Build an asset register that warns before support runs out

short · 40 min · Objective 2.7

Task

Build an asset register for the lab and a set of fictional production servers, with warranty and support end dates, then write the check that lists everything whose support ends within 180 days. Add the licensing arithmetic for one server so the register answers the two questions audits ask: what do we own, and are we covered.

Steps

  1. Write lab/assets/register.csv with header asset_tag,hostname,model,serial,location,owner,purchased,support_ends,status for your lab machines and six fictional servers. Make two of the support dates fall within the next 180 days and one in the past.
  2. Write lab/assets/expiring.sh that prints every asset whose support_ends is within 180 days of today or already past, with the number of days remaining.
  3. Run it and save the output to lab/assets/expiring.txt.
  4. For a fictional two-socket server with 16 cores per processor, work out the per-core licence count for an operating system that licenses every physical core with a minimum of 16 cores per server, and record cores: and core_licences: in lab/assets/licensing.txt.
  5. Record in lab/assets/decision.txt what you would do about the asset whose support has already ended.

Verify

These checks run in a POSIX shell: Terminal on macOS or Linux, and on Windows Git Bash (it comes with Git for Windows) or WSL. A stock Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt has no awk or grep, so there the first line fails.

awk -F, 'NR>1 && NF!=9 {bad++} END {print bad+0" malformed row(s)"}' lab/assets/register.csv
awk -F, 'NR>1 {t[$1]++} END {for (a in t) if (t[a]>1) d++; print d+0" duplicate tag(s)"}' lab/assets/register.csv
grep -c . lab/assets/expiring.txt
grep -Ec '^core_licences: 32$' lab/assets/licensing.txt
grep -Eic 'renew|replace|accept|retire' lab/assets/decision.txt

No malformed rows, no duplicate asset tags, and at least three assets reported as expiring or expired. Two sockets of 16 cores is 32 physical cores, above the 16-core minimum, so 32 core licences. The decision must be one of renew, replace, or knowingly accept the risk -- not "noticed".

Notes

Real registers also track licences and support contracts as items of their own, linked to the assets they cover, so that retiring a server frees its licences instead of leaving them counted against something that no longer exists.

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