LPIC-1 Practice Test 3 — 30 Questions

Question 1

Which command schedules a job to run once at 2:30 PM today?

Accepted Answer

at 14:30. The `at` command schedules a one-time job for a specified time. The correct syntax uses a colon (:) to separate hours and minutes, as in `at 14:30`, which schedules the job for 2:30 PM today. Option D is correct because it follows the standard `at` time format.

Answer

crontab -e

Answer

batch

Answer

at 14.30

Question 2

Which TWO of the following are Debian package management tools?

Accepted Answer

dpkg. B is correct because dpkg is the core low-level package manager for Debian-based systems, handling installation, removal, and querying of .deb packages directly. D is correct because apt (Advanced Package Tool) is the high-level package management tool that resolves dependencies and retrieves packages from repositories, built on top of dpkg.

Answer

yum

Answer

rpm

Answer

zypper

Question 3

Which command is used to view the last few lines of a log file and simultaneously follow new entries as they are written?

Accepted Answer

tail -f. The `tail -f` command is correct because it displays the last 10 lines of a file by default and then continues to monitor the file for new lines, outputting them as they are appended. This is essential for real-time log monitoring, as it uses inotify or polling to detect file changes without requiring manual re-reading.

Answer

cat

Answer

head -n 10

Answer

less

Question 4

In the /etc/shadow file, a user's password hash begins with '$6$'. What hash algorithm does this prefix indicate?

Accepted Answer

SHA-512. The prefix '$6$' in the /etc/shadow file indicates that the password hash was generated using the SHA-512 (Secure Hash Algorithm 512-bit) algorithm. This is defined in the crypt(3) function's modular crypt format, where $1$ is MD5, $5$ is SHA-256, and $6$ is SHA-512. SHA-512 is the strongest of the commonly used hash algorithms in Linux password hashing, providing a 512-bit digest.

Answer

SHA-256

Answer

MD5

Answer

Blowfish

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. When will the cron job execute?

Accepted Answer

Every minute.. The cron job entry `* * * * *` specifies five fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week), each set to `*`, meaning 'every'. This results in the job executing every minute of every hour, every day of the month, every month, and every day of the week — i.e., every minute without restriction.

Answer

Every minute of every hour, but only weekdays.

Answer

Every day at midnight.

Answer

Every hour.

Question 6

A system fails to mount an XFS filesystem with the entry in /etc/fstab. The entry looks correct. Which fstab field might be missing or incorrect?

Accepted Answer

The filesystem type field. The XFS filesystem requires the filesystem type field in /etc/fstab to be explicitly set to 'xfs'. If this field is missing or incorrect (e.g., left blank, set to 'auto', or mistyped as 'ext4'), the mount command will fail because it cannot determine the correct filesystem driver to use. Even if the device, mountpoint, and options appear correct, an incorrect or missing type field prevents the kernel from loading the XFS module and mounting the filesystem.

Answer

The device field

Answer

The options field

Answer

The mountpoint field

Question 7

A technician runs 'blkid' and sees output like '/dev/sda2: UUID="abc-def-ghi" TYPE="ext4"'. Which command can mount this partition using its UUID?

Accepted Answer

mount -U "abc-def-ghi" /mnt. The 'mount' command supports the '-U' option to specify a partition by its UUID, which is a unique identifier for the filesystem. This allows mounting without relying on device names like /dev/sda2, which can change across reboots. The UUID is taken directly from the 'blkid' output.

Answer

mount -I "abc-def-ghi" /mnt

Answer

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt

Answer

mount -L "abc-def-ghi" /mnt

Question 8

Match each Linux signal to its default action.

Accepted Answer

SIGINT: Terminate the process. Common Linux signals: SIGINT, SIGTERM, and SIGKILL terminate processes; SIGSTOP and SIGTSTP stop processes; SIGQUIT terminates with a core dump.

Answer

SIGTERM: Stop the process

Answer

SIGKILL: Core dump

Answer

SIGTSTP: Terminate the process

Question 9

Match each device file naming pattern to its device type.

Accepted Answer

/dev/sda: SATA/SCSI hard disk. Common Linux device naming conventions: /dev/sdX for SATA/SCSI, /dev/hdX for IDE, /dev/ttySX for serial ports, /dev/srX for optical drives, /dev/nvmeXnY for NVMe. Be cautious not to confuse with floppy (/dev/fdX) or other types.

Answer

/dev/sr0: Floppy disk

Question 10

A system administrator needs to schedule a recurring maintenance task that runs every Monday at 3 AM. Which crontab entry is correct?

