LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE commands are used to manage systemd services? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

systemctl status. Options A, B, and C are correct because systemctl is the primary command-line utility for managing systemd services: 'systemctl status' queries the current runtime state of a unit (active/inactive, enabled/disabled, recent log lines), 'systemctl start' activates a unit immediately at runtime, and 'systemctl enable' creates the symlinks needed to start the unit automatically at boot. These three subcommands cover inspection, runtime control, and boot-time configuration of systemd units, which is exactly what the question asks for. Option D, 'chkconfig --add', is a SysVinit/legacy Red Hat tool for registering init scripts in runlevels and does not manage systemd units. Option E, 'service start', is the legacy SysVinit wrapper (which on systemd systems merely redirects to systemctl) and is not itself a systemd management command with the syntax shown.

Answer

chkconfig --add

Answer

service start

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. The root partition is at 80% usage. Which action would reduce usage the most?

Accepted Answer

Delete unused files in /tmp. The /tmp directory typically contains temporary files that can be safely deleted without affecting system operation. Since the root partition is at 80% usage, clearing out /tmp can reclaim significant space, especially on systems where applications or users have left large temporary files. The 'rm -rf /tmp/*' command or using tmpwatch/systemd-tmpfiles can free up space immediately.

Answer

Increase the size of /dev/sda1

Answer

Run 'du -sh /home' to find large files

Answer

Move some files from /home to /

Question 3

An administrator wants to enforce a password history that prevents using the last 5 passwords. Which directive should be added to /etc/pam.d/system-auth?

Accepted Answer

password required pam_pwhistory.so remember=5. The `required` control flag ensures that the `pam_pwhistory.so` module must succeed for the password change to proceed, and `remember=5` enforces that the last 5 passwords cannot be reused. This is the standard way to enforce password history in PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) on Linux systems.

Answer

password optional pam_pwhistory.so remember=5

Answer

password sufficient pam_pwhistory.so remember=5

Answer

password requisite pam_pwhistory.so remember=5

Question 4

To prevent the 'nouveau' kernel module from loading at boot, which configuration file should be edited?

Accepted Answer

/etc/modprobe.d/nouveau.conf with 'blacklist nouveau'. Both A and D are valid because any .conf file under /etc/modprobe.d/ can contain 'blacklist nouveau' to prevent the module from loading. Option B is incorrect because /etc/modules-load.d/ is intended for loading modules, not blacklisting. Option C is incorrect because option B is not valid.

Answer

/etc/modules-load.d/nouveau.conf

Answer

Both A and B are valid

Question 5

Which THREE steps are necessary to configure a static IP address using ifcfg files on a RHEL-based system? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0. Option A is correct because on RHEL-based systems the persistent per-interface configuration is stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-<interface>, so editing /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 is the required file-based step. Option B is correct because ONBOOT=yes ensures the interface is brought up automatically at boot, which is part of a complete static ifcfg configuration. Option E is correct because BOOTPROTO=static (or none) tells the network scripts not to use DHCP and to apply the manually specified IPADDR, NETMASK/PREFIX, and GATEWAY values. Option C is not required because restarting the network service is an activation action, not a configuration step, and modern RHEL uses NetworkManager (nmcli con up or systemctl restart NetworkManager) rather than the legacy network service. Option D is not required because 'ip addr add' applies a runtime address directly to the kernel and does not create or modify the persistent ifcfg file, so it is not part of configuring a static IP via ifcfg files.

Answer

Run 'systemctl restart network'

Answer

Run 'ip addr add 192.168.1.10/24 dev eth0'

Question 6

A user reports that their cron jobs are not executing. The user has a valid crontab file and can execute the commands manually. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The cron daemon is not running.. The cron daemon (crond) is responsible for reading crontab files and executing scheduled jobs at the appropriate times. If the cron daemon is not running, no cron jobs will execute, regardless of the validity of the user's crontab file or the user's ability to run the commands manually. This is the most likely cause because it directly prevents the cron system from functioning at all.

