LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A system administrator needs to change the group ownership of the directory /project to the group 'devteam'. The directory currently has group ownership 'staff'. Which command will accomplish this?

Accepted Answer

chown :devteam /project. To change group ownership of a directory, the correct command is chown :devteam /project. The colon syntax specifies group only. chgrp would also work, but in this scenario, only one answer is correct due to the way the question is phrased. The other options either change permissions, modify user accounts, or use invalid syntax.

Answer

usermod -g devteam /project

Answer

chgrp devteam /project

Answer

chmod g+devteam /project

Question 2

An administrator must ensure that a custom script /usr/local/bin/backup.sh runs every day at 02:30 system time. The system uses systemd and the administrator prefers using systemd timers over cron. Which TWO components are required to accomplish this? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

A .service unit file with Type=oneshot and ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/backup.sh. Systemd timers require a timer unit that defines the schedule via OnCalendar and a service unit that defines the command to execute. The timer activates the service when the calendar expression matches. Together these two units replace a cron entry, providing logging through the journal and dependency management. Enabling the timer then creates the appropriate wants symlink automatically.

Answer

A drop-in file /etc/systemd/system/backup.timer.d/schedule.conf containing OnCalendar

Answer

An entry in /etc/crontab with the schedule 30 2 * * *

Answer

A symlink in /etc/systemd/system/timers.target.wants/ pointing to the timer unit

Question 3

An administrator needs to schedule a backup script to run at 2:30 AM every day, but only on weekdays (Monday through Friday). The script is located at /usr/local/bin/backup.sh and must run as the user 'backupuser'. Which crontab entry will accomplish this when placed in the crontab of 'backupuser'?

Accepted Answer

30 2 * * 1-5 /usr/local/bin/backup.sh. The correct crontab entry is '30 2 * * 1-5 /usr/local/bin/backup.sh'. It uses numeric day-of-week range 1-5 for Monday through Friday. The other options either use discrete days, non-portable names, or the wrong range. This entry ensures the backup runs at 2:30 AM on weekdays only.

Answer

30 2 * * 1,5 /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Answer

30 2 * * 0-4 /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Answer

30 2 * * MON-FRI /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Question 4

An administrator needs to change the primary group of user 'bob' from 'users' to 'engineering' and also move his home directory from /home/bob to /export/home/bob in a single operation. Which command performs both changes correctly?

Accepted Answer

usermod -g engineering -d /export/home/bob -m bob. Changing a primary group and relocating a home directory in one step requires usermod with -g for the primary group, -d for the new path, and -m to physically move the contents. The -m flag only works in conjunction with -d. This combination is the correct and efficient way to satisfy both requirements without affecting other users or leaving data behind.

Answer

usermod -g engineering -m /export/home/bob bob

Answer

usermod -G engineering -d /export/home/bob bob

Answer

groupmod -n engineering users && usermod -d /export/home/bob -m bob

Question 5

An administrator must configure a new user account 'mira' so that her login shell is /bin/zsh, her home directory is created at /home/mira, and she is added to the supplementary group 'developers'. Which TWO commands accomplish part of this configuration? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

usermod -aG developers mira. Creating the account with useradd -m -s /bin/zsh -G developers mira satisfies the shell, home directory, and group requirements in one step. If the account already existed, usermod -aG developers mira would append the group without disturbing existing memberships, making the append form the safe way to add supplementary groups.

Answer

groupadd developers

Answer

usermod -s /bin/zsh -d /home/mira mira

Answer

passwd -l mira

Question 6

A system administrator needs to ensure that a new user account 'auditor' has the following properties: the account must expire on December 31, 2025, and the user must be forced to change their password upon first login. Which TWO commands or steps are required to achieve this? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

chage -d 0 auditor. To set account expiration and force a password change, the correct steps are chage -E 2025-12-31 auditor to set the expiration date, and chage -d 0 auditor to force a password change on next login. These two commands achieve the required properties. Other options either duplicate functionality, set the password without forcing a change, or are not required.

Answer

passwd -e auditor

Answer

echo 'auditor:password' | chpasswd

Answer

usermod -e 2025-12-31 auditor

Question 7

A user's password has expired, and the account is locked. The administrator wants to unlock the account and force the user to set a new password at next login. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

passwd -u -e username. To unlock an account and force a password change, the passwd command with -u and -e is correct. The -u flag removes the lock, and -e expires the password. This combination ensures the user can log in and is prompted to set a new password immediately. Other commands either do not unlock, use incorrect options, or lock the account further.

Answer

chage -E -1 -d 0 username

Answer

passwd -l -e username

Answer

usermod -U -e username

Question 8

A system administrator wants to ensure that the syslog service starts automatically on boot and is running immediately without a reboot. Which command sequence should be used?

