When technology fails, it’s often up to an IT admin to figure out the issue, resolve it and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
In order for IT incident response to be effective, it’s critical that the information gathered is both complete and timely. But all too often, the standard workflow resembles a game of telephone. A system crashes, there’s a support desk escalation, information is passed person-to-person and the IT admin is the last to know, with details lost – or never collected – along the way.
For an Apple admin, while it’s possible to run a system diagnostic, or sysdiagnose, to copy macOS logs and provide a real-time performance snapshot, not only are the files too large to reliably transmit (averaging 400 MB), but it’s also unlikely to capture a user’s reported issues in the moment.
In this JNUC session, Brad Chapman, Mac Systems Engineer at NBCUniversal Media introduces a solution: ITS-LOG!, a Self Service tool for Mac admins to help accelerate incident investigations.
This new tool helps address the challenge of coordinating the collection of time-sensitive information from multiple Macs in an organization. ITS-LOG! is designed for use by IT departments of any size, whether an organization with an AppleCare support agreement or an admin collecting logs for incident investigation or discovery.
Get it while it’s hot
Described by Chapman as a one-click tool to gather, upload and announce sysdiagnose, ITS-LOG! is available as a survey in Self Service.
The genius of ITS-LOG! is its ability to gather more complete information, in real time, along with automated submission. The user survey functions like an Apple feedback assistant form, asking the user to provide critical information at the time of the incident, and enabling collection and submission of relevant user-reported information alongside preparation of Mac sysdiagnose logs when submitting feedback. Submissions upload to cloud storage and send an email with a link to survey responses and logs to the IT admin.
Chapman cautions admins to set appropriate expectations for use of the survey: It’s designed for crashes and repeatable bugs, not every help desk ticket.
In this session, Chapman also provides step-by-step instructions to set up the tool in Self Service, including a full list of components, build order, and a live demonstration of an incident response report.
Check out the full session to see ITS-LOG! in action.
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