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Unix systems don’t run themselves, regrettably. There will always be issues with disks becoming full, mail not going where it ought to, compilers not handling code properly. There are demands fpr the machine to complete more: people wish to print images, and manipulate them, they need better internet browsers, other languages to aid different tools. Frequently a lot of things interact: Mail Transfer Agents use databases, Webpages use Java. Therefore as well as for security reasons, there’s a continuing procedure for ugrading and expanding the program open to people. All this implies that the administrator needs to hold lots of understanding about issues with programs as well as their fixes, so when one must manage several system, this gets to be more problematic.

However, these complaints aren’t new, and then any organisation with a lot of Computers faces exactly the same problem, just like individuals with various kinds of workstation (Sun, HP, 12 ,) on a single site. Usually inside a large commercial organisation there’s a help-desk, and they’ll have software to assistance with the issue management. However, the majority of miracle traffic bot is prohibitively costly for any college department. Prices vary from £990 to £15,000. Surprisingly there’s practically nothing like free software application.

This project is definitely an make an effort to create something to fill the space a minimum of for all of us at DMU.

They are a tentative listing of needs, with explanations. There might be others that emerged later.

Trouble Ticketing This is actually the most fundamental level that can help users and managers. Each problem should obtain a job number (or alphanumeric code) in order that it could be known as up rapidly.

Information ought to be on individuals jobs still incomplete. Priority Management It ought to be easy to prioritise jobs to ensure that effective use consists of staff in solving problems. Records of solutions Whenever a issue is solved, its solution ought to be stored, to ensure that whether it crops up again it may be found. Identical problems will be able to be mix-referenced easily so the option would be not written in to the databases many occasions. Searchable It ought to be easy to search the database for similar searching problems, possibly by utilizing keywords within the problem text. This allows similar problems as well as their solutions found Record information It ought to be possible to find out what problems, discussing one solution, show up probably the most, to permit user education, the development of FAQs for users, the identification of problem programs that ought to have priority for upgrading (or patching), etc. Performance People should not need to wait a lengthy time for you to lookup methods to problems. It’s probably necessary to achieve the utilities compiled to native code, i.e. Java is most likely not fast enough. Minimal package prerequisites When the program depends upon six languages, two database formats, along with a specific Server, you are able to bet that certain component will have to be upgraded and it’ll then become incompatible with all of those other system.

A student must have a understanding of, or perhaps an capability to understand

coding theory The database should be compact, and also the trouble ticket codes must have error correction components inside them, to ensure that mistakes on the phone will not matter databases existing dtabases for Unix ought to be used, (ndbm, gdbm, or even the Berkeley database sendmail uses.) Human Computer Interaction The machine can be utilized by individuals in occasions of stress, therefore it must do the things they expect, not make sure they are more frustrated

First and foremost, a minimum of the problem ticketing system should work. If perhaps the plans exists for another features, a minimum of the following student will be able to continue to create a helpful system.

Documentation, documentation and documentation. A lot of projects remain inside a condition where they can’t be utilized, there’s inadequate information for the following student to construct around the project (so that they finish up beginning on your own), and information on the way the system works are missing. The documentation should explain:

• the thinking behind the consumer interface in addition to using it
• Why the algorithms within the code were selected
• What areas need further work and just what foundations already exist or no.

Web-based problem tracking tools for Unix. Help-desk FAQ. Teacup – An Issue Report Management System, The Tech Tracker Project. about which more details will come in this e-mail the writer delivered to me. Nebula Freelancer appears to become continuing, and isn’t so tailored for help-desk work, but tend to constitute use there, Request Tracker. MHD is really a sourceforge project concentrating on the same aims for this. It offers equipment inventory along with a loans system for equipment. It is dependant on PHP, a place I haven’t embarked into yet. Reqtool. The openTicket project is really a javascript based tracking system.

last Modified on 11-February-2002 by Hugh Sasse hgs@dmu.ac.united kingdom

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