ICT Support, Troubleshooting, and Documentation
ICT Support, Troubleshooting, and Documentation tests structured problem solving and clear records. Expect a repeatable method, diagnostic questions, safe changes, escalation, and documentation that another technician can follow.
A repeatable method
- Identify the symptom, scope, and recent changes; ask what changed and when it last worked.
- Form one hypothesis at a time, test it with the least invasive command, and record the result.
- Resolve, verify with the user, then document the cause, fix, and prevention.
Documentation and change control
- Capture timestamps, hostnames, commands, outputs, and ticket IDs. Store runbooks where the team can find them.
- Before a change, take a backup or snapshot and define a rollback. Change one variable at a time.
- Escalate with evidence: what you tried, what you observed, and the impact.
Worked example
A user reports a Linux desktop is slow. Check uptime and load; free -h for memory and swap; df -h for full filesystems; top for CPU and I/O wait; journalctl -p err -b for errors; then ask about recent updates or new software. Reasoning: this separates resource exhaustion from a failing disk, a runaway process, or a recent change. If /home is 100% full, clearing cache or extending the volume is a targeted fix, not a reboot.
Traps
- Changing several settings at once so you cannot tell what fixed it.
- Closing a ticket without user confirmation.
- Assuming the user caused the problem.
- Making changes without a rollback plan or documentation.