Sysadmin Handbook
Sysadmin Handbook v2.0.0 — a thorough sysops toolkit for system administrators. Record, track, and manage all aspects of system administration from the command line. Every action is timestamped and logged locally for full auditability.
Why Sysadmin Handbook?
- Works entirely offline — your data never leaves your machine
- Simple command-line interface, no GUI needed
- Timestamped logging for every operation
- Export to JSON, CSV, or plain text anytime
- Automatic history and activity tracking
- Searchable records across all operation types
Getting Started
# See all available commands
sysadmin-handbook help
# Check current health status
sysadmin-handbook status
# View summary statistics
sysadmin-handbook stats
Commands
Operations Commands
Each command works in two modes: run without arguments to view recent entries, or pass input to record a new entry.
| Command |
Description |
sysadmin-handbook scan <input> |
Record a scan operation (port scans, vulnerability scans, network sweeps) |
sysadmin-handbook monitor <input> |
Log monitoring observations (service health, uptime checks, resource usage) |
sysadmin-handbook report <input> |
Create report entries (incident reports, audit summaries, status updates) |
sysadmin-handbook alert <input> |
Record alert events (threshold breaches, security warnings, service failures) |
sysadmin-handbook top <input> |
Log top-level metrics (CPU hogs, memory consumers, disk leaders) |
sysadmin-handbook usage <input> |
Track usage data (disk usage, bandwidth, API calls, license counts) |
sysadmin-handbook check <input> |
Record health checks (service checks, config validation, dependency tests) |
sysadmin-handbook fix <input> |
Document fixes applied (patches, config changes, workarounds) |
sysadmin-handbook cleanup <input> |
Log cleanup operations (temp files, old logs, orphaned processes) |
sysadmin-handbook backup <input> |
Track backup operations (full backups, incrementals, snapshots) |
sysadmin-handbook restore <input> |
Record restore operations (data recovery, config rollbacks) |
sysadmin-handbook log <input> |
General-purpose log entries (freeform notes, observations) |
sysadmin-handbook benchmark <input> |
Record benchmark results (performance tests, load tests, I/O benchmarks) |
sysadmin-handbook compare <input> |
Log comparison data (before/after, environment diffs, config comparisons) |
Utility Commands
| Command |
Description |
sysadmin-handbook stats |
Show summary statistics across all log categories |
sysadmin-handbook export <fmt> |
Export all data (formats: json, csv, txt) |
sysadmin-handbook search <term> |
Search across all entries for a keyword |
sysadmin-handbook recent |
Show the 20 most recent history entries |
sysadmin-handbook status |
Health check — version, data dir, entry count, disk usage |
sysadmin-handbook help |
Show the built-in help message |
sysadmin-handbook version |
Print version (v2.0.0) |
Data Storage
All data is stored locally in ~/.local/share/sysadmin-handbook/. Structure:
scan.log, monitor.log, report.log, etc. — one log file per command, pipe-delimited (timestamp|value)history.log — unified activity log across all commandsexport.json / export.csv / export.txt — generated export files
Each entry is stored as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM|<input>. Use export to back up your data anytime.
Requirements
- Bash 4+ (uses
set -euo pipefail)
- Standard Unix utilities (
date, wc, du, tail, grep, sed, cat)
- No external dependencies or internet access needed
When to Use
- Incident response tracking — Log scan results, alerts, and fixes during an active incident so you have a complete timeline for the post-mortem
- Daily ops journaling — Record monitoring observations, health checks, and cleanup tasks as you go through your sysadmin routine
- Backup & restore auditing — Track every backup and restore operation with timestamps to prove compliance or diagnose failures
- Performance benchmarking — Store benchmark results over time and use
compare to track regressions or improvements across deploys
- Team handoff documentation — Log everything during your shift so the next admin can run
recent or search to get up to speed instantly
Examples
# Record a network scan result
sysadmin-handbook scan "192.168.1.0/24 — 14 hosts up, 3 with open SSH"
# Log a monitoring observation
sysadmin-handbook monitor "web-prod-01 CPU at 92% for 15 minutes"
# Document a fix you applied
sysadmin-handbook fix "Increased nginx worker_connections from 1024 to 4096"
# Track a backup operation
sysadmin-handbook backup "Full backup of /data completed — 48GB, 23 min"
# Export everything to JSON for archival
sysadmin-handbook export json
# Search all logs for a keyword
sysadmin-handbook search "nginx"
# View recent activity across all commands
sysadmin-handbook recent
Output
All commands output to stdout. Redirect to a file if needed:
sysadmin-handbook stats > report.txt
sysadmin-handbook export csv
Configuration
Set SYSADMIN_HANDBOOK_DIR environment variable to override the default data directory (~/.local/share/sysadmin-handbook/).
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1---2name: the-book-of-secret-knowledge3description: A collection of inspiring lists, manuals, cheatsheets, blogs, hacks, one-liners, cli/web tools and m the book of secret knowledge, python, awesome.4---5
6# Sysadmin Handbook
7
8Sysadmin Handbook v2.0.0 — a thorough sysops toolkit for system administrators. Record, track, and manage all aspects of system administration from the command line. Every action is timestamped and logged locally for full auditability.
9
10## Why Sysadmin Handbook?
