crossed the line for me was when he tried a little social engineering stunt to trick me into giving him admin rights. That did not sit well.
Frankly, I think my boss made a poor hiring decision here. This role is meant for someone fresh out of college or with less than a year of experience — it starts with limited access and rights, with gradual elevation over time. It’s essentially an IT handyman position. But this guy has prior work experience, so to him, it feels like a downgrade. This is where I believe my (relatively new) boss missed the mark by not fully understanding the nature of the role. I genuinely wish I’d been consulted during the recruitment process. Considering I’ll be the one working with and tutoring this person 90% of the time, it only makes sense that I’d have a say.
I actually enjoy teaching and training others, but it’s tough when you’re dealing with someone who walks in acting like they already know it all and resistant to follow due procedures.
For example — I have a strict ‘no ticket, no support’ policy (except for a few rare exceptions), and it’s been working flawlessly. What does this guy do? Turns his personal WhatsApp into a parallel helpdesk. He takes requests while walking through corridors, makes changes, and moves things around without me having any record or visibility.
Honestly, it’s messy. And it’s starting to undermine the structure I’ve worked hard to build and maintain.
https://redd.it/1k45ny5
@r_systemadmin
Decommission GPOs
Our organization is beginning to plan the migrate of our GPOs to Intune. One of the first questions that has come up is how to decommission GPOs. All of our computers are currently hybrid domain joined. Which makes things more complicated. The process I am thinking about taking is the following:
Analyze a GPO with group policy analytics.
Create the necessary configuration in Intune and apply it to the computers.
Remove the link to the GPO in active directory.
This process brings up 2 questions.
First is it OK to assign the policy in Intune before I unlink the GPO. Or is there going to be a conflict.
Second is unlinking the GPO the correct option. OR do I need to create a new GPO with all of the settings that were configured in the original GPO set to not configured and apply that first?
Thanks
https://redd.it/1k41829
@r_systemadmin
iCloud Mail rejected by Dutch ISP (Ziggo) – “EHLO mismatch” error – Anyone else?
Hi all,
I’m running into a frustrating issue when using iCloud Mail with my custom domain (via Apple’s “Custom Email Domain” feature). When I try to send an email to someone using Ziggo — a major internet and email provider in the Netherlands — the message gets bounced back with the following error:
421 EHLO MXIN201 Your HELO/EHLO outbound.qs.icloud.com is not matching your DNS configuration p-east3-cluster4-host11-snip4-8.eps.apple.com
In short, their mail server (Ziggo’s) seems to reject the email because the HELO/EHLO hostname used by Apple’s outbound mail server (outbound.qs.icloud.com) doesn’t match the reverse DNS of the sending IP (something like p-east3-cluster...eps.apple.com).
I’m sending from a custom address (like mail@mydomain.com) hosted through iCloud Mail, but as far as I can tell, this issue lies entirely on Apple’s side — I can’t control the SMTP headers or reverse DNS.
Now I’m wondering:
• Has anyone else experienced this, with Ziggo or other mail providers?
• Does this also happen when sending from a regular icloud.com address?
• Is this a temporary routing issue, or a known misconfiguration on Apple’s side?
• Any luck reporting this to Apple or getting around it?
Would really appreciate hearing if others are seeing the same thing!
Thanks in advance 🙏
https://redd.it/1k3wa6c
@r_systemadmin
Critical SSL.com vulnerability allowed anyone with an email address to get a cert for that domain
Not sure if anyone saw this yesterday, but a critical SSL.com vulnerability was discovered. SSL.com is a certificate authority that is trusted by all major browsers. It meant that anyone who has an email address at your domain could potentially have gotten an SSL cert issued to your domain. Yikes.
Unlikely to have affected most people here but never hurts to check certificate transparency logs.
Also can be prevented if you use CAA records (and did not authorize SSL.com).
https://redd.it/1k3wsln
@r_systemadmin
3rd Year IT Student & A Complete Beginner – What Should I Learn and Practice?
Hello everyone,
I’m a 3rd-year IT student and I’m very interested in becoming a Sysadmin, but I consider myself a complete beginner in this area. I have recently completed the Google IT Support course offered by my school, but I had to speedrun through it since they gave a deadline of only 60 days, so I feel like a lot of the knowledge didn’t really stick.