Answer

The crontab file uses the wrong time format.

Answer

The user's home directory is missing.

Answer

The user is not in the /etc/cron.allow file.

Question 7

Which TWO commands can be used to schedule a one-time task at a specific time in the future? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

batch. Option D, the at command, is correct because it is specifically designed to run a command or script once at a specified future time (e.g., 'at 10:00 PM' or 'at now + 1 hour'), after which the job is removed from the queue. Option B, batch, is also correct because it schedules a one-time job to run when system load averages drop below a threshold (typically 1.5), making it a one-time deferred execution tool rather than a recurring scheduler. The unmarked options do not fit: cron (A) is for recurring scheduled tasks defined in crontab, sleep (C) merely pauses execution for a duration rather than scheduling a task at a wall-clock time, and anacron (E) is for periodically running jobs that may have been missed on systems not running continuously, not for one-time future scheduling.

Answer

cron

Answer

sleep

Answer

anacron

Question 8

Which THREE files are used by CUPS to manage printer queues? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

/etc/cups/classes.conf. Option C, /etc/cups/classes.conf, is correct because CUPS stores the definitions of printer classes (groups of printers that share a single queue) in this file, which is essential for managing class-based queues. Option D, /etc/cups/cupsd.conf, is correct because it is the main CUPS server configuration file that controls how the scheduler manages queues, including access control, listening addresses, and queue-related directives. Option E, /etc/cups/printers.conf, is correct because it contains the persistent configuration for each individual printer queue, including device URIs, default options, and queue state. Option A, /etc/cups/lpoptions, is not a CUPS queue-management file; it is a per-user or system file for default lp/lpr command options, not for defining or managing queues. Option B, /etc/cups/ppd/, is a directory that holds PPD (PostScript Printer Description) files for printers, but it is not itself a configuration file used to manage queues; the queue definitions reside in printers.conf and classes.conf.

Answer

/etc/cups/lpoptions

Answer

/etc/cups/ppd/

Question 9

An administrator notices that /var/log/syslog is 3 GB in size, despite logrotate being configured to rotate logs weekly and keep 4 weeks. The logrotate configuration file /etc/logrotate.d/syslog contains: /var/log/syslog { weekly rotate 4 compress missingok notifempty } The administrator checks that logrotate is scheduled via cron and sees that the cron job exists. However, the administrator suspects that logrotate might not have been running. Which of the following commands should the administrator run first to force log rotation and diagnose the issue?

Accepted Answer

logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/syslog. The `-f` (force) flag tells logrotate to rotate the log file immediately, regardless of whether the configured time interval has elapsed. This allows the administrator to trigger a rotation on demand and observe any errors or misconfigurations that might explain why the file grew to 3 GB despite the weekly rotation policy.

Answer

logrotate -d /etc/logrotate.d/syslog

Answer

systemctl restart crond

Answer

cat /var/lib/logrotate/status

Question 10

A company security policy requires that user accounts be disabled after 90 days of inactivity. The system administrator locks user accounts using 'usermod -L username'. However, users with SSH key authentication can still log in. The administrator has verified that the locked flag is set in /etc/shadow. Which of the following is the most likely explanation?

Accepted Answer

The usermod -L command only locks password-based login, not SSH key login.. The `usermod -L` command locks a user account by placing a '!' in the password hash field of /etc/shadow, which only prevents authentication via password-based methods (e.g., PAM's pam_unix). SSH key authentication uses the SSH protocol's public-key challenge-response, which is handled by the SSH daemon (sshd) and does not consult the locked password field in /etc/shadow. Therefore, users with valid SSH keys in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys can still log in despite the account being locked.

Answer

The administrator forgot to restart the SSH service after locking accounts.

Answer

The SSH daemon is configured to allow passwordless login for locked accounts.

Answer

The users have valid SSH keys in their ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, and SSH does not check the account lock status.

Question 11

An administrator needs to ensure that a custom service named 'myapp' starts automatically at boot and is currently running. The service unit file is already installed in /etc/systemd/system/. Which command should the administrator use to enable and start the service immediately?

