I spent the Summer doing some Consulting Work at NASA. Built a Patch Distribution Server for CentOS 7 and used Ansible to manage configurations for about 100 hosts. Other minor Small Jobs.

Managed local Panasas PANFS and SAMBA based CIFS servers, Linux Compute Cluster, and Data Transfer to Google cloud storage. The longer goal of Architecting a Comprehensive Storage Plan was postponed when COVID hit.

Created and monitored Alarms for EC2 instances. Pushed Metrics and Logs to CloudWatch. Worked on Security Remediation of existing Servers and using ELK Stack. Used EC2, S3, CloudWatch, SNS, IAM, VPC.

Consulting for Juniper on their Security Remediation, I installed, configured, and tested Packages on various Linux distributions, including RHEL7, CentOS 7, Ubuntu 18.04, and FreeBSD. Used Ansible to orchestrate data gather script on thousands of hosts Juniper had scheduled for conversion. Reported and fixed bugs via GitLab.

Redesign of DNS Software at NOAA data center using RHEL 7 on Vmware and real hardware, involving Anycast addresses via Quagga. Promotion of Slave to Master servers via git checkout of proper configuration branch. Deployment of SmartCards authenticating to LDAP servers via SSSD. Infrastructure server maintenance via Puppet. Member of project to replace Puppet with Ansible. Server builds using Foreman and Satellite.

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research: Redesign of Linux PBS Cluster, Infrastructure Servers, Workstation, and network architecture. Conversion from RHEL 6 to RHEL 7, replacement of Winbind with SSSD and/or Centrify, and replacing Puppet with Ansible. Integration of military CAC cards with Active Directory via Kerberos. Normal maintenance, such as Account Creation of Network Appliance NFS storage, ssh keys, help with Putty configuration.

I took most of the year off, staying home with my wife, who was undergoing aggressive cancer treatments. Fortunately, they paid off, and she is now in Full Remission!

Python programming the Serial Console and other system initialization aspects of KVM vitual machines running in Docker Containers under Ubuntu for Darpa’s Cyber Warfare program.

Linux System Administration and Infrastructure Architecture design for a High Performance Disk Enclosure manufacturer. Created Kickstart and Cobbler servers to build CentOS 6 and 7 clusters with Mellanox Infiniband using GPFS and Lustre filesystems. Configuration management via Salt. Wrote Python scripts to generate DNS and DHCP from hosts file. Created broadcast NTP Server. Redesigned IP address space after flat network was split into separate project VLANs. Created deduped rsync backup server using idea from rsnapshot. Interfaced Linux Authentication and Identity Management to Active Directory via SSSD, Kerberos, and LDAP. Experimented with Ansible and Docker.

Used Puppet to build, administer, and configure over 1,500 real and virtual (Ganeti KVM) servers at the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health. Installed such applications as MySQL, Apache, Sun Grid Engine, and many other packages via Puppet configs. Built new and updated RPM packages. Used git and subversion for SCM, Jira for Ticketing, and Confluence Wiki

Linux System Administration onsite at NIH. Rewrote kickstart CGI script in Perl to support CentOS 5, 6, and 7 as well as Fedora 19 and 20 distributions in Server, Workstation, and Appliance configurations. Integrated Smart Card login with PAM, Kerberos, and LDAP from Active Directory servers using SSSD. Pestered RedHat to fix bugs. Configured NFS and ssh to allow use with Smart Cards and Kerberos. Created RPM Packages of local programs, including repackaging of Python 2.7. Wrote Perl program to convert UID and GID mappings. Configuration of High Availability Firewalls using heartbeat and iptables. Deployed several RAID servers using mdadm. Installed user applications, including Matlab, Python and Ruby modules, and Oracle clients. Built Linux virtual machines for VMPlayer and KVM. Mentored our Summer Student working on a Linux Flash Drive Linux Installer project. Apache, Tomcat, JBoss, MySQL, and PostgresSQL maintenance. Configuration Management with Puppet.

MicroStrategy: RHEL 5.6 server installation and maintenance via Kickstart, Cobbler, and Puppet on datacenter servers and VMware vSphere virtual machines supporting web services and applications. Added DRBD and Heartbeat to MySQL master databases for redundancy. Deployed and maintained MySQL replication. Wrote Perl CGI script to publish Apache and Tomcat content based on git repository tags. Scripting in bash, Perl, Python, and Ruby.GWU: Deployment of grid computing nodes using PXE Boot and Kickstart on CentOS 5.5 and RHEL 6.0. The grid ran MPI jobs on a Qlogic Infiniband fibre network scheduled by Sun Grid Engine. Grid subsequently maintained by Puppet. rote Python program to generate families of Kickstart files. Conversion of NIS to LDAP lookup and Kerberos authentication via Active Directory on Linux and Solaris servers. All code maintained via Subversion and git. Deployed RHEL Network Satellite Server for Operating System installation.StreamSage: Configuration and Deployment of RHEL 5 servers and Xen Virtualized guests via Kickstart on Dell hardware. Conversion of NIS to LDAP. Authentication for WiFi Routers via Radius and LDAP. Ruby scripting. Used nagios and ganglia for monitoring, VMware vSphere for virtualization. Exposure to Ruby on Rails. Conversion of CVS repository to Subversion using cvs2svn tool. Maintained Apache, Tomcat, and JBoss servers.

