Documentation — Project Plans & System Documents
If the sysadmin leaves tomorrow, will the next person cope?
- Explain why documentation is essential in IT support
- List items a sysadmin typically documents
- Produce a sample project plan and a system document for a lab PC
Overview
Undocumented systems belong to whoever set them up — until that person leaves. This week we write a project plan for setting up a new student PC and a system document listing its specs, OS, IP address and installed software. Good documentation makes handover, audit and repair possible.
Why document?
Handover, disaster recovery, audit, training and consistency. Without documentation, every new problem is solved from scratch and every leaver takes knowledge with them.
What to document
Project plans (setup steps and dates), system docs (hardware, OS, IP, installed packages), configuration files, network diagrams, user policies and change logs.
A good project plan
States the goal, lists numbered tasks, assigns each task an owner and date, and marks dependencies. Anyone should be able to pick up the plan mid-way through.
Set up a new student lab PC — on paper
- In pairs, draft a project plan for 'set up a new student lab PC' using the template.
- Complete a system document for a real lab PC: specs, OS version, IP address, installed packages.
- Peer-review another pair's documents against the checklist.
- Note two improvements each pair should make.
- Name two reasons documentation matters.
Reveal answer
Handover and disaster recovery (also: audit, training, consistency).
- List four fields in a system document.
Reveal answer
Hardware specs, OS version, IP address, installed software.
- What is a change log?
Reveal answer
A dated record of every change made to a system, and who made it.
Write a system document for the computer you use at home.