11
12- Works entirely offline — your data never leaves your machine
13- Simple command-line interface, no GUI needed
14- Timestamped logging for every operation
15- Export to JSON, CSV, or plain text anytime
16- Automatic history and activity tracking
17- Searchable records across all operation types
18
19## Getting Started
20
21```bash
22# See all available commands
23sysadmin-handbook help
24
25# Check current health status
26sysadmin-handbook status
27
28# View summary statistics
29sysadmin-handbook stats
30```
31
32## Commands
33
34### Operations Commands
35
36Each command works in two modes: run without arguments to view recent entries, or pass input to record a new entry.
37
38| Command | Description |
39|---------|-------------|
40| `sysadmin-handbook scan <input>` | Record a scan operation (port scans, vulnerability scans, network sweeps) |
41| `sysadmin-handbook monitor <input>` | Log monitoring observations (service health, uptime checks, resource usage) |
42| `sysadmin-handbook report <input>` | Create report entries (incident reports, audit summaries, status updates) |
43| `sysadmin-handbook alert <input>` | Record alert events (threshold breaches, security warnings, service failures) |
44| `sysadmin-handbook top <input>` | Log top-level metrics (CPU hogs, memory consumers, disk leaders) |
45| `sysadmin-handbook usage <input>` | Track usage data (disk usage, bandwidth, API calls, license counts) |
46| `sysadmin-handbook check <input>` | Record health checks (service checks, config validation, dependency tests) |
47| `sysadmin-handbook fix <input>` | Document fixes applied (patches, config changes, workarounds) |
48| `sysadmin-handbook cleanup <input>` | Log cleanup operations (temp files, old logs, orphaned processes) |
49| `sysadmin-handbook backup <input>` | Track backup operations (full backups, incrementals, snapshots) |
50| `sysadmin-handbook restore <input>` | Record restore operations (data recovery, config rollbacks) |
51| `sysadmin-handbook log <input>` | General-purpose log entries (freeform notes, observations) |
52| `sysadmin-handbook benchmark <input>` | Record benchmark results (performance tests, load tests, I/O benchmarks) |
53| `sysadmin-handbook compare <input>` | Log comparison data (before/after, environment diffs, config comparisons) |
54
55### Utility Commands
56
57| Command | Description |
58|---------|-------------|
59| `sysadmin-handbook stats` | Show summary statistics across all log categories |
60| `sysadmin-handbook export <fmt>` | Export all data (formats: `json`, `csv`, `txt`) |
61| `sysadmin-handbook search <term>` | Search across all entries for a keyword |
62| `sysadmin-handbook recent` | Show the 20 most recent history entries |
63| `sysadmin-handbook status` | Health check — version, data dir, entry count, disk usage |
64| `sysadmin-handbook help` | Show the built-in help message |
65| `sysadmin-handbook version` | Print version (v2.0.0) |
66
67## Data Storage
68
69All data is stored locally in `~/.local/share/sysadmin-handbook/`. Structure:
70
71- **`scan.log`**, **`monitor.log`**, **`report.log`**, etc. — one log file per command, pipe-delimited (`timestamp|value`)
72- **`history.log`** — unified activity log across all commands
73- **`export.json`** / **`export.csv`** / **`export.txt`** — generated export files
74
75Each entry is stored as `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM|<input>`. Use `export` to back up your data anytime.
76
77## Requirements
78
79- Bash 4+ (uses `set -euo pipefail`)
80- Standard Unix utilities (`date`, `wc`, `du`, `tail`, `grep`, `sed`, `cat`)
81- No external dependencies or internet access needed
82
83## When to Use
84
851. **Incident response tracking** — Log scan results, alerts, and fixes during an active incident so you have a complete timeline for the post-mortem
862. **Daily ops journaling** — Record monitoring observations, health checks, and cleanup tasks as you go through your sysadmin routine
873. **Backup & restore auditing** — Track every backup and restore operation with timestamps to prove compliance or diagnose failures
884. **Performance benchmarking** — Store benchmark results over time and use `compare` to track regressions or improvements across deploys
895. **Team handoff documentation** — Log everything during your shift so the next admin can run `recent` or `search` to get up to speed instantly
90
91## Examples
92
93```bash
94# Record a network scan result
95sysadmin-handbook scan "192.168.1.0/24 — 14 hosts up, 3 with open SSH"
96
97# Log a monitoring observation
98sysadmin-handbook monitor "web-prod-01 CPU at 92% for 15 minutes"
99
100# Document a fix you applied
101sysadmin-handbook fix "Increased nginx worker_connections from 1024 to 4096"
102
103# Track a backup operation
104sysadmin-handbook backup "Full backup of /data completed — 48GB, 23 min"
105
106# Export everything to JSON for archival
107sysadmin-handbook export json
108
109# Search all logs for a keyword
110sysadmin-handbook search "nginx"
111
112# View recent activity across all commands
113sysadmin-handbook recent
114```
115
116## Output
117
118All commands output to stdout. Redirect to a file if needed:
119
120```bash
121sysadmin-handbook stats > report.txt
122sysadmin-handbook export csv
123```
124
125## Configuration
126
127Set `SYSADMIN_HANDBOOK_DIR` environment variable to override the default data directory (`~/.local/share/sysadmin-handbook/`).
128
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