I’d love some advice on:
* What core topics I should focus on learning or reviewing, and maybe some relevant certificates to go along with them
* Basic home lab or solo projects I can do to build real sysadmin skills
* Soft skills that are important for a good sysadmin
I’m super open to resources, tips, or hearing about your own journeys.
Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1k3tiiv
@r_systemadmin
Microsoft Support or Alternatives?
I’m having difficulty with Autopilot onboarding and Hello for Business. I think if I took 1-2 weeks I could figure it out, but it’s not a good use of my time.
We have support via office 365. Submit a ticket saying I prefer email, they call at 10pm my time, don’t answer, they ask what time I work, 2 days later they’ve reassigned me to someone who works my time zone, they call at 5:30 (outside window I….. yeah, you know this story.
I looked at a pay per incident, but it would require me to setup a totally separate Outlook account and jump through hoops. I thought why am I fighting so hard to give them more money to help with their broken garbage. Then their support is terrible. Literally everyday I hate them more.
Is Microsoft Unified better?
I looked at US cloud, but some unfavorable reviews and $30k minimum to start.
Any other 3rd parties to consider?
https://redd.it/1k3mtj0
@r_systemadmin
How does a "ERP" system work?
Hi,
Been reading a bit on enterprise resource planing (ERP) as my school semester is starting and they will be touching on it.
How's does a system like that work for the business? I'm aware it can be like a accounting system and store customer information for all depts to use but aside that no clue. Even read up on some posts but they are quite brief too
https://redd.it/1k3kzz8
@r_systemadmin
Do the best SysAdmins remember lots of PowerShell cmdlets?
Let me explain:
I'm currently taking a course about Microsoft Active Directory and some Azure/Entra things at my college.
I can't help but feel like the course is irrelevant when (and this is 100% real) I had to watch a video for my coursework and it was explaining the benefits of a certain cmdlet... only problem was that while they were using it yellow warning text popped up from Microsoft saying "we are going to deprecate this command in (i think it was late 2023)"
and then I realized that I was literally learning outdated info.
In addition, a significant amount of the coursework is quizzes that ask you "What command do you run for this situation?" where you have to type the full command and don't get access to a dictionary or that sweet sweet Tab button for the PowerShell addicts of the world.
I understand why it's important to be familiar with the GUIs of things in Windows Server, so I guess this is a two part question:
1. How familiar would you say you are with memorizing PowerShell commands, and do you think that I am wrong for feeling like it's not worth memorizing them?
2. (I suppose this is heavily dependent on the environment your company has set up) Do you find yourself in a lot of Windows Servers without the "Desktop Experience" installed, and do you have to search up your PowerShell commands? Does it hold you back or are you considered "one of the less experienced" IT guys for doing so?
https://redd.it/1k4t6nd
@r_systemadmin
Is it just me or has Dell recently become assholes about honoring their basic warranty?
We had a good long run of Dell coming out and fixing their shit with minimal arguing that lasted several years. Now in the last week we've had two denied claims for devices in their first year that have had a component fail. Right now I am arguing with them about a system with a bad RAM kit where they keep telling me its a software issue, even though the preboot advanced memory test is saying there is a RAM problem.
https://redd.it/1k4qagn
@r_systemadmin
Employees should be able to also do a background check on the companies to
I’m so sick and tired of the power imbalance between corporations and employees.
They can literally lie to your face during interviews, but once you’re in the company, well, too bad—there’s the door if you don’t like it.
But heaven forbid you lie too. After I was let go due to “company restructuring,” it took me almost four months to land a new job (with the interview process alone dragging on for two months). Years later, I thought, *Let me tweak the dates to show a two-month gap instead of four—just to make it look cleaner and avoid prying questions*. Big mistake. The background check flagged it down to the exact day. On one hand, I messed up by lying, but on the other, I’m like, Bro, it was just two months. Now I’m scrambling to explain it, though I might already be cooked.
There’s an entire industry built around scrutinizing employees’ backgrounds, but workers don’t have the same power to vet employers.
Companies hire people knowing full well they’ll axe them after the next earnings report (I’ve seen it firsthand), yet they demand flawless, pristine résumés. Because apparently, if you were let go, it’s your fault—even though the companies are part of the problem.
Again, I own my mistake, but the hypocrisy is maddening.
https://redd.it/1k4m29i
@r_systemadmin
Mods, can we Automate Office Chair requests?
