010-160 Practice Test 24 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A junior administrator runs `grep -r "timeout" /etc` inside a Bash login shell. The output scrolls past the terminal window, so the administrator wants to view the complete results one screen at a time while also being able to scroll back through the earlier lines. Which command should the administrator have used instead?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

grep -r "timeout" /etc | less. Sending the recursive grep results through a pager is the standard way to review long output interactively. The less pager presents one screenful at a time and supports scrolling backward and forward, so the administrator can read every matched line and revisit earlier ones. The other choices either discard the output, duplicate the original scrolling behaviour, or detach the job without improving readability.

Answer

grep -r "timeout" /etc &

Answer

grep -r "timeout" /etc | tee

Answer

grep -r "timeout" /etc > /dev/null

Question 2

A junior administrator is troubleshooting a payroll application and runs 'ls -l /srv/payroll/run.sh'. The output shows '-rwxr-x--- 1 root finance 2048 Apr 10 09:14 /srv/payroll/run.sh'. A member of the 'marketing' group complains the script fails with 'Permission denied'. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The marketing user is not the file owner and is not a member of the finance group, so the 'others' permission set applies and grants no access.. Linux evaluates exactly one permission class per access: owner if the caller's UID matches, otherwise group if any of the caller's groups matches the file's group, otherwise others. A marketing user matches neither owner nor group, so only the trailing '---' applies, producing the denial. Understanding this single-class evaluation is essential when diagnosing access complaints.

Answer

The script lacks the setuid bit, so it cannot run with root privileges and the kernel refuses execution for non-owners.

Answer

The 'others' class has write permission removed, and Linux requires write access on a file before it can be executed by a non-owner.

Answer

The execute bit is missing from the group class, so even finance members cannot run the script and the shell falls back to the others class.

Question 3

A developer wants a shell script named `deploy.sh` located in the current directory to be runnable by typing `./deploy.sh`, but currently the command returns 'Permission denied' even though the file contains valid commands. Which command resolves the problem?

Accepted Answer

chmod u+x deploy.sh. Executing a file with ./ requires that the file carry execute permission for the invoking user, and chmod u+x grants exactly that to the owner. The other choices either set a mode without any execute bit, change ownership without adding execute, or attempt to elevate privileges around the missing bit. Only adding execute permission addresses the reported error directly.

Answer

sudo ./deploy.sh

Answer

chown root deploy.sh

Answer

chmod 644 deploy.sh

Question 4

What is the purpose of the 'tee' command?

Accepted Answer

To split output to file and screen. The 'tee' command reads from standard input and writes to both standard output (the screen) and one or more files simultaneously. It is named after a T-splitter in plumbing, reflecting how it splits the data stream. This is useful for capturing output while still viewing it in real time, such as logging a command's output without losing visibility.

Answer

To join files

Answer

To format output

Answer

To filter output

Question 5

A new intern is asked to identify which of the following is a Linux distribution rather than a desktop environment or a package manager. Which item should the intern select?

Accepted Answer

Ubuntu. A Linux distribution is a complete operating system assembled from the Linux kernel, GNU tools, a package manager, and applications. Ubuntu fits that definition. GNOME is a desktop environment, systemd is an init system, and APT is a package manager, so none of them is a distribution on its own.

Answer

systemd

Answer

APT

Answer

GNOME

Question 6

Which command provides a brief summary of what a specific command does without opening the entire man page?

Accepted Answer

whatis. The whatis command displays the one-line description from the man page database for a given command, providing a brief summary without opening the full manual. It reads from the whatis database created by mandb, making it fast and concise. This is exactly the 'brief summary' behavior the question asks for.

Answer

info

Answer

man -d

Answer

apropos

Question 7

Which command-line shortcut allows you to autocomplete filenames and commands?

Accepted Answer

Tab. Pressing the Tab key in a Linux shell triggers the readline completion feature, which autocompletes filenames, directory paths, and command names based on what you have typed so far. If multiple matches exist, pressing Tab twice lists all candidates. This is a core productivity shortcut in bash and most other shells.

Answer

Enter

Answer

Shift + Insert

Answer

Ctrl + C

Question 8

Which directory contains the user accounts' password hashes and aging data on most modern Linux systems?

