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TECH STACK & CAREER TRANSITION MAP

1-Shot Cheat Notes
[ SOFTWARE ]
PLM ➔ (Product Life Cycle Management)

Def: Manages product lifecycle from 3D CAD design to manufacturing.

CAD : 3D models & drawings : Creo, SolidWorks
BOM : Bill of Materials (part list) : Part Structure
Revision : Version history : A.1 (Draft) ➔ B.1 (Released)
Change Flow : PR ➔ ECR ➔ ECN ➔ ECA : Issue ➔ Request ➔ Notice ➔ Action

Example: PTC Windchill

Linux ➔ (Kernel)

Def: Core engine bridging hardware & software. Combined with system tools to build complete Operating Systems.

File: Holds text / code / data (e.g. wt.properties)
Directory: Folder holding files & subfolders (e.g. /opt/ptc)
📂 Folders & Files:
pwd (where am I?)
cd /dir (change directory)
ls -la (list all files)
mkdir (make directory)
cp (copy file)
mv (move / rename)
rm (delete / remove)
📝 View & Logs:
cat file (read file content)
less file (scroll page by page)
tail -f log (watch live logs)
nano/vi (edit file)
⚡ Server:
ps -ef (show running apps)
df -h (check disk space)
free -h (check RAM / memory)
top (check CPU / RAM / all running processes)
chmod 755 file (change permission)
chown user:group file (change owner)

OS Example: Ubuntu (OS), RedHat / RHEL (OS)

Database (DB) ➔ (Storage)

Def: System that stores text data in tables. (Heavy CAD files live in File Vaults).

SQL Command: SELECT * FROM WTPartMaster;
SELECT : Fetch / read data
* : All columns / fields
FROM : Target table keyword
WTPartMaster : Windchill master part table (stores part numbers & names)
; : End of SQL statement

Example: PostgreSQL, Oracle, AWS RDS

Network ➔ (Routing & Security)
IP : Server address : 10.2.10.1
Port : Communication doorway : 80, 443, 8080, 1521
Load Balancer : Splits traffic across servers : F5, AWS ALB
App Gateway : Secure entry & reverse proxy : Apache HTTP, AWS App Gateway
Firewall (F/W) : Blocks unauthorized traffic/ports : iptables, AWS Security Group
Apache : Web server & reverse proxy managing SSL/HTTPS : Apache HTTP Server
Directory Server : Server storing user logins & LDAP data : Windchill DS / OpenDS
LDAP : Protocol to connect user database : Port 389, OpenLDAP
CAD ➔ (Computer Aided Design)
CAD Software : Tools to design 3D models & 2D drawings : Creo, SolidWorks, AutoCAD
WGM (Workgroup Manager) : Bridge connecting non-PTC CAD to Windchill : SolidWorks / NX Connector
CAD Worker : Background app converting CAD files to viewables : Worker Daemon
Cloud ➔ (AWS, Azure & GCP)

Def: Renting servers, storage, and databases over the internet (no physical hardware).

AWS : Amazon Cloud platform : EC2 (VM), S3 (Storage), RDS (DB)
Azure : Microsoft Cloud platform : Azure VMs, Blob Storage, Azure SQL
GCP : Google Cloud platform : Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL
[ COMPANY & INFO ]
P.T.C ➔ (Windchill Support Engineer JD)
PTC Apps : Enterprise PLM & IoT : Windchill, Navigate, CAD Workers
Install / Deploy : Automated App Rollouts : Upgrades & 3rd Party Software
Rehost / Refresh : Environment Cloning : Prod ➔ Stage Rehost Procedures
SSO & Security : Single Sign-On Config : SAML / Azure AD / Okta
Tuning : Performance Optimization : MethodServer, Heap, DB Cache
Cloud DevOps : Cloud Resource Decisions : AWS / Azure / GCP Infra
B.T. ➔ (British Telecom • SRE L2)
Role : Service Reliability Engineer (L2) : 5+ Yrs (BT & HCL)
Core Strength : Enterprise Network & Security : Cisco SD-WAN, Palo Alto, Zscaler
Linux Basics : OS Navigation & Log Triage : CLI, tail -f, ps -ef, df -h, top
DB & Cloud : Working Basics of SQL & AWS : Basic SELECT queries, Cloud Infra
SLA & SOPs : 99.99% Uptime & Runbooks : MOP/POA Pipelines, Infoblox DDI
Credentials : CCNA Certified : CSCO14284258 • B.Tech CSE
[ INTERVIEW Q&A & STRATEGY ]
🎤 Q1: Tell me about yourself / Introduce yourself +

"I'm Taniya Chaudhary. I have 5+ years of experience as a Service Reliability Engineer across British Telecom and HCL, managing enterprise network infrastructure, firewalls, and maintaining 99.99% uptime across 50+ global sites.

