Memo to sysadmins: How to Troubleshoot
May. 22nd, 2008 01:57 pmAsk two questions:
1. Why is this fucked up?
2. Is anything else fucked up right now?
If you can't answer one or both questions, get help.
1. Google, fellow admins, your team lead or manager, 3rd party support, can all help you answer question #1.
2. Logs, monitors, reports, system checks, perfmon, walking around looking for blinky lights, etc. can all help you answer question #2.
Often the answer to question #2 will lead you to the answer to question #1.
That is all.
1. Why is this fucked up?
2. Is anything else fucked up right now?
If you can't answer one or both questions, get help.
1. Google, fellow admins, your team lead or manager, 3rd party support, can all help you answer question #1.
2. Logs, monitors, reports, system checks, perfmon, walking around looking for blinky lights, etc. can all help you answer question #2.
Often the answer to question #2 will lead you to the answer to question #1.
That is all.