
PsKill: Allows you to end running processes. PsInfo: Show basic but important system information. PsGetSid: Shows the device or system SID. PsExec: Allows you to run processes remotely. However, it is much simpler to use these commands than running through PowerShell, and they will work exactly the same on any version of Windows. There is a PowerShell version of each application, so many administrators might say that these tools are obsolete or no longer necessary. The background of these applications is that you can run processes in a similar way to Unix System V, in other words, using process snapshots. PsTools is not an application but a set of applications that have a similar purpose and background. The tools that we will look at today are found in “ Microsoft SysInternals”, a suite of tools and aids for systems technicians created by Mark Russinovich in 1996. These can be downloaded from the Microsoft knowledge base, currently called “ Microsoft Docs”, where there are lots of manuals, documents, tutorials and even tools. Today, we will take a look at some of the tools provided by Microsoft that are not included in Windows.
Here at Jotelulu, we have been thinking about how we can help sysadmin to optimise their time, and we have decided that one way might be to provide some of the most useful tools for Windows systems administrators. In fact, there are studies that show that technicians spend around 80% of their time solving recurring problems, whilst just 20% of their time is dedicated to operations, improvements, etc.
One of the biggest problems for systems administrators is that they are constantly firefighting, solving problems that need an immediate response, and therefore, dedicating less time to more important tasks like improving their IT infrastructure.