We need a automated chair request system and flair for this subreddit. Basically, whenever anyone asks what type of chair they should get for work, the post will immediately popup with the 3 most common answers sorted by popularity:
1. Used Hermon Miller chair.
2. New Hermon Miller chair.
3. I wish I could afford a Hermon Miller chair, currently I use "Insert Amazon knockoff brand with name like CHAIRZYCHAIR"
Thx
https://redd.it/1k4iiuu
@r_systemadmin
UpdateDR Simulation: Move all cloud services out of the US
Since there was a lot of interest in that post, I figured I should provide an update.
To Start, It was an Incident Response Simulation that I got to sit in. It had a 3 scenarios, including the one about the US Cloud.
I wont go into the details of the simulation other than saying its a good process as it exposes a lot of how a business works and how they will react to the rest of the Org.
Anyway, as they went into the details of the simulations and explored the different threats that could affect their business. They came away with these major points:
Anything that is intellectual property should stay in Canada.
Convert everything Serverless to Containers or Kubernetes to avoid vendor lock-in and being able to move things quickly.
They were in the process of decommissioning all their datacenters and Colo spaces. They are now exploring keeping their Colo space to use things like ExpressRoutes and DirectConnects.
FinOps was used quite a bit during this discussion, didn't know it was a thing at the time.
Otherwise, I think it was a really eye opening and I am glad I got to participate. Thanks to everyone who provided links and references.
https://redd.it/1k4dl8j
@r_systemadmin
What's the sneakiest way a user has tried to misuse your IT systems?
I want to hear all the creative and sneaky ways that your users have tried to pull a fast one. From rouge virtual machines to mouse jigglers, share your stories!
https://redd.it/1k4dzps
@r_systemadmin
Widespread Microsoft Entra lockouts - MACE
Has anyone had any luck getting anything unlocked from Microsoft without waiting 24 hours as they "verify your ID" to an email account that noone can access?
Microsoft Logic
Step 1 - Lock everyone out
Step 2 - Try and blame everyone else
Step 3 - Force ID verification on the account by emailing the email account they blocked
Step 4 - nothing
I have never said before, but honestly, I am considering other options to Microsoft.
https://redd.it/1k45xsv
@r_systemadmin
How do you cope with burnout
Hi guys, Im currently working in a MSP. I love the work but sometimes feel like I want to smash things. Our work is always delayed as we need other team to do their part but of course they will ignore it until we do internal escalation.
On top of that, management is sucks. Even if we do escalate and its a genuine case, its stuck with them because they dont want to destroy so called our non-existent teamwork with other teams.
Plus, handling customer is really energy draining. Worse they will escalate us even though we are not the responsible team.
Any tips to handle burnout or the frustration feeling? My seniors now jaded and dont care. But I still want to give a shit but its too much shit to handle alone.
https://redd.it/1k442ub
@r_systemadmin
Help with localized ransomware(?) attack
Hi everyone, need some help on where to start. I work in IT application support so am out of my comfort zone here, but as the family’s IT guy am responsible lol.
My dad owns a couple small used car lots and recently one of his employees clicked a link, still trying to clarify where that link originated, but let’s say from an email. This prompted a number pop up, and he called and gave his name before realizing something was up. After this, it seems that link gave remote access to the pc, and whoever got access wrote “Hello employee name I am watching you” then pulled up some porn sites. They then installed a mirroring app. This sounds like an amateur hacking, but it would give them access to credit reports and customer info on their system. I’ve asked if this was showing up on any other pcs, but my dad said “they arent networked together”
Again, not my area of expertise in the slightest, but I can get into the weeds of his systems details if that helps. But I am hoping for an idea of where to start, should I actually just start by calling the fbi like I saw suggested in other posts?
https://redd.it/1k42l23
@r_systemadmin
When is it ok to ask for help?
Knee deep in an absolutely brutal project with no end in sight and I just got promoted 3 months ago. I have no idea how to reach out for help because I’m so new (from Helpdesk) to sysadmin role that I am afraid I’ll be seen as incompetent. I dread going in every day recently because I feel so lost and deep in this project that I don’t see an end in sight. Not sure if severe imposter syndrome or truly lacking the skills to complete said task.
