LPIC-1 Practice Test 4 — 25 Questions

Question 1

A technician needs to output only the kernel release number. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

uname -r. The `uname -r` command specifically prints the kernel release number (e.g., '5.10.0-28-amd64') by querying the `utsname` system call. This is the standard, portable way to retrieve only the kernel release string without additional system information.

Answer

cat /proc/version

Answer

dmesg | head -1

Answer

lsmod

Question 2

An administrator needs to restart the SSH service after a configuration change. Which TWO commands can accomplish this on a systemd-based system?

Accepted Answer

systemctl restart sshd. Option C, systemctl restart sshd, is correct because systemctl is the native control utility for systemd, and 'restart' stops and starts the sshd unit in one operation, applying the new configuration. Option D, service sshd restart, is also correct because the service wrapper script on systemd-based distributions translates the request into the appropriate systemctl restart sshd call, so it works on such systems. Option A, initctl restart sshd, belongs to Upstart and is not the systemd interface. Option B, rc.d restart sshd, is not a valid command form for the BSD-style rc.d mechanism. Option E, /etc/init.d/sshd restart, invokes a legacy SysV init script directly, which may exist for compatibility but is not the systemd method and is not guaranteed to be present or functional.

Answer

initctl restart sshd

Answer

rc.d restart sshd

Answer

/etc/init.d/sshd restart

Question 3

During boot, a server loads the wrong kernel. Which file should the administrator modify to change the default kernel in a standard GRUB 2 configuration?

Accepted Answer

/etc/default/grub. In a standard GRUB 2 configuration, the default kernel is selected by setting the GRUB_DEFAULT variable in /etc/default/grub. After modifying this file, the administrator must run update-grub (or grub-mkconfig) to regenerate the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file, which is the actual configuration read by the bootloader. This two-step process separates user-facing settings from the bootloader's runtime configuration.

Answer

/boot/grub/grub.conf

Answer

/etc/grub.d/

Answer

/boot/grub/grub.cfg

Question 4

A system administrator notices that the system's syslog messages are not being written to /var/log/messages. The rsyslog service is running. The administrator wants to check the configuration syntax of rsyslog. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

rsyslogd -N. The correct command is `rsyslogd -N` because the `-N` option performs a configuration syntax check without starting or restarting the rsyslog daemon. This allows the administrator to validate the rsyslog configuration file for errors before applying changes, ensuring that syslog messages will be written correctly to /var/log/messages.

Answer

rsyslogd -d

Answer

rsyslogd -f

Answer

rsyslogd -v

Question 5

A technician is repairing a system and needs to mount the root filesystem from a different disk to /mnt/sysroot. The partition is /dev/sda2 with an ext4 filesystem. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sysroot. The `mount` command with the device and mount point as arguments automatically detects the filesystem type (e.g., ext4) and mounts the partition at the specified directory. This is the standard way to mount a root filesystem from a different disk for repair purposes.

Answer

mount -o loop /dev/sda2 /mnt/sysroot

Answer

mount -a

Answer

mount -t ext4 /dev/sda2 /mnt

Question 6

Arrange the steps to troubleshoot a service that fails to start.

Accepted Answer

Check service status and logs, then examine configuration files, then fix the issue, then restart the service.. Troubleshooting starts with checking status and logs, then examining config files, fixing, and restarting.

Answer

Examine configuration files, then check service status and logs, then fix the issue, then restart the service.

Answer

Check service status and logs, then fix the issue, then examine configuration files, then restart the service.

Answer

Restart the service, then check service status and logs, then examine configuration files, then fix the issue.

Question 7

An administrator needs to identify the device file for the first SATA SSD in a server. Which device file should they use?

Accepted Answer

/dev/sda. The first SATA SSD in a Linux system is typically assigned the device file /dev/sda. SATA drives use the SCSI subsystem via the libata driver, which names them /dev/sdX, with 'a' representing the first detected drive. This is the standard naming convention for SATA SSDs in modern Linux kernels.

Answer

/dev/hda

Answer

/dev/sdb

Answer

/dev/nvme0n1

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. The /var partition is nearly full. Which of the following is the most appropriate first step to free up space?