Alongside my core in networking and security, I handle day-to-day Linux administration—navigating CLI, checking system logs, managing processes, and monitoring server health—along with basic SQL queries and Cloud infrastructure.

I'm looking to leverage my infrastructure and troubleshooting background at PTC to support on Windchill"

🎯 Q2: Why transition from Telecom / SRE to PTC Windchill? +

Enterprise applications like Windchill rely on the same infrastructure fundamentals I deal with daily: network routing, firewalls, load balancers, and Linux servers. I want to move closer to enterprise application platforms and Cloud DevOps, where I can use my infrastructure troubleshooting skills on multi-tier software environments.

🌐 Q3: How does your networking background help in Windchill Support? +

Windchill runs as a multi-tier distributed architecture. When users report connection drops, slow check-ins, or SSO login issues, the root cause usually points to ports, reverse proxies (Apache), load balancers, or firewall rules. My strong network foundation lets me quickly isolate whether an issue is network-related, server-related, or application-level.

🔌 Q4: What are the critical ports in Windchill architecture? +
  • 443 / 80 : HTTPS / HTTP (Client web traffic to Apache or Load Balancer)
  • 8080 : Windchill MethodServer (Internal application port)
  • 1521 / 5432 : Oracle / PostgreSQL Database connection
  • 389 / 636 : LDAP / LDAPS (User authentication & Directory Server)
🚨 Q5: How do you troubleshoot a Windchill outage? +

I isolate the failure layer step-by-step:

  • Network: ping <IP> and nc -zv <host> <port> to check if the server and required ports are reachable.
  • Processes: ps -ef | grep MethodServer to see if the Windchill background process is running.
  • Resources: top and df -h to check for CPU/RAM exhaustion or full disk partitions.
  • Logs: Inspect MethodServer.log and Apache error_log for stack traces or DB connection drops.
🐧 Q6: Which Linux commands do you use daily for troubleshooting? +
  • tail -f <file> : Watch real-time log output.
  • grep -i "error" <file> : Filter specific error patterns.
  • ps -ef : List all running background processes.
  • top / free -h : Monitor CPU load and RAM usage.
  • df -h : Check disk space across mount points.
  • chmod 755 / chown user:group : Fix file permissions and ownership.
🔑 Q7: What is Single Sign-On (SSO) and how does it work? +

SSO lets users authenticate once using their corporate directory (like Azure AD or Okta) without retyping credentials.

⚖️ Q8: What is the role of a Load Balancer in Windchill? +

It distributes incoming user requests evenly across multiple Apache web servers. It runs continuous health checks and automatically reroutes traffic away from failed nodes, ensuring continuous uptime.

🔍 Q9: How do you verify if a port is listening on Linux? +
  • On the server: ss -tulnp | grep <port> or netstat -tulnp | grep <port>
  • From a client/remote host: nc -zv <server_ip> <port> or telnet <server_ip> <port>
🗄️ Q10: Database vs File Vaults in Windchill? +
  • Database (Oracle/PostgreSQL): Stores structured metadata—part numbers, BOM links, lifecycle states, and permissions.
  • File Vaults (Local Disk or AWS S3): Stores actual files and zip streams with deduplication, preventing the database from bloating.
🔄 Q11: What is Windchill Rehosting / Refresh? +

It is cloning a production Windchill environment—database, file vaults, and configuration files—into a non-production (staging/test) environment, followed by updating hostnames, base URLs, and LDAP endpoints so developers can safely validate patches and upgrades.

⚙️ Q12: What is a CAD Worker and what does it do? +

It's a background machine/service running Worker Service that automatically opens CAD files and converts them into lightweight 3D viewables for viewing in CreoView.

📊 Q13: How do you identify CPU or Memory bottlenecks on Linux? +

I run top to identify the top CPU/memory consuming PIDs. I check free -h for available RAM and swap usage.

👥 Q14: What is LDAP / Active Directory and why does Windchill use it? +

It is a central directory service storing enterprise user accounts and groups. Windchill connects to LDAP (Port 389 / 636) to authenticate logins directly against corporate credentials.

☁️ Q15: What is your Cloud experience (AWS / Azure / GCP)? +

Familiar through Cloud Management Web Consoles (UI): checking EC2/VM instances status, browsing S3/Blob storage buckets, viewing RDS database health, and verifying Security Group firewall rules.