010-160 Practice Test 4 — 25 Questions

Question 1

You are managing a directory shared by a project team. You want all files created in this directory to automatically belong to the 'developers' group, regardless of the user's primary group. Which command achieves this?

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

Accepted Answer

chmod g+s /data. `chmod g+s /data` sets the setgid (SGID) bit on the directory. When SGID is set on a directory, any file or subdirectory created inside inherits the directory's group ownership instead of the creating user's primary group. This is exactly the behavior needed for a shared 'developers' group directory.

Answer

usermod -aG developers

Answer

chgrp developers /data

Answer

chmod 1777 /data

Question 2

Which TWO of the following directories are usually located at the root of a Linux filesystem?

Accepted Answer

/etc. Option A, /etc, is correct because it is a standard top-level directory directly under the root (/) in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, holding system-wide configuration files such as /etc/passwd and /etc/fstab. Option E, /bin, is also correct because it is a conventional root-level directory containing essential user command binaries like ls, cp, and bash (often symlinked to /usr/bin on modern distributions). The unmarked options do not belong: /users is not a standard FHS root directory (user home directories live under /home), while /windows and /programs are Windows-style paths with no place in a Linux filesystem hierarchy.

Answer

/users

Answer

/windows

Answer

/programs

Question 3

A support engineer is handed a Linux server and needs to determine which user account is currently logged in on a remote SSH session before performing maintenance, so they can notify the right person. Which command most directly reports the usernames of users currently logged into the system?

Accepted Answer

who. The who utility consults the utmp login records and reports active sessions with usernames, terminals, and login times, including remote connections. That directly satisfies the need to identify who is logged in before maintenance. The alternative commands report identity, group membership, or the invoking user rather than enumerating current sessions.

Answer

id

Answer

whoami

Answer

groups

Question 4

A developer runs `mkdir /srv/collab` on an ext4 filesystem, then runs `chmod 2775 /srv/collab` so that the directory is owned by root:devteam. Later, a member of the devteam group creates a file inside /srv/collab with their default umask of 022. Which group will own the newly created file?

Accepted Answer

The devteam group, because the setgid bit on the parent directory forces group inheritance.. The setgid bit on a directory makes new entries inherit the directory's group instead of the creator's primary group. Because the directory was set to 2775 with group devteam, any file created inside will belong to devteam while retaining the creator as user owner. The umask only strips permission bits and does not change group ownership.

Answer

No group, because the file is created without a group until chgrp is run explicitly.

Answer

The root group, because the parent directory is owned by root:devteam and ownership is copied.

Answer

The creating user's primary group, because file group ownership always mirrors the creator.

Question 5

Which THREE commands are related to viewing or changing group memberships?

Accepted Answer

groups. Option A, `groups`, is correct because it displays the groups a specified user (or the current user) belongs to, directly showing group memberships. Option C, `id`, is correct because it prints the user's UID, primary GID, and the list of supplementary groups the user is a member of, which is exactly membership information. Option E, `usermod -aG`, is correct because the `-aG` combination appends the user to one or more supplementary groups, thereby changing group memberships without removing existing ones. Option B, `chgrp`, is not correct here because it changes the group ownership of files or directories, not a user's group membership. Option D, `groupmod`, is not correct because it modifies a group's attributes such as its name or GID, rather than viewing or changing which users belong to groups.

Answer

chgrp

Answer

groupmod

Question 6

A junior administrator is logged into a Linux server and needs to view the contents of the file '/etc/hosts' without opening an editor. Which command should they run?

Accepted Answer

cat /etc/hosts. Viewing a file without editing it requires a reader such as cat, which streams the file to standard output. Editors like nano, permission tools like chmod, and directory creators like mkdir all serve different purposes and would either modify state or fail outright. For a short configuration file, cat is the direct and correct choice.

Answer

mkdir /etc/hosts

Answer

nano /etc/hosts

Answer

chmod /etc/hosts

Question 7

You need to create a new group named 'audit'. Which command should you execute?

Accepted Answer

groupadd audit. The `groupadd` command is the standard Linux utility for creating a new group, and `groupadd audit` will create a group named 'audit' in the system's group database (/etc/group). This is part of the shadow-utils package and is the canonical way to add groups on Linux distributions.

