010-160 The Linux Operating System — 10 Questions

Question 1

A user is complaining that their application runs slowly. You suspect the system is swapping excessively. Which command shows the current usage of swap space?

Accepted Answer

swapon -s. The free command displays total, used, and free swap space.

Answer

fdisk -l

Answer

vmstat

Answer

mount

Question 2

Which command is used to safely shut down the system immediately?

Accepted Answer

poweroff. The shutdown -h now command sends a signal to the init system to power off the machine.

Answer

reboot

Answer

exit

Question 3

You want to view the kernel's boot messages to check for driver initialization errors. Which command is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

journalctl -b. dmesg reads the kernel ring buffer, which holds boot-time messages.

Answer

cat /var/log/auth.log

Answer

lsmod

Answer

modprobe

Question 4

An administrator wants to view the current system load and active processes. Which utility is the most appropriate for a real-time monitor?

Accepted Answer

top. The top command provides a dynamic, real-time view of running processes and system load.

Answer

df -T

Answer

ps aux

Answer

cat /proc/cpuinfo

Question 5

You are configuring a Linux server and need to determine which hard drive partition is currently mounted as the root filesystem. Which file should you inspect?

Accepted Answer

/etc/fstab. The /etc/fstab file contains information about filesystems and their mount points.

Answer

/var/log/dmesg

Answer

/etc/passwd

Answer

/proc/partitions

Question 6

A user reports that they cannot save files to their home directory. You find that the disk is not full. What is the most likely cause related to hardware-based limitations?

Accepted Answer

The partition has run out of inodes.. If the disk is not full, the partition might have reached its inode limit, preventing the creation of new files.

Answer

The RAM is corrupted.

Answer

The CPU temperature is too high.

Answer

The BIOS settings are incorrect.

Question 7

You are managing a Linux server and need to confirm the IP address assigned to the eth0 interface. Which command is most appropriate on modern distributions?

Accepted Answer

ip addr. The ip addr command is the modern standard for displaying network interface configurations.

Answer

ifconfig

Answer

route -n

Answer

netstat -rn

Question 8

You are troubleshooting a network issue where a Linux server cannot reach an external website. The ping command to the gateway succeeds, but pinging the website IP fails. Which configuration file should you check to ensure the server can resolve domain names?

Accepted Answer

/etc/resolv.conf. The /etc/resolv.conf file contains DNS server addresses required for domain name resolution.

Answer

/etc/network/interfaces

Answer

/etc/sysconfig/network

Answer

/etc/hosts

Question 9

A technician needs to identify the amount of RAM installed in a server without opening the chassis. Which command provides this information from the command line?

Accepted Answer

free -m. The free command displays the total, used, and free physical memory and swap space in the system.

Answer

uptime

Answer

lsblk

Answer

df -h

Question 10

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 displays the kernel ring buffer, which logs hardware detection events during boot or device insertion.

Answer

Reinstall the operating system.

Answer

Run the top command.

Answer

Edit the /etc/fstab file.