• (cs)

    What a load of Safety and Health Information Technology.

  • (cs)

    App runs fine for three years, turns out to run on another server, but developer finds out within one day, adds log message to slightly overgrown log. Where's the WTF?

    null was much better.

  • (cs)

    So Long did I wait. I go to have snack and now you post this article. ;)

  • Nkokot (unregistered)

    Looks like the Safety and Health IT (S H IT) is doing what their acronym tells...

  • (cs)

    Server Maint teams do this all the time. Today we are running on server # X,tomorrow on # Y. That's reason we have to get updated tnsnames.ora files from server main team. We never know where our development database is going to show up on Monday. Due to this we have to patch our local tns files so that our connectivity to DB is maintained.

    I never think of this as a WTF, though.

  • some guy (unregistered)

    If the app was sending emails, couldn't he have just checked the headers?

  • (cs) in reply to some guy
    some guy:
    If the app was sending emails, couldn't he have just checked the headers?

    Where exactly in header can he find that? All Header shows is the name of the exchange server...

  • Newbie (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh

    The server hosting the app sends emails, so it would have the hosting servers name as the sender, would it not?

  • JV (unregistered)

    TRWTF: some guy

  • Ummm. (unregistered)

    This doesn't sound like WTF, this sounds like monday.

  • (cs) in reply to Newbie
    Newbie:
    The server hosting the app sends emails, so it would have the hosting servers name as the sender, would it not?

    Would that not depend on the server used to send mail?

  • Adam (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh

    Surely there would have been a Received header indicating the IP address of the machine from which the message originated?

  • (cs)

    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

  • (cs) in reply to Hasteur
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

  • SeySayux (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

    Honestly, are you trying to sell something?

  • Seth (unregistered)

    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

  • NOT the original, ORIGINAL by (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

    I like this new Nagesh... He's funnier, and not, um, retarded.

  • Dan (unregistered) in reply to Adam
    some guy:
    If the app was sending emails, couldn't he have just checked the headers?
    Adam:
    Surely there would have been a Received header indicating the IP address of the machine from which the message originated?

    From one of my intra-office emails (addresses changed to protect the guilty): Received: from SMTPSERVER4 ([1.2.3.4]) by SMTPSERVER1 ([1.2.3.1]) with mapi; Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:17:48 -0700

    This is all the routing information I got from this message. No indication of the client machine that originated the message.

  • Dan (unregistered) in reply to Seth
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

    A 750M log file? Every day?

  • frits (unregistered) in reply to Seth
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...
    Who hasn't done something like this?
  • The Corrector (unregistered) in reply to Dan
    Dan:
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

    A 750M log file? [b]For a "simple little app read records off of a flat-file on the mainframe and sent it to the "Product Management Services" database"?

    FTFY

  • Total (unregistered) in reply to Dan
    Dan:
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

    A 750M log file? Every day?

    Personally I assumed that was the 3-year total, making it more like 700KB a day (~70KB compressed).

  • Seth (unregistered) in reply to Dan
    Dan:
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

    A 750M log file? Every day?

    Yeah, so? If I were in Brian's shoes, I wouldn't mind antagonizing the IT department a little by taxing their bandwidth/mail server storage space.

  • (cs) in reply to NOT the original, ORIGINAL by
    NOT the original:
    Nagesh:
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

    I like this new Nagesh... He's funnier, and not, um, retarded.

    Your opinion though important is completely irelevant. Love, Nagesh.

  • ContraPants (unregistered)

    TRWTF: All of us no longer think of this as a WTF.

    Anyone who still does, you will be assimilated.

  • NOT the original, ORIGINAL by (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    NOT the original:
    Nagesh:
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

    I like this new Nagesh... He's funnier, and not, um, retarded.

    Your opinion though important is completely irelevant. Love, Nagesh.

    Correct, same as your response.

  • Steve B (unregistered)

    TRWTF is Rick doesn't know about cloud computing.

  • Rob Halford (unregistered)

    There I was completely wasting, out of work and down All inside its so frustrating as I drift from host to host Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

    Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log!

  • S&H IT (unregistered)

    Two RWTFs here...

    1. Rich is, to put it professionally, a complete douchebag. He needs to work on his anger management. Perhaps the story is embellished, but I have trouble siding with a jerk protagonist.

    2. Why did this take three days? He could have asked Ops for the email logs, find the time the last heartbeat sent out, and found out where the correct server was in minutes. Emails don't log? Turn them on and check the file in the morning.

  • derula (unregistered) in reply to DCRoss
    DCRoss:
    What a load of Safety and Health Information Technology.
    I don't see a need for any additional comments.
  • ¢ÃÃâ₠(unregistered)

    PMS is never any fun.

    And no, Remy Martin, you cannot have two dollars.

  • The Bridge (unregistered) in reply to Rob Halford
    Rob Halford:
    There I was completely wasting, out of work and down All inside its so frustrating as I drift from host to host Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

    Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log!

    You don't know what it's like!

  • ¢ÃÆâ (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    Who hasn't done something like this?
    You're as braindead as Bert Glanstron.
  • C.K. (unregistered) in reply to Dan
    Dan:
    some guy:
    If the app was sending emails, couldn't he have just checked the headers?
    Adam:
    Surely there would have been a Received header indicating the IP address of the machine from which the message originated?

