This article covers the best open source tools for sysadmins.
System administrators or sysadmins play an important role in software configurations, management tasks, security improvements, technical support, etc., especially in computer networks. Open source tools make sysadmins easy, and some of the best are briefly described below:
1.PowerShell
Among the tools we will look at, the first is PowerShell from Microsoft. It is a cross-platform task management and automation framework that supports scripting language and command line shell. It is an open source tool for sysadmins based on the .NET framework and works to control and automate Windows, Linux and macOS. PowerShell offers various features for sysadmins, such as Get-Module, remote management, Get-Command, Get-Help, etc. PowerShell was originally designed for Windows and later Microsoft developed it for Linux.
Specifications
- PowerShell remoting
- Background jobs
- Scheduled jobs
- Steppable pipeline
- Script debugging
- Error handling
- Constrained run spaces
- Tab-expansion
- Windows PowerShell Web access
- Windows PowerShell Web Service (PSWS)
- Windows PowerShell workflow
- Desired State Configuration (DSC)
- PowerShell remoting
- Background jobs
- Scheduled jobs
- Steppable pipeline
- Script debugging
- Error handling
- Constrained run spaces
- Tab-expansion
- Windows PowerShell Web access
- Windows PowerShell Web Service (PSWS)
- Online and update help
- Windows PowerShell workflow
- Desired State Configuration (DSC)
2. Git
Git is a free tool that can handle both small and large projects with high performance. It is an open source control system, which offers flexibility to modify the source code according to user requirements. It has a branching model, which helps each sysadmin to create many locally independent systems. Git has various features such as many workflows, color controls, easier staging areas, GPG signing for tags, etc.
Specifications
- Branches support.
- Easy to use.
- Easily fixes any problems that arise.
- Simple because of the shared repository.
3. Bootstrapping
Bootstrap was formerly known as Twitter Blueprint and was developed by Twitter as a framework for the reliability of open source tools. Users can design and develop CSS, JavaScript and HTML applications through Bootstrap. It is an open source framework for sysadmins that you offer for free to users.
Specifications
- Bootstrap offers buttons and custom cards.
- Focuses on utility to minimize CSS bloat.
- It has custom categories of extended functionality utilities.
4. Kubernetes
Designed and developed by Google, Kubernetes is a powerful system that offers horizontal scaling to sysadmins. They can scale an application using a single command (via the user interface) according to CPU usage. Users can install Kubernetes with any package manager, such as apt-get or yum. It is open source and has different servers called nodes that help configure packet networking. Each of these nodes is contacted by a cluster group from a kubelet. Kubernetes is open source and can transfer data to installations, as well as to hybrid and public cloud infrastructure.
Specifications
- It is fully automated.
- It has the ability of self-healing.
- Users can use automated distributions throughout the process.
- For development, production and testing, users receive environment consistency.
5.SystemRescueCD
This tool is open source for Windows but it is a Linux based package which is used for Windows and Linux system troubleshooting. You can download the SystemRescueCD ISO file so you can use it to create one units bootable USB. It supports various file systems like btrfs, xfs, ext2 / ext3 / ext4, vfat, ntfs, reiserfs, nfs and samba. SystemRescueCD offers file editing, boot recovery and network troubleshooting tools.
Specifications
- It has a fdisk feature for editing disk partition tables.
- It offers GParted and GNU Parted capabilities for splitting disks and resizing these partitions.
- It is possible to ddrescue to extract recoverable data.
- SystemRescueCD provides archiving and unarchiving abilities.
6. Docker
Docker is one of the best open source tools for Windows because applications can be deployed and run in virtual containers. There are two different versions of Docker, the Docker Community Edition (DCE) and the Docker Enterprise Edition (DEE). DCE provides tools for building applications and DEE provides multi-architectural functions for various areas of computing. The Docker generally has low cost but great flexibility.
Specifications
- Docker is easy and offers faster configuration.
- It can help improve productivity.
- Provides isolation of applications.
- It has great security.
7. Clonezilla
Clonezilla is an open source tool for Windows, for cloning discs and imaging. It supports various file systems like ext2, ext3, ReiserFS, xfs and jfs. Apart from that, Clonezilla also supports FAT/NTFS files on Windows systems and cloning GNU/Linux and Windows operating systems. The tool uses multicast to clone multiple disks. There are two versions of Clonezilla, Clonezilla Live and Clonezilla SE.
Specifications
- Clonezilla offers multi-file system support.
- Offers customizable display and cloning.
- Users can encrypt an image.
- It has AES-256 encryption.
8. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
Open source tool and is a new feature of Windows 10. Developers who build web applications or work on open source projects can run native Linux command line tools directly on Windows with the help of this tool. The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) uses Bash, different Linux command tools, and other Linux tools like Ruby or Python, so that the toolchain can be used on Windows. Windows users can also run them Ubuntu in real time with this tool.
Specifications
- Developers can use the Linux command line tool in Windows.
- It is a combination of Ubuntu Linux for Windows.
- Users can use the toolchain in Windows.
9. Córdoba
This tool is open source, free and sponsored by Apache. Cordova is used to develop mobile applications with JS, CSS and HTML. This open source tool also helps a developer to create applications for various platforms such as iOS, Windows, FireOS, Android, LGwebOS etc.
Specifications
- Cordova has a command line interface.
- Provides basic elements for creating the basis of the application.
- It has a good set of additions.
- Cordova is licensed by Apache.
10. Wireshark
This open source packet analyzer for Windows is free and used for analysis, network troubleshooting, and communication protocol development. Initial name του Wireshark ήταν Ethereal, αλλά μετονομάστηκε τον Μάιο του 2006 λόγω εμπορικών ζητημάτων. Έχει μια έκδοση με βάση το τερματικό που ονομάζεται TShark και κυκλοφόρησε με την άδεια του GNU General Public License. Wireshark can run on Linux, Windows, BSD, Solaris and macOS.
Specifications
- It can capture USB traffic.
- There are various filters that offer the ability to filter motion.
- Users can create plug-ins to anatomize new protocols.
- Users can read data live from different types of networks