Accepted Answer

0 3 * * 1 /script.sh. The crontab syntax is minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. Setting minute=0, hour=3, day of week=1 runs the script at 3:00 AM every Monday (day 1 represents Monday in cron).

Answer

3 0 * * 1 /script.sh

Answer

0 3 * * 0 /script.sh

Answer

0 3 * * 7 /script.sh

Question 11

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 12

Which THREE of the following directories are defined in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) and are expected to exist on a typical Linux system?

Accepted Answer

/run. B is correct because /run is a tmpfs directory defined in FHS 3.0+ that stores volatile runtime data (e.g., PID files, Unix sockets) since boot. It replaced /var/run to ensure early-boot processes have a writable location before /var is mounted.

Answer

/net

Answer

/opt

Question 13

An administrator needs to mount a USB drive with the ext4 filesystem automatically at boot. The drive has a filesystem label 'DATA'. Which entry in /etc/fstab will mount it at /mnt/data with noatime and default mount options?

Accepted Answer

LABEL=DATA /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0. It uses the filesystem label 'DATA' to identify the USB drive, which is more reliable than a device name like /dev/sdb1 that can change between boots. The mount options 'noatime,defaults' are specified in the correct order, with 'defaults' providing standard mount options (rw, suid, dev, exec, auto, nouser, async) and 'noatime' disabling access time updates to reduce writes. The entry also includes the proper ext4 filesystem type and the mount point /mnt/data.

Answer

/dev/sdb1 /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0

Answer

LABEL=DATA /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0

Answer

UUID=DATA /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0

Question 14

A user reports that a file cannot be saved due to 'No space left on device'. Which command should the administrator use to verify disk usage?

Accepted Answer

df -h. The 'df -h' command displays disk space usage in human-readable format (e.g., GB, MB) for all mounted filesystems. When a user encounters 'No space left on device', the most direct verification is to check available disk space with 'df -h', which shows used and available blocks. Option D is correct because it specifically addresses the space shortage indicated by the error.

Answer

du -sh /

Answer

fdisk -l

Answer

df -i

Question 15

A system administrator needs to install a local Debian package file named 'myapp.deb'. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

dpkg -i myapp.deb. The correct command to install a local Debian package file is `dpkg -i myapp.deb`. The `dpkg` tool is the low-level package manager for Debian-based systems that directly handles `.deb` files, and the `-i` flag triggers installation. Unlike `apt-get` or `aptitude`, `dpkg` does not resolve dependencies automatically, but it is the proper tool for installing a standalone `.deb` file from disk.

Answer

rpm -ivh myapp.deb

Answer

aptitude install myapp.deb

Answer

apt-get install myapp.deb

Question 16

Refer to the exhibit. An admin attempts to execute a shell script located in /tmp but gets 'Permission denied'. Which mount option is most likely causing this?

Accepted Answer

noexec. The 'noexec' mount option prevents execution of any binary or script directly from the filesystem, regardless of file permissions. Since the script is in /tmp and the admin gets 'Permission denied' despite correct execute bits, the /tmp partition is likely mounted with noexec, which is a common security hardening practice.

Answer

relatime

Answer

nodev

Answer

nosuid

Question 17

Which TWO of the following are valid methods to run a shell script named 'script.sh' using the bash shell, assuming the script has execute permission? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

./script.sh. './script.sh' explicitly invokes the script using the current shell's shebang interpreter (e.g., #!/bin/bash) and requires execute permission. Option E is correct because 'bash script.sh' runs the script as an argument to the bash interpreter, which reads and executes the file line by line, also requiring execute permission.

Answer

sh script.sh

Answer

script.sh (if in PATH)

Answer

source script.sh

Question 18

Which command lists all installed packages on a Debian-based system by querying the dpkg database?

Accepted Answer

dpkg --get-selections. `dpkg --get-selections` queries the dpkg database directly and outputs a list of all installed packages along with their installation state (e.g., 'install'). This command does not rely on remote repositories or cache files, making it a reliable method for listing installed packages on a Debian-based system.

Answer

apt-cache search .

Answer

dpkg -L

Answer

apt-show-versions

Question 19

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 20

A system administrator installs a new RPM package, but it fails due to a missing library dependency. Which command can best identify the specific dependency that is missing?

Accepted Answer

rpm -qpR. The correct command is `rpm -qpR`. The `-q` flag queries the RPM database, `-p` specifies a package file (not an installed package), and `-R` lists all capabilities (including shared libraries) that the package requires. This directly shows the missing dependency by name, such as `libfoo.so.1`. The other options either list installed packages, query files within a package, or use a higher-level tool that may not pinpoint the exact missing library.

Answer

yum deplist

Answer

rpm -qlp

Answer

rpm -qa