Accepted Answer

Delete old log files in /var/log and clear package cache.. The most common cause of a full /var partition is accumulated log files in /var/log and cached package data. Deleting old logs (e.g., via logrotate or manual cleanup) and clearing the package manager cache (e.g., apt-get clean or yum clean all) directly reclaims space without requiring disk resizing or additional hardware. This is the safest and fastest first step before considering more invasive actions.

Answer

Move some files from /var to / and create a symbolic link.

Answer

Increase the size of /dev/sdb2 using resize2fs.

Answer

Add a new disk and mount it to /var.

Question 9

A server has a partition /dev/sda2 that is almost full. The admin suspects a large file has been deleted but is still held open by a process. Which command can identify such a file?

Accepted Answer

lsof | grep deleted. The `lsof` command lists open files and their associated processes. When a file is deleted but still held open by a process, `lsof` shows the filename with a '(deleted)' marker in its output. Piping through `grep deleted` filters for exactly those entries, allowing the admin to identify the file and the process keeping it alive, which is the precise scenario described.

Answer

du -sh /

Answer

find / -size +100M

Answer

df -h

Question 10

The /proc filesystem is described as a virtual filesystem. Which statement best describes its purpose?

Accepted Answer

It provides an interface to kernel data structures and processes.. The /proc filesystem is a virtual filesystem that does not contain actual files on disk but instead provides a runtime interface to kernel data structures, including process information, system memory, CPU details, and hardware configuration. This allows users and system tools (like ps, top, and free) to read kernel state in real time without needing direct kernel memory access.

Answer

It contains configuration files for system services.

Answer

It holds binary executables for system administration.

Answer

It stores temporary files that survive reboots.

Question 11

Which TWO commands can be used to display the contents of a compressed file without decompressing it to disk? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

zcat file.gz. Option A, zcat file.gz, is correct because zcat (equivalent to gzip -dc) decompresses the gzip stream and writes the contents to standard output, so the file is displayed on screen without ever being written back to disk. Option D, bzcat file.bz2, is correct for the same reason with bzip2-compressed files: it decompresses to stdout, letting you view the contents without creating a decompressed file on disk. Option B, gzip -d file.gz, is wrong because the -d flag decompresses the file on disk, replacing file.gz with the uncompressed file rather than displaying it. Option C, tar -xzf file.tar.gz, is wrong because -x extracts the archive's members to the filesystem, writing files to disk instead of showing them. Option E, uncompress file.Z, is wrong because it restores the original uncompressed file on disk and removes the .Z file, not displaying contents to stdout.

Answer

gzip -d file.gz

Answer

tar -xzf file.tar.gz

Answer

uncompress file.Z

Question 12

Which TWO options in /etc/fstab affect whether a filesystem is mounted at boot? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

auto. Option C (auto) is correct because it explicitly marks the filesystem as mountable by the mount -a command, which is what the boot process runs to mount all entries in /etc/fstab, so an entry with auto will be mounted at boot. Option E (noauto) is correct because it does the opposite: it tells mount -a to skip that entry, meaning the filesystem will not be mounted automatically at boot and must be mounted manually. The other options do not control boot-time mounting: A (user) permits non-root users to mount the filesystem, B (defaults) is a shorthand for rw,suid,dev,exec,auto,nouser,async (it includes auto but is a general option bundle, not the specific boot-mount toggle), and D (ro) only sets the filesystem read-only, which is unrelated to whether it is mounted at boot.

Answer

user

Answer

defaults

Answer

ro

Question 13

A server has a backup script that runs daily at midnight. The system administrator notices that the script sometimes fails because the filesystem is mounted read-only. Which approach is the best practice to ensure the script runs only when the filesystem is writable?

Accepted Answer

Wrap the backup command in a script that checks if the filesystem is writable before proceeding. It implements a proactive check within the script itself, using a command like `touch /mountpoint/testfile 2>/dev/null` or checking `/proc/mounts` to verify write access before executing the backup. This avoids unnecessary remounts and ensures the script only proceeds when the filesystem is writable, which is a robust and self-contained solution.

Answer

Add a cron job that runs before the backup to remount the filesystem read-write

Answer

Use anacron to run the job after boot

Answer

Change the cron job to run every hour until it succeeds

Question 14

A script produces both standard output and error messages. An administrator wants to save the output to 'out.log' and the error messages to 'err.log', but also wants to see both on the terminal. Which command achieves this?