Various Consulting: Server setup for database company. Mail Operations Center maintenance using SunOne Messaging and LDAP Directory Server, Conversion of NIS to OpenLDAP. All running RHEL 5. System Administration of Red Hat, SuSE, and Ubuntu desktop systems.Paxfire: Bug fixes to existing C++, Perl, and shell scripts using CVS and Subversion for our DNS & Landing Page Appliances running CentOS 5.2. Code refactoring to better adapt to RPM packaging. Integration of newer kernel and lm-sensors package for newer server platform. Security via iptables and tripwire. Managed nightly build server.

Engineered the installation process for a JBoss based Java Application running on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux cluster including Oracle installation and replication, High Availability configuration, and Apache Certificate generation. Installation included developing Kickstart files, Perl, and shell scripts and hardening Linux according to NIST 800-53, FISMA and DHS 4300A Security Specifications. All code maintained by Subversion and Tortoise SVN.

Cluster architecture design (LVS/Piranha/Managed) for Census Taker web application at the US Census Bureau running on IBM Blade Servers using GFS. Conversion of Cluster from RHEL 4 to RHEL 5. Investigated and tested Cluster Failover, Persistence, and Quiescence modes. Performance testing of hardware cryptographic accelerator cards. Produced FIPS version of openssl package. Configured ClamAV, Apache and MySQL 5 servers. Determined and installed required RPMs and Perl Modules. Represented Census Taker group in meetings with Data Center, Networking and Security committees. Participated in investigation of running application under Xen in the future.

Member of a three man team maintaining, upgrading and developing ISP Service on a Linux Virtual Server (LVS) Cluster running on HP Blade and Proliant servers. Web application development in Perl, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, and XML. Conversion of servers from Slackware 7 and 9 to CentOS 4. Operation and upgrading of DNS, Radius, Qmail, FTP, POP, IMAP, MySQL, spam and virus scanning services. Created Kickstart installation using PXE boot. Created CVS and Cfengine repositories. Used nagios and MRTG for monitoring.

NASD: Installation, configuration and maintenance of Apache web server on Sun Solaris 8 and Red Hat Linux 9. CGI programming in Perl using CGI.pm. Creation, conversion to HTML, and indexing of project documentation. System and network administration.B2eMarkets: System, security, and network administration of Solaris 9, HP-UX 11, and Red Hat 9 Linux, both in house and at hosting companies. Installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of iPlanet web servers, BEA WebLogic Java Application servers, MySQL, and Oracle databases.Gryphon: Survey and Redesign of the Naval Research Laboratory’s global email system. Features included integration with McAfee VirusScan, MIME Defang, and Spam Assassin via sendmail’s Milter feature. User address lookup, aliasing, and rewriting by LDAP. Cyrus mailstore, POP, and IMAP. High Availability by Veritas and LifeKeeper on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.CorData: Consulting and installation on SAN/NAS/iSCSI disk storage products based on Red Hat 7.3 Linux controller.

Digex: Deploying and troubleshooting Netscape and Apache web servers, Solaris 7, IRIX, and Linux operating systems, and networking software, including Kerberos, Secure Shell, Veritas Volume Manager, and sendmail. Participated in the design, implementation, and organization of the DNS servers. Some network design issues including Cisco Local Directors.Intermedia: Postmaster for all customer-facing systems. Redesigned and upgraded sendmail, Netscape LDAP, Clarion RAID, and Post.Office servers to increase mail flow and fight spam. Configured SGI High Availability software and F5 Big IP for server redundancy. Responsible for various other system upgrades as needed, such as a Apache and Zeus web servers. Recoding of several Zeus web server CGI scripts to avoid security bugs. Participated in iAmerica Mail system redesign replacing LDAP with MySQL. Solaris and Linux System Administration and Installation.

Analyzed and recommended modifications to customer firewall configurations on Solaris, HP, and Linux systems. Ran benchmarks on customer equipment. Customized existing application proxies and created new ones to satisfy local requirements. Ported Gauntlet firewall code written in C to Nokia system running FreeBSD.

