Friday, January 02, 2009

Setting up a Domain Admin workstation

I've been a network admin for only about two years now, and only recently have I discovered the joy of running Adminpak and Exchange Tools from my local computer rather than remoting into servers.

On top of that, I've discovered the awesomeness of tabbed Remote Desktop Clients, like mRemote and RoyalTS.  I have also learned to use indexed launch tools to open applications (like QuickSilver on the Mac, Launchy on Windows, or Gnome-do on Gnu-Linux).

Based on all my geeky laziness and the tools that help me remain lazy, I am installing all of my favorite apps on my new work PC.  To avoid forgetting what I've done, and sharing with others what I've learned, I'll document the whole setup process in overly-vague steps:

Basic Setup:
  1. Install XP Pro SP3 (ignoring what came from the factory)
  2. Disable AutoRun for all drives, XP themes, shadows, animations, desktop cleanup wizard. (I'm a minimalist)
  3. Install AntiVirus, Office, IE7, Firefox 3 and any Updates available for any of those.
  4. Attach to Domain.
Management Apps:
  1. Install Virtual Server and SAN management Clients.
  2. Install adminpak (most awesome tool ever for Domain Admins)
  3. Install Exchange 2003 Admin Tools (start the Exchange Server install CD, but choose exchange Server Deployment Tools and follow the instructions)
  4. Install Group Policy Management Console
  5. Install rktools (yay robocopy!)
  6. Install SysInternals apps, those things rock!
  7. Try to get your employer to buy DameWare NT Utilities then install that.
  8. Install mRemote and migrate existing config file or create a new one.
Basic Utilities:
  1. FileZilla FTP Client
  2. Notepad++
  3. PuTTY
  4. Irssi IRC client
  5. WinDirStat for measuring disk usage
  6. 7-zip (the BEST compression utility, bar none)
  7. TrueCrypt (shh, it's a secret)
The Fun Stuff:
I normally don't like junking up my office system with hokey stuff, but here's the few exceptions I have:
  1. Yahoo! Widget Engine with Weather, Digital Clock, CPU meter, and Calendar
  2. BitMeter fortracking network usage
  3. Adobe Flash Player, Acrobat Reader, and AIR runtime.
  4. Inkscape (best vector image editor available, and it's free!)
  5. Blender (sometimes you just need to render stuff)
  6. Google Sketchup
  7. Google Talk
Conclusion:
While most of this stuff isn't totally required, all of these combined make my life much easier as an IT Admin.

Did I miss anything?  Do you use something that makes your life easier? Your network more reliable? Your users more happy?