Hacker News with Generative AI: System Administration

When you deleted /lib on Linux while still connected via SSH (2022) (tinyhack.com)
Let’s first not talk about why this can happen, but deleting /lib, /usr/lib, or some other essential runtime files happens quite a lot (as you can see: here, here, here, and here). In this post, I will only discuss what happens when you delete /lib on Linux and how to recover from that.

Linux, System Administration, Debugging, Software Errors

191 points by todsacerdoti 12 days ago | 111 comments

Reviving the modprobe_path Technique: Overcoming search_binary_handler() Patch (theori.io)
This blog post introduces a new method for utilizing the Overwriting modprobe_path technique. Since this patch was merged last year, it is no longer possible to trigger modprobe_path in the Upstream kernel by executing dummy files.

Linux Kernel, Security, System Administration, Reverse Engineering

8 points by todsacerdoti 18 days ago | 3 comments

JSON has become today's machine-readable output format on Unix (utoronto.ca)
Recently, I needed to delete about 1,200 email messages to a particular destination from the mail queue on one of our systems.

JSON, Unix, Email, System Administration

59 points by ingve 38 days ago | 81 comments

Dinit: Service Monitoring / "Init" System (github.com/davmac314)
Dinit is a service supervisor with dependency support which can also act as the system "init" program.

System Administration, Software, Open Source, Operating Systems

9 points by todsacerdoti 73 days ago | 0 comments

Show HN: Interactive systemd – a better way to work with systemd units (isd-project.github.io)
Simplify systemd management with isd! isd is a TUI offering fuzzy search for units, auto-refreshing previews, smart sudo handling, and a fully customizeable interface for power-users and newcomers alike.

Linux, System Administration, Open Source

546 points by kai-tub 74 days ago | 204 comments

Maybe we should explicitly schedule rebooting our fleet every so often (utoronto.ca)
We just got through a downtime where we rebooted basically everything in our fleet, including things like firewalls.

Network Security, System Administration, Server Management

19 points by speckx 113 days ago | 6 comments

GNU Shepherd 1.0 Service Manager Released as "Solid Tool" Alternative to Systemd (phoronix.com)
GNU Shepherd as a service manager for both system and user services that is used by Guix and relying on Guile Scheme has finally reached version 1.0. For those not pleased with systemd, GNU Shepherd can be used as an init system and now has finally crossed the version 1.0 milestone after 21 years of development.

Operating Systems, Linux, Open Source, System Administration, Software

17 points by jackhalford 114 days ago | 2 comments

Configure Kernel Modules Like a Pro (naut.ca)
Kernel modules are powerful pieces of code that extend the capability of your kernel, for example, WireGuard was originally developed as a kernel module. Modules can be loaded at the time of kernel image load, initramfs load, or later on during the boot sequence. Unfortunately, the syntax of config files, options, and modules can be quite confusing, which is why I created a complete guide to loading kernel modules, in order of the boot sequence:

Linux Kernel, Kernel Modules, Operating Systems, System Administration

7 points by rubatuga 123 days ago | 0 comments

PRoot: User-space implementation of chroot, mount –bind, and binfmt_misc (proot-me.github.io)
PRoot is a user-space implementation of chroot, mount --bind, and binfmt_misc.

Linux, Security, System Administration

132 points by nateb2022 126 days ago | 50 comments

Ask HN: Homelab projects to learn Linux admin and DevOps to get hired as one? (ycombinator.com)
I'm purchasing a mini PC soon (3-4 months) as I don't have any personal device as of now for labbing. Till then I want to make a list of project ideas to work on that will enhance my resume as well as give myself a point to talk about in interviews regarding system administration or devops engineering.

Linux, DevOps, System Administration, Homelab, Career Advice

21 points by shivajikobardan 126 days ago | 17 comments

The GNU Shepherd Manual (gnu.org)
This manual documents the GNU Daemon Shepherd, or GNU Shepherd for short. The Shepherd looks after system services, typically daemons. It is used to start and stop them in a reliable fashion. For instance, it will dynamically determine and start any other services that our desired service depends upon.

Operating Systems, Linux, System Administration, Daemon Management, GNU

6 points by ossusermivami 159 days ago | 0 comments

Using /tmp/ and /var/tmp/ Safely (systemd.io)
/tmp/ and /var/tmp/ are two world-writable directories Linux systems provide for temporary files.

Linux, Security, File Systems, System Administration

5 points by todsacerdoti 161 days ago | 0 comments

Traditionally, init on Unix was not a service manager as such (utoronto.ca)
Init (the process) has historically had a number of roles but, perhaps surprisingly, being a 'service manager' (or a 'daemon manager') was not one of them in traditional init systems.

Operating Systems, Unix, System Administration

39 points by rbanffy 179 days ago | 2 comments

A word about systemd (2016) (skarnet.org)
systemd is becoming de facto a standard init system for Linux. But even this choice of words is treacherous, because systemd is much more than an init system. It's basically an integrated redesign of all the low-level userspace of a Linux system, with great plans to change how software is run and organized.

Linux, Operating Systems, Software Design, System Administration

36 points by tosh 197 days ago | 182 comments

S6 – Skarnet's small supervision suite (skarnet.org)
s6 is a small suite of programs for UNIX, designed to allow process supervision (a.k.a service supervision), in the line of daemontools and runit, as well as various operations on processes and daemons.

Unix, System Administration, Process Management, Software, Open Source

98 points by tosh 202 days ago | 40 comments

Post-mortem: MRI disables every iOS device in facility: R/sysadmin (reddit.com)
It's been a few weeks since our little incident discussed in my original post.

IT, Healthcare, Security, System Administration, Mobile Devices

3 points by oxw 202 days ago | 0 comments

Creating an Immutable System with NixOS, systemd-repart and systemd-sysupdate (x86.lol)

NixOS, System Administration, Linux, Immutable Systems, Systemd

9 points by ssernikk 216 days ago | 0 comments

Run System Commands in Ruby – When to use which methods to run shell commands (medium.com)

Ruby, Shell Commands, Programming, System Administration, Development Tools

25 points by thunderbong 219 days ago | 8 comments

Ask HN: What do you monitor on your servers? (ycombinator.com)