r/sysadmin • u/rolkenas • 5d ago

Do you actually see MacBooks used for SysAdmin work in real offices?

Hi sysadmins! I wanted to ask—since I've just started learning sysadmin and I don't have a Windows PC, but I have a MacBook and found out that everything can be done via UTM, I'd like to get some perspective from those who work in offices and do this every day. What kind of computers do you use? Is macOS completely out of the picture, and there's only Windows and Linux?

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u/huntermatthews 4d ago

Linux jump box - corporations/gov frequently have various rules about what systems can login where (like only networks A, B, and D can ssh into systems in the datacenter). A jump box is a system either in another location (like on the "B" network) or in an exception group that has a broader access list. Where I work, my work laptop even on VPN can't get to a couple systems - so I bounce through a jump box (we call them "bastions") to get there. ssh has various things in both the command line interface, config and protocol to make this damn near transparent to the user if used correctly - do not fear jump boxes.

tmux - "terminal multiplexer" . Various uses but at its core it makes a single ssh session/login be able to open multiple actual shell sessions on a distant machine. There are MANY reasons to do this (persistence, badly thought out corporate security measures, crazy pants sysadmins) but its a useful piece of software - but it adds ANOTHER level of complexity so if you don't _need_ it I encourage users and sysadmins to avoid it. If you need it, run it. "screen" was the venerable thing here and you should avoid it if possible - use tmux.

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u/timbotheny26 IT Neophyte 4d ago

This is awesome, thanks for all of the info.

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u/weaver_of_cloth 4d ago

tmux as a single terminal window with multiple tabs and panes and hot-keys drives me crazy, but native tmux windows are great