Chief Architect and Systems Programmer for a worldwide satellite company’s 500 Sun, HP, and Linux workstations. DNS: Hostmaster for a Class B network of 100 Class C subnets and six subdomains. Deployed BIND 8 to take advantage of Notify, Dynamic Update, and Incremental Zone Transfer needed by DHCP. Optimized zone delegation and transfers between remote sites. Wrote Perl program to allow multiple help desk personnel to modify host table with RCS locking and history tracking, and convert host table to DNS files. DHCP: Installed and maintained several Cisco Network Registrar DHCP/DNS servers. Designed migration plan to DHCP. EMAIL: Redesigned mail system to handle multiple sites, multiple domains, handle private domain mail routing, and prevent unauthorized relaying. Compiled and installed POP mail server. Wrote Internal Mail Hub, Internal Mail Relay, and External Mail Gateway configuration files for sendmail 8.9. NIS: Rewrote NIS/rdist shell scripts to keep servers synchronized. Wrote account management Perl scripts for help desk personnel with RCS locking and history tracking. FIREWALL: Lead technical engineer in specification of TIS Gauntlet and Cisco PIX firewall configuration, perimeter network topology, and external Email and DNS server configuration. INSTALLATION: Created initial customization scripts for operating system installation. Designed hosts attribute and file database, and Perl script to generate rdist scripts for distributing updated files. FILE SYSTEMS: Designed striped and mirrored file systems for department servers using Solstice Disk Suite, Veritas Volume Manager, and HP Logical Volume Manager. MISC: Redesigned user login scripts and automap file structure. Wrote many error checking and sanity check scripts. Supported two labs, including installation of third-party tools and license managers. Converted one lab from SunOS 4.1.2 environment to Solaris 2.6. Compiled, distributed, debugged, and maintained GNU and other Open Source software.

Bell Atlantic: Solaris and SunOS System administration. Landmark Systems: C++ programming for Sun NetManager and SNMP interface to remote kernel performance data collector. Various system administration and mailer configuration tasks. Micronetics Design: MUMPS database conversion program written in C under AIX. United Information Systems: System Administration on SCO UNIX and RS/6000 AIX platforms. Internet Firewall Design. NIH/NHGRI: System Manager for Sparc workstations running Solaris 2.4. Installed, configured, and patched operating system. Managed 200 user accounts using NIS+ and automounter. Managed DNS and assigned IP addresses. Configured sendmail on sparcs and Eudora on MacIntosh workstations. Installed HP Laserjet printers and configured remote printing. Installed Syntax Totalnet (SAMBA) on Sparcs enabling file sharing systems with MacIntosh users. Supervised LAN Support Engineer Team installing and troubleshooting MacIntosh, Novell, and PC software. Group 1 Software: UNIX system administration for Solaris, SunOS, Irix, AIX, HP/UX, DG/UX, SCO, Linux, and BSDI systems. Performed all phases of connection to the Internet, including Internet Service Provider evaluation and selection, DNS installation, router configuration and packet filtering, Email routing to and from cc:Mail gateway, proxy installation on firewall, and configuration of World Wide Web server.

Maintained approximately fifty Sun4, NeXT, and Silicon Graphics machines. Created a unified view of all systems by use of the automounter, rdist, and several perl scripts. Installed Word Perfect, Oracle, Frame Maker, other packages, and public domain software. Oversaw vendor maintenance and installation. Unified the UNIX mail system and coordinated with PC and Novell network personnel. Wrote ASCII to PostScript laser printer filter in Perl. Assisted users with their environment and problems. Performed system backups. Procured programs as needed.

Employee #12 at the first commercial ISP and UUCP gateway. Systems Administration: maintained Sequent Symmetry multiprocessor, performed operating systems updates, including the incorporation of a custom disk-striping device driver; installed, updated, and maintained the X Window System, emacs, perl, RCS, and other system utilities on Sun workstations. News System: moved the Bnews system from Sequent to Pyramid; wrote newsfeed entry verification scripts, implemented remote client-server interface to UUX in C to avoid NFS bottlenecks; assisted in the design of the Cnews Batchfile Exploder program; wrote C logging code to measure performance of a remote client-server compression program. News Batching: rewrote the news batcher to buffering code and logging code to measure batching performance; converted batching script to eliminate extraneous processes. Other Projects: conversion of U. S. Supreme Court opinions from Word Perfect to troff for distribution to Usenet newsgroup. Developed program to authorize and settle credit card payments electronically. Both projects written in Perl. C++ socket level programming.

Designed and implemented a benchmarking tool for X Windows. The tool records an X Window session for subsequent playback in order to simulate live user input. Response time statistics are gathered from X clients or X servers to measure performance and capacity. Developed in C on an IBM PS/2 running AIX. Ported to other UNIX environments. Supervised three programmers.

Parallel Processing. Benchmarks and Instrumentation in applications software and the UNIX kernel of a Sequent Balance multiprocessor. Wrote C code to map external multibus memory into the data collection program. Distributed Systems: Authored paper "Distributed Tools and Window Systems" that surveys XDR, RPC, and X Windows and other interprocess communication methods. System Administrator maintaining Sequents, Suns and VAXes running Berkeley UNIX. Performed system installations, bug and security fixes, and coordinated maintenance. Added ChaosNet network driver code to BSD 4.3. Modified 4.2BSD kernel to recognize subnets. Added the first DNS code into 4.2BSD. Studied VRTX, pSOS, and VxWorks for an array of computers. Wrote test programs and download routines for VRTX before project was canceled.