Ask HN: Delegate VM configuration/troubleshooting?
I'm a freelance mobile/web developer whose company is growing to the point where I have to pull on help. One time consuming things that I haven't delegated is configuring or trouble-shooting things on VMs for clients.
I find this to be very time consuming however I am reticent to have a subcontractor do this as I'm nervous about giving root access, if even for a short while.
Is there a reasonable way to delegate this such that I don't have to worry about nefarious activity? Or a way that I can detect that someone has been doing something they shouldn't? I think you basically have a people problem not a technical problem. Anyone with sufficient access and sufficient skills to configure/fix servers for you, will be able to avoid/disable/obfuscate monitoring tools. I believe the solution to your issue will be basically building trust in a company/freelancer who can help you on an ad-hoc basis. in the past I've solved similar issues (basically, how do they trust someone they just "met" on HN with root/sudo access) with clients by doing basic diagnosis via a non privileged account, and asking them to run commands/scripts as required (either for deeper diagnosis or a fix). Obviously I explain the purpose/goal of the things I ask them to run, and I'd invite them to get a 2nd opinion about the purpose/safety of said commands. <shameless plug>
If you're interested in trying something like I described, drop me a line (see my profile). Edit: wtf typo. Alrighty. I sent an email. Thanks. Contacting you :)