So I’ve been working professionally with Linux-based systems for a few years, and while I’m not the expert I would like to be, I have got a pretty good feeling for the way those systems work. You have the bootloader, the initramfs, the boot procedure, systemd, PID 1, you can check the logs, you have all those little things that make the system work. Everything is a file, you have file permissions and selinux contexts, you have networkmanager, systemd units, you have (system) users, some just for some services, it’s all dandy… if I have a problem with a program I can usually debug it, check its logs, and get it to run.
Now for work I suddenly need to do lots of administration of Windows systems, Win11 and server, and troubleshoot deep, weird issues…
And I’ve started reading up on it, trying to use PowerShell as much as I can, but I’m just not getting the same high level overview feeling of understanding of how the system works, of how the parts work together. Or even what parts there are, and what they do.
(Especially within an Azure context.)
Books on Windows tend to be very surface level, just instructions on what menus to click through to get a working configuration.
But what’s going on underneath the hood? What do I do when I get a weird VPN issue? I mean, there’s Get-EventLog to check for things in the logs, but… nothing feels connected.
Do you know what I mean?
(Also, how cumbersome is PowerShell? No proper paging like with less in bash, I mean, you can’t go back a page, not with windows more or that powershell pager command, and you have to type sooo many words… and yeah, everything is an object, and I see how that can be a nice idea, but man, does that force you to select properties of those objects like crazy. Is this really a good thing, once you have it figured out?)
Are there one-to-one equivalents between Windows and Linux distros that could help me understand? Or is there a really good book that spells it all out, that sets me on a path where I can someday debug ANY issue and understand what I am seeing and doing?
…and I mean, where do I even start out debugging and understanding things like Entra ID issues in Windows365 machines, and hybrid Azure domains… the Microsoft help usually just seems to be steps on how to configure the stuff, but not understanding how it works…
Sorry, this is all over the place, but I’m just lost right now 🤷♂️ maybe someone has felt those same things before and has something wise to tell me?
For administration, you have Group Policy, Active Directory, SAM, and various other things to read up on. Like others have said you can do everything in PowerShell but commands are super verbose. Microsoft does keep thorough documentation on it at least.
In terms of helping people with issues, you have the Windows Registry (kind of like dconf for GNOME), Backup Restore, Updates (most IT spend most of the time after fixing not working stuff, is convincing people to update their computers). If you can think on your feet, you’ll be able to solve 90% of most workers’ issues with some digging even if you didn’t know Windows more than your average computer guy.
In terms of app development, tweaking and troubleshooting, there are a myriad of frameworks, like MFC, .NET, Electron, Microsoft Access databases somehow turned into a vital business application, etc.
Most app developers learn one of the various systems, then end up sticking with it causing Microsoft to support a hodge podge of 20+ year old native frameworks, while others import whatever newfangled crossplatform wrapper of the day is popular. So good luck if learning this is your goal.
It’s been a hot minute since hearing anyone talk about access
I work in Windows support. Seeing Access made me shudder.
There’s one team in my company that used an Access database on a network share, and every day, someone would forget to close the application or restart their pc, so their manager would call in to have us manually close connections from the server side so she could access the database. My team brought it up with our management to see about getting them migrated to a SQL database or similar, but someone above us shut that down. My team no longer handles end-user support, so not sure if it was ever resolved, but it was a PITA for everyone involved.