Accepted Answer

./script.sh > >(tee out.log) 2> >(tee err.log). Uses process substitution to redirect stdout and stderr into separate tee commands, which both write to files and pass the streams through to the terminal. The syntax `> >(tee out.log)` redirects stdout to a tee process that writes to out.log and also echoes to the terminal, while `2> >(tee err.log)` does the same for stderr. This ensures both streams are saved to separate files and displayed on the terminal simultaneously.

Answer

./script.sh 2>&1 | tee out.log 2>&1 | tee err.log

Answer

./script.sh > out.log 2> err.log

Answer

./script.sh 2>&1 | tee out.log

Question 15

Which TWO of the following commands can be used to create a new filesystem on a partition?

Accepted Answer

mkfs.ext4. Option B, mkfs.ext4, is correct because it is a front-end to the mkfs family that specifically writes an ext4 filesystem onto a block device or partition, e.g. mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1. Option E, mkfs, is correct because it is the generic filesystem-creation utility that, when invoked with a type such as mkfs -t xfs /dev/sdb1, builds a new filesystem on the target partition. The unmarked options do not belong: fdisk (A) and parted (C) are partitioning tools that create/modify partition tables and partitions, not filesystems, and fsck (D) is a consistency-checking and repair utility for existing filesystems, not a creator.

Answer

fdisk

Answer

parted

Answer

fsck

Question 16

A system administrator wants to install custom scripts that should be available to all users. The scripts are not part of any package and should be placed under the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). Which directory is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

/usr/local/bin. /usr/local/bin because the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) designates /usr/local as the location for locally installed software not managed by the system's package manager. Placing custom scripts in /usr/local/bin ensures they are in the default PATH for all users, while keeping them separate from system binaries in /usr/bin and /bin.

Answer

/var

Answer

/opt

Answer

/home

Question 17

A systemd service unit file must be configured to automatically restart the service if it exits unexpectedly. Which directive should be used?

Accepted Answer

Restart=always. The `Restart=always` directive in a systemd service unit file instructs systemd to automatically restart the service regardless of the exit status, including unexpected crashes or terminations. This ensures high availability by restarting the process whenever it exits, unless explicitly stopped by systemctl. Other directives like `Type=forking` or `RemainAfterExit=yes` do not control restart behavior.

Answer

Type=forking

Answer

RemainAfterExit=yes

Answer

ExecStop=/bin/true

Question 18

A system boots in UEFI mode, and the administrator wants to add a new kernel entry to the EFI boot manager. Which tool should be used?

Accepted Answer

efibootmgr. In UEFI mode, the system's boot manager is stored in NVRAM, and `efibootmgr` is the standard Linux tool for creating, deleting, and modifying boot entries in the UEFI Boot Manager. It directly manipulates the UEFI Boot Manager variables (e.g., BootOrder, Boot####) via the efivars kernel interface, allowing the administrator to add a new kernel entry without relying on a bootloader like GRUB.

Answer

grub2-install

Answer

lilo

Answer

mknbi

Question 19

A zombie process appears in the process list. The parent process has PID 1234. Which command will most likely remove the zombie?

Accepted Answer

kill -9 1234. A zombie process is a child process that has terminated but whose exit status has not been read by its parent. The zombie cannot be killed directly because it is already dead; it only remains in the process table until the parent calls wait(). Sending SIGKILL (kill -9) to the parent process (PID 1234) causes the parent to terminate, and the zombie child is then adopted by init (PID 1), which automatically reaps it by calling wait().

Answer

kill -9 <zombie_pid>

Answer

wait <zombie_pid>

Answer

reboot

Question 20

An administrator needs to create a new ext4 filesystem on /dev/sdb1 and wants to reserve 2% of the blocks for the root user. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

mkfs.ext4 -m 2 /dev/sdb1. The `-m` flag in `mkfs.ext4` specifies the percentage of filesystem blocks reserved for the root user (superuser). By default, ext4 reserves 5% of blocks; using `-m 2` reduces this to 2%, as required. This command creates a new ext4 filesystem on `/dev/sdb1` with the specified reserved block percentage.

Answer

tune2fs -m 2 /dev/sdb1

Answer

mke2fs -r 2 /dev/sdb1

Answer

mkfs.ext4 -R 2 /dev/sdb1