Accepted Answer

/etc/shadow. On modern Linux systems, /etc/shadow is the file that stores encrypted password hashes along with password aging information such as the last change date, minimum and maximum password age, and expiration warnings. It is readable only by root, which protects the hashes from unauthorized access. The /etc/passwd file historically held password hashes but now contains only user account information, with the password field replaced by an 'x' that points to /etc/shadow.

Answer

/etc/passwd

Answer

/var/spool/mail

Answer

/etc/group

Question 9

A contractor needs to run a diagnostic script that requires reading a log file owned by `root` with mode `640` and group `adm`. The contractor's account `contractor` has primary group `contractor` but has been added as a supplementary member of `adm`. Which statement describes what will happen when the contractor attempts to read the file?

Accepted Answer

The read succeeds because supplementary group membership is honored, and the group read bit applies to the adm group.. Permission evaluation walks the owner, group, and others classes in order and stops at the first match. Because the contractor is a supplementary member of adm and the file grants read to group adm, the group class applies and access is allowed. Primary group switching or owner identity considerations do not change the outcome in this setup.

Answer

The read fails because the file is owned by root and the others class has no read permission.

Answer

The read fails because only the primary group is considered when evaluating the group permission class.

Answer

The read succeeds only if the contractor first runs newgrp adm to switch the primary group for the session.

Question 10

A small business owner wants to replace a proprietary office suite with a free alternative on Linux workstations. A consultant explains that the software can be used, studied, modified, and redistributed. Which concept is the consultant describing?

Accepted Answer

Free software. Free software is defined by four freedoms: running, studying, modifying, and redistributing the program. The consultant's description matches this definition precisely, while SaaS, shareware, and public domain software each lack one or more of those guarantees or operate under different legal models.

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Public domain software

Answer

Shareware

Question 11

Which character is used to append output to an existing file without deleting its original content?

Accepted Answer

>>. The >> operator redirects standard output and appends it to the end of an existing file, preserving the original content. This is the standard shell redirection for adding data without truncation. The single > would overwrite the file, and the other symbols perform input redirection or piping, not appending.

Answer

<

Answer

|

Answer

>

Question 12

A user wants to view the permissions of all files in a directory, including hidden files, in a long listing format. Which command should they use?

Accepted Answer

ls -la. To view permissions of all files, including hidden ones, in a long listing format, the ls command needs both the -l and -a options. The -l option provides detailed information such as permissions, ownership, and size, while -a ensures that hidden files (those starting with a dot) are included. Combining them as ls -la achieves the desired output.

Answer

ls -l

Answer

ls -lh

Answer

ls -a

Question 13

You are using the 'less' command to view a large log file. Which key do you press to search forward for a specific string?

Accepted Answer

/. In the 'less' pager, pressing '/' initiates a forward search for a specified string. After typing the pattern and pressing Enter, 'less' highlights all matches and jumps to the first occurrence after the current position. This is consistent with the vi/vim editor's search behavior, which 'less' mimics for user familiarity.

Answer

?

Answer

q

Answer

n

Question 14

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to create a directory?

Accepted Answer

install -d. Option C, mkdir, is correct because mkdir is the standard Linux command whose sole purpose is to create directories (e.g., mkdir /path/to/dir), and it can create intermediate directories with the -p flag. Option B, install -d, is correct because install with the -d (directory) option creates each specified directory along with any missing parent directories, commonly used in scripts and Makefiles to create destination directories with controlled permissions. The unmarked options do not belong: touch creates or updates empty files (not directories), ln creates hard or symbolic links, and cp -d preserves symbolic links during a copy rather than creating a directory.

Answer

touch

Answer

ln

Answer

cp -d

Question 15

You need to set an environment variable named 'MYVAR' to 'hello' so that it is available to child processes. Which command is correct?

Accepted Answer

export MYVAR=hello. The export builtin marks a shell variable for inclusion in the environment of subsequently executed child processes. Writing export MYVAR=hello both assigns the value and exports it in one step, making it visible to programs launched from that shell. Without export, the variable would remain a shell-local variable and would not be inherited by child processes.

Answer

set MYVAR=hello

Answer

MYVAR=hello

Answer

env MYVAR=hello