New to the forum and very lost.

[AllSpecpc]

This is why running zenmap and finding out all the hardware on the network is a good idea. Do you have a list of passwords, users, VMs, network services, and the like?

Yeah,that's one thing that the previous guy did do,but I need to figure out how to install software on the server or however that works...I'm pretty sure I'll be bald long before I get it all figured out!

 

[ryanvade]

So from a hardware standpoint:
2 servers
2 power supplies
1 printer
laptops....

Software:
Windows Xp/7
Debian servers
Multiple instances of all in VMs


Okay, lets start with Debian. If you are connected via a root shell, then you have complete access to the system. No exceptions. So, installing software is as simple as
apt-get update
apt-get install SOFTWARE_PACKAGE_NAME

If the software you are looking for is not in the repositories, special instructions are needed depending on the program.

To upgrade software
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

To completely upgrade the system (be careful)
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade

Depending on if a graphical system is installed, administration can be as easy as point and click. If not, then editing configuration files is the way to go.

 

[VP9KS]

Understand your concern about win XP suport, I just installed 7 brand new manufacturing robots in June, and all the man/machine interface computers are running XP. I am waiting for the manufacturer to give me a date to upgrade them to at least win 7, but I need new application software, which they supply, before I can.

 

[AllSpecpc]

Depending on if a graphical system is installed, administration can be as easy as point and click. If not, then editing configuration files is the way to go.

Point and click...does this mean I can access the Windows server from Linux and end up with a desktop view somehow?
The editing..I'm assuming I would need to learn/know more about coding or language to make these changes to the config?

 

[AllSpecpc]

Vp, XP was/is a very stable Windows OS,it's just very dated now.When MS rose up and put Vista out there,I stayed away from that one altogether. Vista was very much like Win ME,full of bugs and released way too soon.(and a complete resource pig)
Win 7 turned out to be a great release,stable,user friendly and the compatibility issues were resolved simply,earlier on by using Vista drivers.

 

[ryanvade]

Point and click...does this mean I can access the Windows server from Linux and end up with a desktop view somehow?
The editing..I'm assuming I would need to learn/know more about coding or language to make these changes to the config?

Lets say you have Linux installed on a laptop. Using remote login programs, which use real login credentials not "cracking', you could have remote access to any computer you choose. This has to be setup of course, and does not really work well on VMs, but it can be a life saver. You can have remote desktop through SSH, so it is secure and reliable. As long as the Linux you are running has a graphical system, then a window view is possible yes. Configuration files are normally very easy to configure. Sometimes they look like this:

CONFIG_64BIT=y
CONFIG_X86_64=y
CONFIG_X86=y

This is a snippet from the kernel configuration file. The configuration is setup like this:
Option=value.
Most configuration files are this easy. Others are not,it really depends..

 

[AllSpecpc]

Thanks for all your replies guys,I'll be back tomorrow during working hours...I'll probably be carrying the laptop with me all day..might even have to stay logged in here as well.

 

[Rob]

You should find out the version of debian you're using - in case you need to plan for an upgrade also.. from the command line, you can type:

 cat /etc/debian_version

 

[AllSpecpc]

Thanks Rob,it wasn't a very productive day today anyhow...I was the only tech there and had some service calls to do as well as some pre-wiring.