Change management

From Sysadmin

• Schedule all production changes
• If an emergency occurs defer scheduled changes relating to that area.
• The relevant staff will be tired from the emergency and it is important to be able to distinguish changes caused by the emergency x from those caused by the scheduled change.
• Consider deferring other changes, for the reasons listed above.

  System administrators should record all configuration changes made to company com-

puter systems in a tracking system such as Request Tracker. With the growing number of sysadmins this is more important than ever. Configuration changes should be necessary, and should only be conducted after a review of the implications. If in doubt, document it.

  Whenever making a configuration change to a production system, consider the follow-

ing:

Backout Plan - If things go wrong can you revert the change or is there another option?

Risk of an Outage- Although it can be difficult with complex systems, consider the ramification of the conguration change.

Consultation - Run the change by the other sysadmins. They may have a different perspective.