Answer

newgroup audit

Answer

useradd -g audit

Answer

addgroup audit

Question 8

Which TWO of the following are true about the 'others' category of file permissions?

Accepted Answer

Is the last set of characters in the 'ls -l' output.. Option B is correct because in the ten-character permission string produced by 'ls -l' (e.g., -rwxr-xr-x), the final three characters represent the permissions for the 'others' category, following the owner and group triplets. Option E is correct because 'others' is defined as every user account that is neither the file's owner nor a member of the file's owning group, so those users are governed by this third permission set. Option A is wrong because any user who falls into the 'others' category is affected by these bits, and the owner or root can change them via chmod; it is not restricted to root. Option C is wrong because 'others' permissions are set independently and do not inherit from group permissions. Option D is wrong because owner permissions take precedence in the kernel's permission-checking order (owner, then group, then others), so 'others' can never override the owner's bits.

Answer

Only root can modify this category.

Answer

Automatically inherits group permissions.

Answer

Can override owner permissions.

Question 9

You need to see the last 20 lines of a file named 'access.log'. Which command is the most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

tail -n 20 access.log. tail -n 20 access.log prints the last 20 lines of the file, which is exactly what is needed to inspect recent log entries. The -n option specifies the number of lines, and tail reads from the end of the file, making it ideal for logs where the newest events are appended at the bottom.

Answer

cat -n 20 access.log

Answer

less -n 20 access.log

Answer

head -n 20 access.log

Question 10

You need to change the environment variable PATH to include the directory '/opt/bin'. Which command is standard?

Accepted Answer

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin. The export command marks a shell variable for inclusion in the environment of subsequently executed child processes, so 'export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin' both appends /opt/bin to PATH and ensures the change propagates to child processes. This is the standard, portable way to modify PATH in bash and other POSIX shells. Without export, the change would remain local to the current shell.

Answer

set PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin

Answer

env PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin

Answer

PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin

Question 11

Which THREE of the following are valid directory navigation commands?

Accepted Answer

pushd. The three valid directory navigation commands are pushd (C), pwd (D), and cd (E). cd (E) changes the current working directory, which is the core navigation command in Linux/Unix shells. pwd (D) prints the absolute pathname of the current working directory, confirming where you are in the directory tree. pushd (C) pushes the current directory onto the directory stack and changes to a new directory, enabling stack-based navigation (paired with popd). The unmarked options do not belong: ls (A) lists directory contents rather than navigating, and mkdir (B) creates a new directory rather than changing location.

Answer

ls

Answer

mkdir

Question 12

Which THREE commands can be used to check user information or current session identity?

Accepted Answer

whoami. Option C, whoami, is correct because it prints the effective username of the current session, directly answering the question of current session identity. Option D, id, is correct because it displays the current user's UID, GID, and all supplementary group memberships, giving a complete picture of the session's identity. Option E, groups, is correct because it lists the groups the current user (or a specified user) belongs to, which is user information relevant to session identity. Option A, userdel, is not correct because it is an administrative command that deletes a user account and does not report identity. Option B, chage, is not correct because it manages password aging information for a user account rather than reporting current session identity.

Answer

userdel

Answer

chage

Question 13

A small business owner wants to implement a server that allows for long-term support and stability for critical financial applications. Which distribution strategy should they prioritize?

Accepted Answer

Choosing a distribution that offers an LTS version with a long support lifecycle.. For long-term support and stability of critical financial applications, an LTS (Long Term Support) distribution is ideal because it provides a stable, well-tested platform with security updates for an extended period (often 5-10 years). This minimizes disruptive changes and ensures reliability. Rolling releases and desktop-focused distributions prioritize frequent updates or ease of use, not long-term stability.

Answer

Using a desktop-focused distribution for ease of installation.

Answer

Compiling the kernel from source to match the specific hardware.

Answer

Selecting a rolling release distribution for frequent kernel updates.

Question 14

Which THREE of the following are common shell built-in command types?