Accepted Answer

systemctl enable --now syslog. `systemctl enable --now syslog` combines enabling the service to start automatically on boot and starting it immediately in a single command. The `--now` flag triggers an immediate start after enabling, fulfilling both requirements without needing a reboot.

Answer

systemctl start syslog && systemctl enable syslog

Answer

systemctl start --enable syslog

Answer

systemctl enable syslog && systemctl start syslog

Question 9

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 10

An administrator needs to find all files in the /var/log directory that have been modified in the last 24 hours. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

find /var/log -mtime 0. The `find` command with `-mtime 0` searches for files whose data modification time is within the last 24 hours. The `-mtime` option uses a 24-hour period, and a value of 0 means modified less than 24 hours ago, which matches the requirement to find files modified in the last 24 hours in /var/log.

Answer

find /var/log -ctime 0

Answer

find /var/log -atime 0

Answer

find /var/log -mmin 1440

Question 11

An administrator wants to prevent a specific user, 'john', from being able to schedule cron jobs. Which file should the administrator modify?

Accepted Answer

/etc/cron.deny. The /etc/cron.deny file lists users who are explicitly denied access to schedule cron jobs. If this file exists and the user 'john' is listed in it, he will be prevented from using crontab. This is the standard mechanism for restricting cron access when /etc/cron.allow does not exist.

Answer

/var/spool/cron/crontabs

Answer

/etc/cron.allow

Answer

/etc/crontab

Question 12

Which TWO commands can be used to display the current runlevel of a system?

Accepted Answer

runlevel. The `runlevel` command (option D) reads `/var/run/utmp` and prints the previous and current runlevel (e.g., "N 5"), directly reporting the system's current runlevel. The `who -r` command (option E) uses the `-r` flag to display the current runlevel along with the time it was last changed, also deriving this from the utmp record. Option A, `telinit q`, only tells init to re-read its configuration and does not display the runlevel. Option B, `systemctl get-default`, shows the default target (e.g., graphical.target) that the system boots into, not the currently active runlevel. Option C, `init 3`, is used to change the runlevel to 3, not to display the current one.

Answer

telinit q

Answer

systemctl get-default

Answer

init 3

Question 13

Based on the exhibit, which of the following is true about the cleanup.sh job?

Accepted Answer

It runs at 4:30 AM on Monday through Friday. The cron expression `30 4 * * 1-5` specifies that the job runs at minute 30, hour 4 (4:30 AM), every day of month (*), every month (*), but only on days of the week 1 through 5 (Monday=1, Tuesday=2, Wednesday=3, Thursday=4, Friday=5). Therefore, the job runs at 4:30 AM on Monday through Friday.

Answer

It runs at 4:30 AM every day

Answer

It runs at 4:00 AM on weekdays

Answer

It runs at 4:30 AM on weekends

Question 14

Based on the exhibit, what will happen if the syslog service is stopped?

Accepted Answer

Apache2 will continue running because the dependency is a soft dependency. In Linux, services managed by systemd can have dependencies declared as 'Requires' (hard) or 'Wants' (soft). A soft dependency means that the dependent service (Apache2) does not require the target service (syslog) to be running; it will continue to operate even if syslog is stopped. The exhibit likely shows a 'Wants' directive, which does not enforce a strict ordering or runtime requirement.

Answer

Apache2 will be stopped because it depends on syslog

Answer

The system will prompt to restart syslog before stopping

Answer

Apache2 will be automatically restarted because it requires syslog

Question 15

A medium-sized company runs a web application on a Linux server. The server uses systemd and has the following configuration: the web application service (webapp.service) is configured to start after network.target and requires a database service (database.service) to be running. The database service has a Restart=on-failure directive. Recently, the server experienced a power outage. Upon reboot, the system administrator notices that the web application fails to start because the database service is in a failed state. The administrator checks the status of database.service and sees 'inactive (dead)' with no recent attempts to restart. The journal shows that the database service failed to start because a required filesystem (mounted at /var/lib/database) was not mounted when the database service tried to start. The filesystem is listed in /etc/fstab with the nofail option. The administrator wants to ensure that in future reboots, the database service starts successfully and the web application comes up without manual intervention. Which of the following is the best course of action?

Accepted Answer

Modify the database.service unit file to add 'After=var-lib-database.mount' and 'Requires=var-lib-database.mount'. The database service failed due to a missing mount at /var/lib/database. By adding 'After=var-lib-database.mount' and 'Requires=var-lib-database.mount' to the database.service unit, systemd will ensure the mount unit is started before the database service and that the database service is stopped if the mount fails. This directly addresses the root cause—the filesystem not being ready—without altering the restart behavior or the fstab nofail option, which is appropriate for allowing the system to boot even if the mount fails.

Answer

Change the Restart directive in database.service to 'always'

Answer

Remove the nofail option from /etc/fstab for /var/lib/database

Answer

Modify the webapp.service unit file to add 'After=database.service' and 'Requires=database.service'