The task is migrate to 365 from a barely working live email server while doing other duties. I’ve decided on a hybrid migration but no matter what I do it never completes successfully. Just really lost and down and at some point I just want to give up and resign or find a new job to get away from it. Bringing a damper on my daily mood and home life as well because I go home and continue researching, reading and testing. Feels good to get it off my chest though. Thanks everyone.
Edit: thanks for the quick and kind words everyone. I wanted to clarify “ask for help” in this context meant asking for professional/external help. I apologize for misleading you all, this project just had me in my feelings at 8pm getting ready for bed knowing what was waiting for me. My team of 4 is awesome and my boss is beyond professional. I simply don’t want to say “I cannot do this, let’s pay someone” because our team has ALWAYS overcome and figured it out. This time I haven’t been so lucky and it’s my first big project in this role. Again, apologize yall.
https://redd.it/1k40gpu
@r_systemadmin
What Certificaitons are not BS?
Hello,
I am looking to continue my knowledge in IT and would love to have a Certification or two.
But IT Certifications and renewals fees are clearly a business practice now..
What do you recommend and please be objective and not bias.
What certification and or knowledge is good to have?
https://redd.it/1k3vx3x
@r_systemadmin
Microsoft Certification Week – Free Exam Voucher
Hey everyone,
Sharing this info as I received it—I’ve already registered myself but haven’t used Fast Lane before, though it looks genuine. Here’s what I found:
* **When:** May 12–16, 2025
* **Format:** Live online sessions (in German) you can join from anywhere
* **Tracks:** AZ‑104, AI‑102, SC‑200, SC‑300, SC‑401, AZ‑305, DP‑600, SC‑100, and more
* **Perk:** Complete all sessions in your chosen track and you’ll receive a **100 % discount voucher** for that exam
* **Registration:** Must sign up with your **work email address** to qualify for the voucher
Whether you’re new to Azure or aiming for expert‑level skills, this seems like a solid way to upskill, meet Microsoft Partner requirements, and save on exam fees.
Check it out & register here:
[https://fastlane.net/certification-weeks/en-US](https://fastlane.net/certification-weeks/en-US)
https://redd.it/1k3v3mw
@r_systemadmin
Rant: CEO/Owner thinks IT "does nothing"
Bit of a rant here. My boss was telling me he got read the riot act by our CEO/Owner of our company. He thinks we do nothing for the company and wonders why we're even there. It really pissed me off. As you all know, IT is a thankless job. I've been doing it for 30 years, so I know firsthand about it. He thinks we're never in the office. A couple of us WFH one day a week (usually Friday) where we're VPN'ed in. It's a nice to have but absolutely not a need to have and I'd drop it in.a second. I only do it as it was offered to me when I was hired. He doesn't realize that we work off hours, whether it's nights or weekends. There is ALWAYS someone in the office. I manage our cloud infrastructure, physical machines (SAN/servers/switches), backups, pretty much everything not desktop related.
Now, being in my late 50's, I have to worry that he's going to let us go. Not sure how many companies want people my age if that happens.
https://redd.it/1k3r1r1
@r_systemadmin
Informal vs formal training
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found huge value in training material found on YouTube.
So much so that I recommend it over formal paid training unless someone is going for a specific cert. if they just need to learn how to do something I often send people YouTube videos for training and reference.
I’m posting this because I was recently called out “not everyone learns the way you do” followed by a discussion around what I would call more traditional training methods (formal classes in person or online).
I just can’t justify the cost, lack of flexibility and loss of a full or two work, when someone could often pickup practical skills for a video or set of videos.
Is this a learning style thing or are some people just not aware of how much quality free content there is?
https://redd.it/1k3kitm
@r_systemadmin
Performance Degradation After Migration to Windows Server 2022
I have deployed three RDS servers in a VMware Horizon VDI environment, each running Windows Server 2022 with 128 GB of RAM, 32 CPUs, and SSD storage. Approximately 20 to 25 users connect to these servers daily to run Oracle Forms 11 (32-bit) and PL/SQL Developer 16. However, users are reporting performance issues and slow responsiveness.
It is worth mentioning that, previously, we used a single RDS server running Windows Server 2012 with only half the resources, and users did not experience such performance problems.
what am i should do ? please help :(
https://redd.it/1k3hb0e
@r_systemadmin