Startup IT Troubleshooting
Runbooks for startups and small teams where engineers double as the IT department.
When to Use
You are the "accidental IT person." Nobody has IT in their title, but laptops freeze, Wi-Fi drops during investor demos, someone gets locked out of Google Workspace at midnight, and a new hire starts Monday with zero accounts. This skill gives you copy-paste commands to handle it all.
Priority triage: (1) Company-wide outages, (2) Executive/customer-facing blockers, (3) Team-wide degradations, (4) Individual workstation issues. Always ask: "How many people are affected?" and "Is revenue impacted?"
SSO / Identity Lockouts
Google Workspace via GAM
bashbash <(curl -s -S -L https://gam-shortn.appspot.com/gam-install) # install GAM gam oauth create # authorize gam update user jane@company.com password "TempPass123!" changepassword on # reset password gam update user jane@company.com suspended off # unsuspend locked-out user gam user jane@company.com signout # force sign-out all sessions gam user jane@company.com update backupcodes # new MFA backup codes gam user jane@company.com turnoff2sv # disable 2SV (re-enable within 24h)
Okta API
bashOKTA="company.okta.com"; T="your-api-token"; UID="00u1abcdef" curl -X POST -H "Authorization: SSWS $T" "https://$OKTA/api/v1/users/$UID/lifecycle/unlock" curl -X POST -H "Authorization: SSWS $T" "https://$OKTA/api/v1/users/$UID/lifecycle/reset_password?sendEmail=true" curl -X POST -H "Authorization: SSWS $T" "https://$OKTA/api/v1/users/$UID/lifecycle/reset_factors" curl -X DELETE -H "Authorization: SSWS $T" "https://$OKTA/api/v1/users/$UID/sessions"
MFA recovery flow: Verify identity via video call, generate backup codes or reset factors, have user re-enroll immediately, confirm old device is deregistered, log the incident.
Network Troubleshooting
Wi-Fi Debugging
bash# macOS /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I networksetup -setairportpower en0 off && sleep 2 && networksetup -setairportpower en0 on sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder # Linux nmcli device wifi list && nmcli connection show --active nmcli device disconnect wlan0 && nmcli device connect wlan0 sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
powershellnetsh wlan show interfaces netsh wlan disconnect; netsh wlan connect name="OfficeWiFi" ipconfig /flushdns netsh winsock reset # full stack reset, reboot after
DNS Issues
bashnslookup company.com 8.8.8.8 # test against known-good DNS dig @1.1.1.1 company.com # Linux/macOS detail sudo networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 # macOS temp override
powershell$a = Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Up"} Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex $a.ifIndex -ServerAddresses ("8.8.8.8","8.8.4.4")
VPN Not Connecting
bashnc -zv vpn.company.com 443 # test port reachability sudo wg show # WireGuard status sudo wg-quick down wg0 && sudo wg-quick up wg0 # restart WireGuard tailscale status && sudo tailscale up --reset # Tailscale re-auth
Slow Internet
bashspeedtest-cli --simple # bandwidth test (pip install speedtest-cli) ping -c 50 8.8.8.8 # packet loss check networkQuality -s # macOS 12+ bufferbloat test
Laptop Performance
Disk Space
bashdf -h # volume overview du -sh ~/* | sort -rh | head -15 # biggest dirs in home docker system df # Docker disk usage (common culprit) docker system prune -a --volumes # reclaim Docker space brew cleanup --prune=all # macOS Homebrew cleanup
powershellGet-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem | Select Name,@{N='Free(GB)';E={[math]::Round($_.Free/1GB,2)}} Get-ChildItem C:\ -Recurse -File -EA SilentlyContinue | Sort Length -Desc | Select -First 15 FullName,@{N='MB';E={[math]::Round($_.Length/1MB,2)}}
Memory Pressure and Runaway Processes
bash# macOS memory_pressure top -o rsize -l 1 -n 10 -stats pid,command,rsize pkill -f "Google Chrome Helper" # Linux free -h && ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -11 sudo dmesg | grep -i "oom\|out of memory"
powershellGet-Process | Sort WorkingSet64 -Desc | Select -First 10 Name,@{N='MB';E={[math]::Round($_.WorkingSet64/1MB,2)}} Stop-Process -Name "Teams" -Force
Battery Health
bashsystem_profiler SPPowerDataType | grep -E "Cycle Count|Condition" # macOS upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0 # Linux
