Planning for End of Life

We hear a lot about end of life (EOL) planning for hardware and software. At this time, the end of Windows 10 springs to mind before anything else, and there’s been a lot written about that in the last few years. Planning for a major change that requires both new software and new hardware to drive it takes a lot of time and work. It’s necessary to ensure the long-term continuity of the organization as well as short-term systems availability while the transition takes place.

I think most of us do a lot of planning when beginning a new project. It’s inherent in our jobs. But how many organizations or individuals plan for endings?

The human factor

One recent evening, as my partner and I were discussing some mundane couples stuff, including some changes I want to make to my network and it’s infrastructure, she posed a question that set me back a bit. Paraphrasing a bit, “What am I going to do with all of your computers if something happens to you? Who should I get to help me get rid of everything but still leave my computer and the streaming devices connected to the Internet?”

We’ve often discussed the disposition of other bits of our lives as a necessary part of planning for the end of our own lives. We have wills, medical powers of attorney and advanced directives, as well as durable powers of attorney. We even know how to access each other’s list of passwords — of which there are many. We have our own EOL planning well under control. It can be hard to talk about but it does need to be done.

So why haven’t I even thought about doing the same for my network and the dozen or so computers and printer that are usually a part of it? And what will happen to Both.org?

Network EOL

It is important to plan the EOL for my home network because I use it run a couple web sites — including this one. I have my own email server and our primary emails all flow through the server that currently sits on a height-adjustable desk near my right side.

So how do I plan for the EOL of my network?

I thought about creating a document describing everything that would need to be done to properly shut-down and dismantle my network and the various nodes that comprise a working network. But who knows who will be tasked with performing that final job? While not the only possible solution, it might work for someone who has a good grasp of computers and Linux, and who can work on the command line.

I then stumbled into another one that makes the most sense to me. One of the tenets of the Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins is, “Automate everything.” So why not automate the end of life for my network?

As I thought about that, I decided that both are needed. There must be some documentation of what needs to be done and the specific steps to take to make that happen. But it needs to be simple enough for anyone who uses computers but is not a SysAdmin. That requires a good bit of planning and automation to implement.

Just the beginning

I’ve started to create a document and a Bash program that, taken together, should work for whoever will be dealing with my estate. I’m just beginning this project. And this is just the first article about it.

I haven’t even clarified my detailed objectives yet, let alone how to approach the implementation. I have many unanswered questions such as whether Ansible might be better suited to the automated tasks, or would Ansible plus Bash programs be better.

As I work through this, I’ll be posting more articles to let you know how I’m progressing.