Computer User Support Group
Behind the Scenes
In support of our contracted systems, CUSG operates and maintains a number of services behind the scenes.Monitoring
For all our supported Workstation and Server systems, we make a twice-daily ping check, to see if the system is online; this can help us notice problems before they are even reported. For systems on a Server support contract, we monitor their status using the Big Brother monitoring software. We are alerted quickly whenever there is a problem with monitored services or systems.
Unix Support
Mailservers get customized versions of sendmail, and email is routed through our own virus-scanning system.
We have customized code to facilitate network installations of Solaris and Linux. For Solaris, we maintain a "Jumpstart Server" with Solaris 9 and 10 images, and numerous scripts to aid in setting up a fully-patched Sun for our environment. For Linux, we have prepared "Kickstart" installations for Fedora and CentOS.
Our linux machines are kept up-to-date with patching through the use of yum-updatesd. Our Solaris machines get periodic installations of Sun's Recommended & Security patch clusters. And all of our unix/linux machines get special attention in the event of critical security patches. We also configure them to run CUSG-customized scripts every hour, which enable them to pull down configuration updates. Finally, we set up our Solaris and Linux machines to centrally syslog to one of CUSG's own servers, and we routinely monitor the logged messages.
Windows Support
We make use of IDSG's Remote Install Service when possible, to allow network installation. Once a machine becomes a member of the CUSG Organizational Unit (OU) in the EECS Active Directory, our group policies can help automatically install some standard software, as well as important system configuration.
To keep our Windows clients securely patched, we use Windows Server Update Services by Microsoft. We also manage a Symantec AntiVirus server for central management of the Symantec Client Security software installed on all our Windows clients.
Computer User Support Group
395 Cory Hall #1770, Berkeley CA 94720-1770
Voice: (510) 642-7777, FAX: (510) 642-2916
cusg@eecs