powershellpowercfg /batteryreport /output "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\battery.html"
macOS Administration
bashprofiles status -type enrollment # MDM enrollment check sudo systemsetup -setremotelogin on # enable SSH for remote admin # Homebrew fleet setup — standard Brewfile cat > Brewfile <<'EOF' brew "git"; brew "node"; brew "python@3.12"; brew "awscli"; brew "jq"; brew "gh" cask "google-chrome"; cask "slack"; cask "1password"; cask "visual-studio-code"; cask "docker"; cask "zoom" EOF brew bundle install --file=Brewfile brew bundle dump --file=~/Brewfile --force # export current setup # FileVault sudo fdesetup status && sudo fdesetup enable # store recovery key in 1Password # Updates softwareupdate -l && sudo softwareupdate -ia --restart
Windows Administration
powershellgpresult /r; gpupdate /force # check and refresh Group Policy # Windows Update Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force -Scope CurrentUser Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot # If stuck: reset update components Stop-Service wuauserv,cryptSvc,bits,msiserver -Force Remove-Item "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution" -Recurse -Force Start-Service wuauserv,cryptSvc,bits,msiserver # BitLocker manage-bde -status C: Enable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:" -EncryptionMethod XtsAes256 -UsedSpaceOnly -TpmProtector # Remote Desktop Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server' -Name "fDenyTSConnections" -Value 0 Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"
Linux Desktop
bash# Ubuntu — fix broken packages sudo apt --fix-broken install && sudo dpkg --configure -a && sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # Fedora — fix broken packages sudo dnf check && sudo dnf distro-sync && sudo dnf update -y # Service failures systemctl --failed journalctl -p err -b # Drivers sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall # Ubuntu proprietary drivers lspci | grep -i vga && sudo lshw -C display # GPU info sudo dmesg | grep -i firmware # missing firmware # Display issues xrandr --auto # reset to auto-detect xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode 1920x1080 --rate 60 # force resolution echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE # Wayland vs X11 check
Email / Calendar Issues
Google Workspace
bashgam user jane@company.com show forwarding # check rogue forwarding rules gam user jane@company.com delete forwarding # remove forwarding gam user jane@company.com show delegates # check email delegation gam user jane@company.com show filters # check mail filters
Microsoft 365
powershellInstall-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement -Force -Scope CurrentUser Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName admin@company.com Get-MessageTrace -SenderAddress jane@company.com -StartDate (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) -EndDate (Get-Date) Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity jane@company.com | Select DisplayName,TotalItemSize
Email Deliverability
bashdig TXT company.com | grep "v=spf1" # SPF dig TXT google._domainkey.company.com # DKIM dig TXT _dmarc.company.com # DMARC
Onboarding Checklist
bash# 1. Google Workspace account gam create user newhire@company.com firstname "Jane" lastname "Smith" \ password "Welcome2Company!" changepassword on org "/Engineering" gam update group engineering@company.com add member newhire@company.com # 2. 1Password op user provision --email newhire@company.com --name "Jane Smith" # 3. Slack curl -X POST "https://slack.com/api/admin.users.invite" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer xoxp-your-admin-token" \ -d "email=newhire@company.com&channel_ids=C01GENERAL,C02ENGINEERING&team_id=T01YOURTEAM" # 4. GitHub gh api orgs/your-company/invitations -f email="newhire@company.com" -f role="direct_member" gh api orgs/your-company/teams/engineering/memberships/newhire-username -f role="member" -X PUT # 5. VPN / Tailscale tailscale up --authkey tskey-auth-abc123
First-Day Setup Script (macOS)
Give new hires this script. It installs Homebrew, your standard tools from a hosted Brewfile, configures Git, authenticates GitHub CLI, clones core repos, and enables FileVault.
