System Administration Toolkit

This skill provides automated system administration capabilities through production-grade utility scripts. You can manage services, monitor resources, handle users, configure security, perform backups, and diagnose issues on Linux/Unix systems.

Core Capabilities

Service Management

Manage systemd/init services with scripts/manage_service.py:

# Check service status
python3 scripts/manage_service.py status nginx

# Restart service
python3 scripts/manage_service.py restart nginx

# Enable at boot
python3 scripts/manage_service.py enable nginx

Supported operations: start, stop, restart, status, enable, disable, is-active, is-enabled

System Monitoring

Monitor system resources with scripts/monitor_system.py:

# Check all resources
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all

# Memory usage only
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --memory

# Set alert thresholds
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all --cpu-threshold 80 --memory-threshold 90

Monitors: CPU usage, memory, disk space, load average, network I/O

User Management

Manage user accounts with scripts/manage_users.py:

# Create user
python3 scripts/manage_users.py create alice --groups sudo,docker

# List all users
python3 scripts/manage_users.py list

# Delete user (keeps home directory)
python3 scripts/manage_users.py delete bob --keep-home

Operations: create, delete, modify, list users and groups

Network Diagnostics

Diagnose network issues with scripts/network_diagnostics.py:

# Check connectivity
python3 scripts/network_diagnostics.py ping 8.8.8.8

# Full network report
python3 scripts/network_diagnostics.py check-all

# Test specific port
python3 scripts/network_diagnostics.py port-check example.com 443

Features: ping, DNS resolution, port scanning, traceroute, interface info

Firewall Management

Configure firewall rules with scripts/configure_firewall.py:

# Allow port
python3 scripts/configure_firewall.py allow 8080 --protocol tcp

# Block IP
python3 scripts/configure_firewall.py block 192.168.1.100

# List rules
python3 scripts/configure_firewall.py list

Supports: ufw, firewalld, iptables

Backup Operations

Automate backups with scripts/backup_system.py:

# Backup directory
python3 scripts/backup_system.py create /var/www /backup/www

# Restore from backup
python3 scripts/backup_system.py restore /backup/www-2026-01-03.tar.gz /var/www

# List backups
python3 scripts/backup_system.py list /backup

Features: compression, verification, incremental backups, retention policies

Additional Tools

All scripts support --help for detailed usage:

• •Update System: scripts/update_system.py - Package updates and security patches
• •Disk Management: scripts/disk_management.py - Partition info, usage reports, cleanup
• •Process Management: scripts/process_management.py - Monitor and manage processes
• •Schedule Tasks: scripts/schedule_tasks.py - Cron job management
• •Log Rotation: scripts/log_rotation.py - Configure log rotation policies
• •Security Audit: scripts/audit_compliance.py - Security scans and compliance checks
• •Incident Response: scripts/incident_response.py - Automated incident handling
• •Remote Access: scripts/remote_access.py - SSH and remote access configuration
• •Virtualization: scripts/virtualization_management.py - VM and container management
• •Software Inventory: scripts/software_inventory.py - Track installed software
• •Install Software: scripts/install_software.py - Automated software installation

Usage Guidelines

Safety First

• •Scripts require appropriate permissions (use sudo when needed)
• •Destructive operations prompt for confirmation (bypass with --yes)
• •Always backup critical data before major changes
• •Test in non-production environments first

Common Patterns

Check before acting:

# Check service status before restarting
python3 scripts/manage_service.py status nginx
python3 scripts/manage_service.py restart nginx

Chain operations:

# Update system and restart services
python3 scripts/update_system.py --security-only
python3 scripts/manage_service.py restart nginx postgresql

Monitor after changes:

# Deploy and monitor
python3 scripts/manage_service.py restart app
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all
python3 scripts/network_diagnostics.py check-all

System Context Integration

This skill works with hooks that inject system information:

• •Current OS and distribution
• •Init system (systemd, launchctl, etc.)
• •Running services
• •Resource usage (CPU, memory, disk)
• •Network configuration
• •Accumulated knowledge from previous sessions

Use this context to provide accurate, system-specific commands without querying.

Output Formats

Most scripts support multiple output formats:

# Human-readable (default)
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all

# JSON for parsing
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all --output json

# CSV for reports
python3 scripts/monitor_system.py --all --output csv

Advanced Usage

For complete tool documentation and advanced scenarios:

• •reference.md - Complete documentation for all scripts
• •examples.md - Common scenarios and workflows

Script Execution Notes

All scripts:

• •Use Python 3.6+ (check with python3 --version)
• •Include comprehensive --help documentation
• •Support dry-run mode where applicable (--dry-run)
• •Provide detailed logging (use --verbose for debug output)
• •Return appropriate exit codes (0 = success, non-zero = failure)
• •Handle errors gracefully with informative messages

Quick Reference

Troubleshooting

Script not found:

# Ensure you're in the skill directory or use full path
cd /path/to/skills/system-admin
python3 scripts/manage_service.py --help

Permission denied:

# Use sudo for privileged operations
sudo python3 scripts/manage_service.py restart nginx

Command not available:

# Scripts check for required tools and report missing dependencies
# Install missing tools based on error messages

Architecture: Tools Own State

Critical Pattern: All scripts in this skill are the source of truth for system operations.

• •Scripts EXECUTE operations and return structured output (JSON where possible)
• •LLM ORCHESTRATES by calling scripts with appropriate parameters
• •LLM READS output to understand results and report to user
• •LLM NEVER runs system commands directly (e.g., systemctl, useradd, iptables)

This pattern ensures:

• •Consistent error handling and logging
• •Proper permission management
• •Audit trails and safety checks
• •Reliable, repeatable operations

Available Commands

All scripts have corresponding slash commands for user invocation:

Integration with Agent

When using the system-admin agent, it will:

1. •Parse your natural language request
2. •Identify the appropriate script(s) to use
3. •Execute the script (not direct system commands)
4. •Read the output to understand results
5. •Chain multiple operations when needed
6. •Provide rich output with diagnostics and recommendations

You don't need to remember script names - just describe what you want to accomplish.

See also:

• •Complete Tool Reference
• •Common Scenarios & Examples

System-Specific Context

This section contains knowledge learned from previous sessions. It helps the system-admin skill provide more context-aware assistance.

System Facts

The following system information has been learned during previous sessions:

Operating System:

{
  "type": "darwin",
  "version": "25.0.0",
  "kernel": "Darwin",
  "architecture": "arm64"
}

Services:

{
  "test-service": {
    "status": "running",
    "description": "Example service for testing"
  },
  "nginx": {
    "status": "active",
    "port": 80
  }
}

Network Configuration:

{
  "hostname": "macbook-pro.local"
}

Installed Packages:

{
  "jq": "1.6",
  "bash": "5.0"
}

Recent Command Results:

[
  {
    "commands": [
      "ls -la",
      "uname -a"
    ],
    "notable_outputs": [
      "System is darwin/macOS"
    ],
    "errors_resolved": [],
    "timestamp": "2026-01-04T00:10:20Z"
  }
]

User Preferences

The following preferences have been learned from previous interactions:

Preferred Tools:

[
  "curl",
  "git",
  "htop",
  "tmux",
  "vim"
]

Workflow Preferences:

{
  "test_before_deploy": true,
  "use_strict_mode": true
}

Coding Style:

{
  "indent": "2 spaces"
}

Domain Knowledge

The following patterns and practices have been learned:

Last updated: 2026-01-03 18:10:58 This section is automatically generated from context files in context/