    From one of my intra-office emails (addresses changed to protect the guilty): Received: from SMTPSERVER4 ([1.2.3.4]) by SMTPSERVER1 ([1.2.3.1]) with mapi; Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:17:48 -0700

    This is all the routing information I got from this message. No indication of the client machine that originated the message.

    Depends on the setup. Here we have all machines running postfix and relaying mail from their respective localhosts (and only localhost) to a central mail server that actually sends everything out to the real world. This is mostly so we only have to secure each server and not each app on each server.

    Doing it this way we always see where a mail comes from as [email protected] buried in the headers.

  • Pilum (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh

    We do this as well. No biggie.

  • rottenluck (unregistered) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    I have too much free time on my hands...
    here, FTFY pal.

    Re akismet: not a spammer, you stupid hack. ;) I kinda wonder what it will take to convince you this actually has some value except for goofing around with Nagesh's comment. Will this much text suffice? Tell me, akismet. How's it looking, pal?

  • David Hutchings (unregistered)
    The Article:
    Rick counted to pi before hanging up the phone...
    Did you really have to appeal to the lowest common denominator? I mean who doesn't know pi?

    How about "Rick counted to i (or j even) before hanging up the phone..."?

  • Moo (unregistered)

    I like Remy stories. I find the bit that adds the unicorns and then clear them out with the asteroids bookmarklet from http://erkie.github.com/

    Of course there's often collateral damage...

  • (cs) in reply to rottenluck

    I have too much free time on my hands...

    here, FTFY pal.

    Re akismet: not a spammer, you stupid hack. ;) I kinda wonder what it will take to convince you this actually has some value except for goofing around with Nagesh's comment. Will this much text suffice? Tell me, akismet. How's it looking, pal?

  • (cs) in reply to Nagesh
    Nagesh:
    Your opinion though important is completely irelevant.
    Likewise.
  • SomeYoungGuy (unregistered)

    This sounds amazing to me. I always know immediately when my app is moved to another server because it's never done right and everything explodes horribly.

  • (cs) in reply to Gern Blaanston
    Gern Blaanston:
    I have too much free time on my hands...

    here, FTFY pal.

    Re akismet: not a spammer, you stupid hack. ;) I kinda wonder what it will take to convince you this actually has some value except for goofing around with Nagesh's comment. Will this much text suffice? Tell me, akismet. How's it looking, pal?

    Why Akismet bother you?

  • Ouch! (unregistered)

    TRWTF is log files. For real.

  • bluesman (unregistered) in reply to Rob Halford
    Rob Halford:
    There I was completely wasting, out of work and down All inside its so frustrating as I drift from host to host Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

    Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log! Dropping a Log, Dropping a Log!

    +10

    [image]
  • (cs) in reply to Ouch!
    Ouch!:
    TRWTF is log files. For real.

    I guess you are not programmer.

  • (cs)
    "Oh, that application? Yeah, it's been getting bounced between servers as we need to..."
    I'm not sure what compels some people to do what they do. Really? You need to bounce this application between servers? Why?

    I worked on a project with people like this for a while. No applications floating from server to server (at least not this bad), but several people would arbitrarily jump in and make major changes without telling anyone (they'd even leave Subversion log messages blank on commits - every time). Something would break, and after figuring it out we still wouldn't know what drove the programmer to make the change they did. It's as if they just "felt like it".

    One solution would be to tie these programmers' hands to their chairs. Another would be shock collars.

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to NOT the original, ORIGINAL by
    NOT the original:
    Nagesh:
    Hasteur:
    And this kids is why you document the hell out of everything that goes on with your code. When it comes time to figure out what's going on and where your application is you hold up your signed deployment document along with your phone so that the systems people can call your boss and explain that the location they claimed they installed the application is not where they "did" install the application.

    Yes it passes the buck, but by this point you've sorted through 5 layers of BS and you're not taking the blame.

    Good point! Documentation is essential. That's how we got CMM 5 certification. We have also documented the number of allowable bathroom breaks that employees can have in a shift.

    I like this new Nagesh... He's funnier, and not, um, retarded.

    At least it's better than his Hyperg33k persona.

  • (cs) in reply to S&H IT
    S&H IT:
    Two RWTFs here...

    1. Rich is, to put it professionally, a complete douchebag. He needs to work on his anger management. Perhaps the story is embellished, but I have trouble siding with a jerk protagonist.

    2. Why did this take three days? He could have asked Ops for the email logs, find the time the last heartbeat sent out, and found out where the correct server was in minutes. Emails don't log? Turn them on and check the file in the morning.

    Ah, the naive and simple world you must live in does have great appeal.

    Is there room for more of us there? Are you there now? Can people still see you when you go there?

  • (cs) in reply to Dan

    It was probably a <10M plain text log file before the Exchange server got ahold of it and decided to turn it into HTML.

    I'll won't hijack the thread with my horror story on the topic.

  • Bastiaan van Zwieten (unregistered) in reply to Seth
    Seth:
    What Brian should have done was attach the log file to the heartbeat message, and then he wouldn't have to go through the operations department the next time something like this happens. Yes, I said "something like this." Cue the frits-bot in 3...2...1...

    Seriously? Another way to clogg up the pipes!

    Maybe receive a summary by mail, because entire logfiles can be BIG.

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