Accepted Answer

systemctl enable --now myapp. The command 'systemctl enable --now myapp' both enables the service for automatic startup at boot and starts it immediately. This is the most concise and direct way to achieve both goals. While using two separate commands (start and enable) also works, the --now option is designed for this exact scenario. The other options either split the operation into two commands or include the .service suffix, which is unnecessary when the service name is already specified.

Answer

systemctl enable --now myapp.service

Answer

systemctl enable myapp && systemctl start myapp

Answer

systemctl start myapp && systemctl enable myapp

Question 12

A Linux administrator needs to ensure that a script /opt/scripts/backup.sh runs every day at 2:30 AM, but only if the system is running and not during a reboot. The script must log its output to /var/log/backup.log. Which crontab entry should be added to root's crontab?

Accepted Answer

30 2 * * * /opt/scripts/backup.sh >> /var/log/backup.log 2>&1. The correct crontab entry uses the proper time fields (30 minutes, 2 hours) and redirects both standard output and standard error to the log file using '>> /var/log/backup.log 2>&1'. This ensures all output is captured. Other entries have incorrect time fields, incomplete redirection, or wrong redirection order, failing to meet the logging requirement.

Answer

2 30 * * * /opt/scripts/backup.sh > /var/log/backup.log 2>&1

Answer

30 2 * * * /opt/scripts/backup.sh 2>&1 >> /var/log/backup.log

Answer

30 2 * * * /opt/scripts/backup.sh > /var/log/backup.log

Question 13

A server has a 500 GB disk mounted at /srv/data. The administrator needs to add a second 2 TB disk and make its entire capacity available as a single filesystem mounted at /srv/archive. The disk appears as /dev/sdb. Which sequence of commands correctly creates the filesystem and makes it persistent across reboots?

Accepted Answer

parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%; mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1; echo '/dev/sdb1 /srv/archive ext4 defaults 0 2' >> /etc/fstab. Creating a partition table with GPT, a partition spanning the disk, an ext4 filesystem on the partition, and a matching /etc/fstab entry satisfies both the capacity and persistence requirements. GPT is the correct label type for a 2 TB disk, and the fstab entry ensures the filesystem mounts automatically at boot.

Answer

parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%; mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb; echo '/dev/sdb /srv/archive ext4 defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

Answer

parted /dev/sdb mklabel msdos mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%; mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1; mount /dev/sdb1 /srv/archive

Answer

fdisk /dev/sdb; mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb; mount /dev/sdb /srv/archive; echo '/dev/sdb /srv/archive xfs defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

Question 14

A junior administrator needs to add the existing user 'jdoe' to the supplementary group 'developers' without removing any other group memberships. The system uses standard shadow-utils tools. Which command accomplishes this?

Accepted Answer

usermod -aG developers jdoe. Adding a user to an additional group without disturbing existing memberships requires usermod with both -a (append) and -G (supplementary groups). The append flag ensures the new group is added to the existing list rather than replacing it. This is a core LPIC-1 administrative task tested frequently because the omission of -a causes silent loss of group memberships.

Answer

gpasswd -a jdoe developers

Answer

usermod -G developers jdoe

Answer

groupadd -A jdoe developers

Question 15

A junior administrator needs to grant a contractor temporary ownership of /var/www/reports so the contractor can modify files. The contractor's account is 'jdoe'. The administrator runs 'chown jdoe /var/www/reports' but the contractor still cannot create new files inside the directory. Which command should the administrator run to fix the problem?

Accepted Answer

chown -R jdoe /var/www/reports. Ownership changes apply only to the named target unless the recursive flag is used. The contractor could not create files because nested files and subdirectories retained their previous owner, so a recursive chown to the contractor's account restores consistent ownership across the entire directory tree.

Answer

usermod -aG www-data jdoe

Answer

chmod -R 777 /var/www/reports

Answer

chmod u+w /var/www/reports