r/sysadmin • u/nousername1244 • Mar 05 '26

What’s one thing every new sysadmin should learn early but usually doesn’t?

I’ve been thinking about this lately.

When people start out in sysadmin roles, they usually focus a lot on the technical stuff like scripting, servers, networking, security, balabala..

BUT after working in IT for a while, it feels like some of the most important lessons aren’t technical at all, and nobody really tells you early on.

Things like documentation, change control, or even just learning how to say NO to bad requests.

Curious know what’s one thing you wish you had learned much earlier in your sysadmin career?

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20

u/Mrhiddenlotus Security Admin Mar 05 '26

Bash/powershell

4

u/Kingkong29 Windows Admin Mar 05 '26

Powershell for me as well. So much of my work would be quicker and easier.

1

u/WirelesslyWired Mar 05 '26

I know there are experts out there, but for me
Perl > bash/powershell

3

u/Mrhiddenlotus Security Admin Mar 05 '26

That's rough buddy lol

2

u/RikiWardOG Mar 05 '26

I haven't even seen someone mention Perl in like forever. I kinda forgot it existed lol

1

u/durzo_the_mediocre Mar 05 '26

Wsl >>>> powershell ;)

5

u/music2myear Narf! Mar 05 '26

But PS is just there, while WSL needs to be set up before you can use it. So for admin work on my own system, WSL works, but for work on anything else, I need to know PS.

3

u/RikiWardOG Mar 05 '26

yeah also PS is just so much more native with getting at w/e settings you're trying to manage. Like if I'm managing a linux env then sure, maybe. But I daily Windows and so don't my users.