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Advent of Sysadmin 2025

Advent of Sysadmin 2025

15 comments

·December 1, 2025
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0xbadcafebee

Here's 12 Sysadmin/DevOps (they're synonyms now!) challenges, straight from the day job:

  1.  Get a user to stop logging in as root.
  2.  Get all users to stop sharing the same login and password for all servers.
  3.  Get a user to upgrade their app's dependencies to versions newer than 2010.
  4.  Get a user to use configuration management rather than scp'ing config files from their laptop to the server.
  5.  Get a user to bake immutable images w/configuration rather than using configuration management.
  6.  Get a user to switch from Jenkins to GitHub Actions.
  7.  Get a user to stop keeping one file with all production secrets in S3, and use a secrets vault instead.
  8.  Convince a user (and management) you need to buy new servers, because although "we haven't had one go down in years", every one has faulty power supply, hard drive, network card, RAM, etc, and the hardware's so old you can't find spare parts.
  9.  Get management to give you the authority to force users to rotate their AWS access keys which are 8 years old.
  10. Get a user to stop using the aws root account's access keys for their application.
  11. Get a user to build their application in a container.
  12. Get a user to deploy their application without you.
After you complete each one, you get a glass of scotch. Happy Holidays!

melvinodsa

When I get sad and nothing to do in the world, may be hacking into a sad server's problem seems very interesting

rvz

Advent of Grift.

gryfft

Don't drag me into this.

ctxc

Do you have notifications set up or something? xD

mekoka

Could you elaborate?

teddyh

Ooh, this sounds interesting.

> Sign up for a free account

Hahaha, no. Closes tab

thatxliner

well advent of code also needs an account

npinsker

It’s not necessary to see the problems though

stonecharioteer

This also has a paid account and a business account.

null

[deleted]

fragmede

how do you want it to work? do you even sysadmin?

jbmsf

I see: a page offering something interesting but vague.

If you tell me more, I might sign up. If I have to create an account first, I'm walking away.

teddyh

> how do you want it to work?

I would like to see and try to solve the scenarios for myself, not to get meaningless internet points. If you look at their front page, you can do that right now. So why do I have to create an account to even see these special advent scenarios?

> do you even sysadmin?

Yes.

mekoka

I think the point is "ok, account is free, then what?"

At 5$/m I might give the paid subscription a try.