404 Grumpy Admin not Found.... ah there he is..... 200... 200 people!!!

Kevin Breen -

Hey All,

Wow it been such a long time since I have blogged, this has made Grumpy Admin… well, Grumpy. It a useful outlet and provides a method of allowing me to focus, while sharing solutions to things that make me Grumpy!

I think you all (all 4 people that read my blog) deserve an explanation and perhaps some promises and commitments for the future.  I have been very very busy both professionally and personally that blogging had to take a step back.

Firstly, on a personal note, my second Daughter

Faye Poppy Evans

Faye Poppy Evans was born mid-November, so with 2 kids and 2 stepchildren, you can imagine it been a little bit crazy.  So write-host “hello world Faye”.

My professional work life has changed quite a lot since I started this blog. I had quite a bit of time, to write and to experiment in work time, solving problems and doing really cool stuff. Sadly, as I progressed up the ladder of corporate responsibility and seniority.

The time  Grumpy Admin used to use for blogging started to get eaten up by meetings, projects and deliverables and deadlines meant that time was eaten up. All this makes grumpy admin well… grumpy! There were weeks where Grumpy Admin didn’t even read the Reg or Dilbert!  That shows how busy poor Grumpy Admin was!

But I did some great stuff since I last blogged and have learned lots and in my opinion, improved my skill base on a whole wide range of subject. There no point being static in the IT world or you just become useless and bitter!

I think the proudest thing I am now quite confident to say, I’m happy to call my self a Linux Admin.  The last 18 months, I been learning and supporting Linux in a production environment.

As anyone that knows me personally, I have been a die-hard Microsoft and Windows fanboy, where my whole professional career has been around Microsoft Technologies. With a basic understanding of Linux

I did more Linux work these last 18 months than Windows, so while it makes Grumpy Admin better, I do feel like I have turned to the dark side. However, when you consider the models and approaches that Microsoft have been taking.  The Linux Subsystem for Windows. There SQL server being released for Linux.  You quickly start to see that Linux in the server world is defacto now.  I find myself reaching for Linux first rather than Microsoft servers.

Don’t get me wrong there is a place for the Microsoft Estate, but it is a question of the right tool for the right job!

I have actually really enjoyed learning Linux skills.

I have also learned lots of other technologies as well as what I would consider a competent and professional level that I would happy include (when I find time to update it) on mine.  All making me a more rounded professional.

  • Nginx
  • ELK
  • Python
  • Docker
  • Ansible
  • Gitlab
  • Confluence
  • JIRA service desk
  • Owncloud
  • MongoDB
  • Gluster

And loads of little things!
On top of this, I have been writing accreditation and other technical documentation, OMFG… that was an experience but I gained a lot of soft skills and experience and was putting my information security training to the test.

I have even had to pull out Microsoft Visio and draw diagrams and pictures.. a soft skill which actually is harder than it seems!

I have also been writing security cases and performing CISO type duties for the company that I work. Policy writing and such. So these times have been very busy.  These are quite a lot of new string to Grumpy Admins bow, which is great and useful.  It’s been a challenge learning new skills, and trying to keep up with the Microsoft world as well! All on top of the growing family!  Grumpy admin is a grumpy adult now!  Wow!

So apart from blowing my own trumpet about my new elite skills, what does this mean for my blogging?

Well, I still want to do blogging, it been a great tool for me! I did some great neat things with Powershell over the years.  I want to keep that up, but I also now want to share with the world, some of the neat things I been doing, the cool configurations and snippets etc I been cobbling together.

So I expect over next few months, I will start to add other types of articles into my blog posts.  So not just a PowerShell blog!  A real Grumpy Admin Blog!  However, my love for PowerShell hasn’t faded.  It’s just I not had that much of a chance to flex the old Powershell muscle as I would like!

So Watch this space, People…