Sysadmin is tapped to take over the lead on patching this company's Linux systems, but something seems to be missing, reports a pilot fish on the scene.

"There was existing documentation for the patching process," fish says. "But according to the other sysadmin, that documentation never worked.

"And the web server that hosts the local Linux repository doesn't seem to work either. It responds to a ping, but when my colleague used a port scanner, he found that none of the needed ports -- for http, https and NFS -- were open.

"Then he discovered there was no directory for repository data where it should be, and the software to handle HTTP and NFS wasn't even installed.

"He tracked down an old-timer who told him how Linux software updates were being done: First, copy the repository directory. Then use the Yum update utility to install the software package, specifying the exact locations and version and all the dependent packages with the correct versions.

"Wait, he thought, that's not how Yum is suppose to work -- Yum is supposed to handle all that for you!

"Come to find out that the admin who previously maintained the repository server was a Windows guy. And he's currently the IS architect..."

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