010-160 Finding Your Way ON A Linux System Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

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 2

Which THREE of the following represent ways to refer to the home directory?

Accepted Answer

~. Option A (~) is correct because the tilde is the shell's standard shorthand for the current user's home directory, expanded by the shell before command execution. Option C ($HOME) is correct because HOME is the environment variable that stores the absolute path of the current user's home directory, and referencing $HOME resolves to that path. Option D (/home/user) is correct because on typical Linux systems the home directory for a user named 'user' is literally located at /home/user, making it a valid absolute path reference. Option B (..) is not correct because it refers to the parent directory of the current working directory, not the home directory. Option E (/) is not correct because it denotes the root of the filesystem, which is distinct from a user's home directory.

Answer

..

Answer

/

Question 3

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 4

Which THREE of the following commands are used for file manipulation?

Accepted Answer

cp. The three commands used for file manipulation are cp, rm, and mv. Option A, cp, is correct because it copies files and directories from a source to a destination, creating new file content at the target path. Option D, rm, is correct because it removes (deletes) files and, with options like -r, directories from the filesystem. Option E, mv, is correct because it moves or renames files and directories, changing their location or name within the filesystem. The unmarked options do not belong: man (B) displays manual pages for commands, and pwd (C) prints the current working directory path, so neither performs file manipulation.

Answer

man

Answer

pwd

Question 5

Which TWO of the following options can be used with 'rm' to ensure safe operation?

Accepted Answer

-I. Option A (-I) is correct because it makes rm prompt once before removing more than three files (or recursively), providing a safety net against accidental mass deletion while avoiding the constant prompting of -i. Option E (-i) is correct because it forces rm to prompt for confirmation before every single removal, which is the classic way to ensure safe, deliberate operation. The unmarked options do not belong: -v only prints what is being removed without any confirmation, -r enables recursive deletion of directories (increasing risk rather than safety), and -f forces removal without prompting and ignores nonexistent files, directly defeating safe operation.

Answer

-v

Answer

-r

Answer

-f

Question 6

Which THREE of the following commands are used for viewing file metadata or status?

Accepted Answer

ls -l. Option A, `ls -l`, is correct because the long-listing format displays file metadata such as permissions, hard-link count, owner, group, size, and modification timestamp for each file. Option B, `stat`, is correct because it explicitly reports file status/metadata including inode number, size, block count, access/modify/change times, and device information. Option C, `file`, is correct because it inspects file content and reports the file type (e.g., ASCII text, ELF binary, directory), which is file status information. Option D, `cat`, is not correct because it concatenates and prints file contents rather than showing metadata. Option E, `cd`, is not correct because it changes the shell's current working directory and displays no file metadata or status.

Answer

cat

Answer

cd

Question 7

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to search for files?

Accepted Answer

find. Option C, find, is correct because it is the standard Linux/Unix command for searching the filesystem for files by name, path, size, permissions, timestamps, and other attributes (e.g., find / -name "*.conf"). Option E, locate, is correct because it searches a prebuilt filename database (typically /var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db, updated by updatedb) and returns matching file paths quickly. Option A, man, is not a file-search tool; it displays manual pages for commands. Option B, cat, is used to concatenate and display file contents, not to search for files. Option D, grep, searches for text patterns inside file contents rather than locating files themselves.

Answer

man

Answer

cat

Answer

grep

Question 8

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 9

Which TWO of the following commands help you move within the directory structure?

Accepted Answer

cd. Option C, cd, is correct because it is the shell built-in that changes the current working directory, allowing you to move up, down, or across the directory tree (e.g., cd /var/log or cd ..). Option E, popd, is correct because it removes the top entry from the directory stack and changes the current working directory to the newly exposed directory, effectively moving you within the directory structure. Option A, cat, is wrong because it concatenates and displays file contents rather than changing your location. Option B, ls, is wrong because it only lists directory contents without changing the working directory. Option D, mv, is wrong because it moves or renames files and directories, not the shell's current working directory.

Answer

cat

Answer

ls

Answer

mv

Question 10

Which THREE of the following are types of manual page sections?

Accepted Answer

User commands (1). The Linux manual pages are organized into numbered sections, and the three options marked correct are genuine section types: B 'User commands (1)' is section 1, which documents executable programs and shell commands users can run; C 'System calls (2)' is section 2, which documents the kernel system-call interface used by programs such as open(2) and read(2); and D 'File formats (5)' is section 5, which documents file formats and conventions such as /etc/passwd(5) and proc(5). The unmarked options do not belong: A 'Network protocols (10)' is not a manual section (section 10 does not exist in the standard man-pages layout), and E 'Kernel hardware (20)' is not a manual section either (section 20 is not a standard section; hardware-related pages typically appear in section 4, 'Devices and special files').

Answer

Network protocols (10)

Answer

Kernel hardware (20)

Question 11

A junior administrator is troubleshooting a script and needs to know the exact location of the executable that runs when the command 'grep' is typed, without executing it. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

which grep. The which command is designed to locate a command's executable by searching the directories in the PATH environment variable in order, returning the first match that would be executed. This directly addresses the need to identify the exact binary without running it, and it respects the shell's command resolution behavior, unlike broader search tools that may return multiple or irrelevant results.

Answer

locate grep

Answer

whereis grep

Answer

find / -name grep

Question 12

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 13

A user named alice is working in /home/alice/projects and wants to navigate to the parent directory of her current location. Which command should she execute?

Accepted Answer

cd ... The parent directory is represented by the special entry '..', which exists in every directory on a Linux filesystem. Issuing cd .. from /home/alice/projects therefore moves the shell's working directory to /home/alice. The other commands change to different locations: the previous directory, the home directory, or the filesystem root, none of which specifically means 'one level up'.

Answer

cd ~

Answer

cd /

Answer

cd -

Question 14

A junior administrator is at a shell prompt in /home/alex and wants to see a compact, one-line-per-entry listing that includes hidden files along with their permissions and sizes. Which command accomplishes this?

Accepted Answer

ls -la. A long listing is produced with -l, and hidden entries are included with -a. Combining the two flags gives permissions, ownership, size, timestamps, and dotfiles in a single-column format, which matches the administrator's goal of inspecting everything in the current directory without recursion or extra inode data.

Answer

ls -i

Answer

ls -R

Answer

ls -d

Question 15

A user is in '/var/log' and wants to copy the file 'app.log' to '/tmp/archive' while preserving its original permissions, ownership, and timestamps. Which command accomplishes this?

Accepted Answer

cp -a app.log /tmp/archive/. Preserving permissions, ownership, and timestamps during a copy requires cp with the archive option, which bundles recursive copying and full attribute preservation. A plain copy resets attributes, moving removes the source, and creating a symbolic link does not duplicate data. Only the archive-mode copy produces an independent file with metadata intact.

Answer

mv -a app.log /tmp/archive/

Answer

cp app.log /tmp/archive/

Answer

ln -s app.log /tmp/archive/