Automation

An Ansible reference covering ad-hoc commands, inventory management, common modules (copy, template, service, shell), Playbook structure, and syntax and check validation.

For periodic scripts, scheduled backups, and log cleanup, cron is the most widespread Linux job scheduler — the five-field time syntax is the main hurdle. This reference covers the time format and special strings, common examples, crontab subcommands, environment variables, and troubleshooting hooks like log location and MAILTO.

On Windows, system administration and automation hinge on PowerShell's object pipeline — cmdlets return objects, not text, so you filter and act on properties directly. This reference covers common cmdlets and their Linux counterparts, file/process/service operations, and Invoke-Command remoting, to turn daily Windows ops into scripts.

The Makefile's real value is its dependency graph — declaring prerequisites means only stale targets rebuild, which is why it also powers many non-C automation tasks. This reference covers variable assignment (= vs := vs ?=), targets and rules, pattern rules and automatic variables, conditionals and functions, plus common pitfalls like .PHONY.