bash#!/bin/bash set -e /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)" curl -sL https://internal.company.com/setup/Brewfile -o /tmp/Brewfile && brew bundle install --file=/tmp/Brewfile read -p "Full name: " N; read -p "Email: " E git config --global user.name "$N" && git config --global user.email "$E" && git config --global pull.rebase true gh auth login && mkdir -p ~/src && cd ~/src && gh repo clone your-company/main-app sudo fdesetup enable
Offboarding Checklist
Run these immediately when someone departs. Speed matters for security.
bashgam update user departed@company.com suspended on # 1. block all access gam user departed@company.com signout # 2. kill sessions gam user departed@company.com transfer drive manager@company.com # 3. transfer Drive gam user departed@company.com add delegate manager@company.com # 4. delegate email 30d curl -X POST "https://slack.com/api/admin.users.remove" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer xoxp-your-admin-token" \ -d "user_id=U01DEPARTED&team_id=T01YOURTEAM" # 5. remove Slack gh api orgs/your-company/members/departed-username -X DELETE # 6. remove GitHub op user suspend departed@company.com # 7. revoke 1Password aws iam delete-login-profile --user-name departed # 8. revoke AWS console aws iam list-access-keys --user-name departed # then delete each key echo "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ) Offboarded departed@company.com" >> ~/offboarding-log.txt
Video Conferencing
bash# macOS lsof | grep "AppleCamera\|VDC" # check what owns the camera pkill -f zoom.us && open -a zoom.us # restart Zoom tccutil reset Camera # reset camera permissions # Linux pactl list short sources # list mics pactl set-source-mute @DEFAULT_SOURCE@ 0 # unmute mic
powershellGet-CimInstance Win32_SoundDevice | Select Name, Status
Quick fixes: No audio = check OS mute + correct device. No video = close other conferencing apps. Echo = use headphones. Choppy = need 3+ Mbps upload.
Printer / Peripheral Issues
bash# macOS lpstat -p -d && cancel -a # list printers, clear queue sudo launchctl stop org.cups.cupsd && sudo launchctl start org.cups.cupsd system_profiler SPUSBDataType # USB devices # Linux sudo systemctl restart cups # restart print system lsusb && dmesg | tail -20 # USB diagnostics
powershellRestart-Service Spooler -Force # restart print spooler Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "OfficePrinter" | Remove-PrintJob # clear stuck jobs
Security Basics
Endpoint Protection
bash# macOS spctl --status # Gatekeeper csrutil status # SIP sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getglobalstate sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --setglobalstate on # Linux sudo ufw enable && sudo ufw default deny incoming && sudo ufw default allow outgoing
powershellGet-MpComputerStatus | Select AntivirusEnabled, RealTimeProtectionEnabled Start-MpScan -ScanType QuickScan Get-NetFirewallProfile | Select Name, Enabled
Phishing Response
bashgam update user compromised@company.com password "$(openssl rand -base64 16)" changepassword on gam user compromised@company.com signout # kill sessions gam user compromised@company.com turnoff2sv # reset MFA gam user compromised@company.com show tokens # check rogue OAuth apps gam user compromised@company.com show forwarding # check attacker persistence
Lost / Stolen Device Protocol
- Immediately -- Remote wipe via MDM or Find My Mac.
- Within 15 min -- Reset password and kill sessions (SSO commands above).
- Within 1 hour -- Rotate API keys and secrets:
gh auth refresh, delete AWS access keys. - Within 24 hours -- Review access logs for suspicious activity.
Related Skills
- incident-management -- Structured incident handling
- runbook-creation -- Documentation standards
