010-160 The Linux Operating System — 20 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.

Question 11

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.. Long Term Support (LTS) distributions prioritize stability and security updates over cutting-edge features.

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 12

Which command is used to display the current directory path in the terminal?

Accepted Answer

pwd. The pwd (print working directory) command shows the full path of the current directory.

Answer

ls

Answer

dir

Answer

cd

Question 13

A developer needs to know the kernel version currently running on the server. Which command provides this information?

Accepted Answer

uname -r. The uname -r command displays the release version of the Linux kernel.

Answer

ver

Answer

hostnamectl

Answer

cat /etc/issue

Question 14

You are setting up a local network and need to verify the path traffic takes to reach a remote host. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

traceroute. The traceroute command displays the path and latency of each hop to a destination.

Answer

nmap

Answer

ping

Answer

dig

Question 15

You are configuring a static IP address on a Debian-based server. Which file must be modified to make this change persistent across reboots?

Accepted Answer

/etc/network/interfaces. On Debian/Ubuntu systems, /etc/network/interfaces is the file used to define persistent network interface configurations.

Answer

/etc/hosts

Answer

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

Answer

/etc/resolve.conf

Question 16

You need to ensure that a server's time is synchronized with an external time source to prevent authentication errors. Which daemon is responsible for this?

Accepted Answer

chronyd. The chronyd or ntpd service is typically responsible for network time synchronization.

Answer

cron

Answer

sshd

Answer

rsyslogd

Question 17

A system administrator is checking for hardware errors in the logs. Where are general system messages usually stored?

Accepted Answer

/var/log/syslog. The /var/log/messages or /var/log/syslog file is the primary repository for system-wide logs.

Answer

/etc/log/

Answer

/proc/logs

Answer

/tmp/logs

Question 18

You suspect that a process is consuming too much CPU. Which command allows you to sort active processes by CPU usage?

Accepted Answer

top. The top command allows sorting by CPU usage by pressing 'P' while it is running.

Answer

kill

Answer

nice

Answer

ps -ef

Question 19

A system administrator wants to check the partition table of a specific disk. Which tool is used for this?

Accepted Answer

fdisk. fdisk is a common command-line utility used to view and manipulate partition tables.

Answer

fsck

Answer

df

Answer

mkfs

Question 20

You need to determine the UUID of a partition to add it to /etc/fstab. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

blkid. The blkid command displays attributes of block devices, including UUIDs.

Answer

ls -l

Answer

find

Answer

mount