Accepted Answer

echo. echo (A) is a shell built-in because most shells implement it internally to print arguments to standard output, and it is listed among the shell's built-in commands. cd (B) must be a built-in since changing the current working directory affects the shell process itself, and an external program could not alter its parent shell's directory. export (E) is a built-in because it sets or modifies environment variables in the current shell's environment, which external commands cannot do for the parent shell. grep (C) and tar (D) are external utilities located as separate executables (e.g., /usr/bin/grep, /bin/tar) rather than shell built-ins, so they do not belong.

Answer

grep

Answer

tar

Question 15

Which THREE of the following are valid ways to get help on a command?

Accepted Answer

info command. Option C (info command) is correct because GNU Info pages provide detailed, hyperlinked documentation for many commands and utilities, invoked as 'info <command>'. Option D (command --help) is correct because most GNU/Linux commands support the '--help' flag, which prints a concise usage summary and available options directly to standard output. Option E (man command) is correct because the 'man' utility displays the system manual pages for a command, covering its syntax, options, and description. Options A and B are not valid: 'help command' is not a general help mechanism (the 'help' builtin only works for shell builtins, not arbitrary commands), and 'search command' is not a help command at all.

Answer

help command

Answer

search command

Question 16

You wish to send the output of the 'ls -l' command directly into a file named 'dirlist.txt', overwriting any existing content. Which operator should you use?

Accepted Answer

ls -l > dirlist.txt. The single greater-than operator (>) redirects standard output to a file, creating the file if it does not exist or truncating and overwriting it if it does. Therefore 'ls -l > dirlist.txt' writes the directory listing into dirlist.txt, replacing any prior content. This is the standard POSIX shell redirection for overwrite semantics.

Answer

ls -l | dirlist.txt

Answer

ls -l >> dirlist.txt

Answer

ls -l < dirlist.txt

Question 17

Which THREE of the following are components of a standard Linux file path?

Accepted Answer

Root directory (/). A standard Linux file path is built from a starting point and a sequence of names that lead to a target. Option A, the root directory (/), is correct because every absolute path begins at the filesystem root, which is the top of the directory hierarchy. Option D, directory names, is correct because intermediate path components are directory names separated by forward slashes (e.g., /usr/bin), and each names a directory traversed along the way. Option E, the filename, is correct because the final component of a path identifies the target file (or directory) itself, such as /etc/hosts. The unmarked options do not belong: terminal color (B) is a display/terminal-emulator setting unrelated to path syntax, and a user password (C) is authentication data stored in files like /etc/shadow, not a component of a path.

Answer

Terminal color

Answer

User password

Question 18

You have added a new hard drive to your Linux server, but the system does not automatically recognize the device. What is the first step you should take to verify if the kernel detects the hardware?

Accepted Answer

Examine the output of dmesg.. The `dmesg` command prints the kernel ring buffer, which contains messages from the kernel during boot and runtime, including hardware detection events. When a new hard drive is added, the kernel logs its detection (or failure to detect) there, making `dmesg` the first place to verify whether the kernel recognized the device. This is the standard first diagnostic step for hardware recognition issues.

Answer

Reinstall the operating system.

Answer

Run the top command.

Answer

Edit the /etc/fstab file.

Question 19

You need to move a file named 'data.txt' from the current directory to '/var/logs' but want to be prompted if a file with the same name already exists in the destination. Which option should you add to 'mv'?

Accepted Answer

mv -i. The 'mv -i' option enables interactive mode, prompting the user for confirmation before overwriting an existing file in the destination. This directly satisfies the requirement to be prompted if a file with the same name already exists. Without -i, mv silently overwrites by default.

Answer

mv -n

Answer

mv -f

Answer

mv -v

Question 20

A student is learning about the open source movement and its impact on software development. Which two statements accurately describe the role of open source licenses in fostering collaboration? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

They allow users to study how the program works and modify it to suit their needs.. The freedom to run the software for any purpose and the freedom to study and modify it are two of the four essential freedoms that define open source software. These freedoms enable users to adapt software to their needs and contribute improvements back, which are fundamental to collaborative development. The other options describe restrictions or requirements that are not part of open source licensing principles.

Answer

They mandate that all software be released under the same license, regardless of the author's choice.

Answer

They prohibit the distribution of modified versions to prevent fragmentation.

Answer

They require that all derivative works be kept secret to protect the original author's intellectual property.