Comments on: Machine lockdown purgatory http://www.testjutsu.com/machine-lockdown-purgatory Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:34:28 +1000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Ben Kelly http://www.testjutsu.com/machine-lockdown-purgatory/comment-page-1#comment-128 Ben Kelly Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:06:01 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=100#comment-128 In our hypothetical situation, it might have turned out that there are multiple 'correct channels' to go through and while one might have returned no results, another was almost immediately successful - especially when put in terms of 'The issue I warned you of, whereby the testers are unable to do any useful work due to machine lockdown has come to pass. Can you please sign off on this change request to reinstate installation rights?' In our hypothetical situation, it might have turned out that there are multiple ‘correct channels’ to go through and while one might have returned no results, another was almost immediately successful – especially when put in terms of ‘The issue I warned you of, whereby the testers are unable to do any useful work due to machine lockdown has come to pass. Can you please sign off on this change request to reinstate installation rights?’

]]> By: Chris http://www.testjutsu.com/machine-lockdown-purgatory/comment-page-1#comment-119 Chris Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:32:22 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=100#comment-119 I've made a deal in the past where IT was relieved of any responsibility for working with the computers of the testing department - in return we could do whatever we wanted to our machines. We got the freedom, but had to be responsible for any problems. We had a very savvy team, so it worked out. Depending on the skills mix on your team, this might be worthless advice :) I’ve made a deal in the past where IT was relieved of any responsibility for working with the computers of the testing department – in return we could do whatever we wanted to our machines. We got the freedom, but had to be responsible for any problems. We had a very savvy team, so it worked out. Depending on the skills mix on your team, this might be worthless advice :)

]]> By: Ben Kelly http://www.testjutsu.com/machine-lockdown-purgatory/comment-page-1#comment-117 Ben Kelly Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:46:40 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=100#comment-117 I'm sure you're right about it being a lose/lose situation. In this (purely hypothetical) instance, I would probably lean toward attempting such reasoning via the proper (bureaucratic, time-consuming) channels and see how that goes. It might take a while :) I’m sure you’re right about it being a lose/lose situation.
In this (purely hypothetical) instance, I would probably lean toward attempting such reasoning via the proper (bureaucratic, time-consuming) channels and see how that goes. It might take a while :)

]]> By: Drew http://www.testjutsu.com/machine-lockdown-purgatory/comment-page-1#comment-114 Drew Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:38:26 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=100#comment-114 The IT staff probably doesn't want to spend hours upon hours filling tickets to install stuff on your computer. Your current situation is lose/lose and should be easy to improve for both of you. I would hope you could reason with them. As a compromise w/ IT you might be able to test on VMs that don't have the locked-down assets on them. Assuming you can actually download whatever you need to help you test. And assuming you're not doing perf testing. Or, depending on the VM you use, kernel testing/debugging. If you have physical access to the boxes and *any* way to insert boot media you should also be able to get root/administrator. I'm going to assume you're running Windows and recommend the Nordahl tool - ISO available on the internet. You might want to save that as a last resort. Could lead to termination. I faced a similar problem at work recently, but our (new-ish) director of IT is a really resonable guy. He didn't understand why engineers needed an IT roadblock and didn't want his staff spending time on things that other people could handle on their own. Now we can install software as admins. With the understanding that we're normally doing our work with more limited privileges, of course. The IT staff probably doesn’t want to spend hours upon hours filling tickets to install stuff on your computer. Your current situation is lose/lose and should be easy to improve for both of you. I would hope you could reason with them.

As a compromise w/ IT you might be able to test on VMs that don’t have the locked-down assets on them. Assuming you can actually download whatever you need to help you test. And assuming you’re not doing perf testing. Or, depending on the VM you use, kernel testing/debugging.

If you have physical access to the boxes and *any* way to insert boot media you should also be able to get root/administrator. I’m going to assume you’re running Windows and recommend the Nordahl tool – ISO available on the internet. You might want to save that as a last resort. Could lead to termination.

I faced a similar problem at work recently, but our (new-ish) director of IT is a really resonable guy. He didn’t understand why engineers needed an IT roadblock and didn’t want his staff spending time on things that other people could handle on their own. Now we can install software as admins. With the understanding that we’re normally doing our work with more limited privileges, of course.

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