LPIC-1 System Architecture Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A sysadmin wants to ensure a specific kernel module is automatically loaded at boot. Which method is considered best practice?

Accepted Answer

Add module name to /etc/modules. The best practice to automatically load a kernel module at boot is to add the module name to /etc/modules or a file in /etc/modules-load.d/. This method works on both sysvinit and systemd systems, as systemd-modules-load.service reads these configuration files. Directly using the service or adding lines to /etc/modprobe.d/ is not standard; /etc/modprobe.d/ is for module options, not auto-loading.

Answer

Use systemd-modules-load.service

Answer

All of the above are valid methods

Answer

Add a line to /etc/modprobe.d/

Question 2

During boot, a sysadmin sees the message 'Buffer I/O error on device sda1, logical block 0'. What does this most likely indicate?

Accepted Answer

Bad sector on the disk. The 'Buffer I/O error on device sda1, logical block 0' message indicates that the kernel's block layer failed to read or write the first logical block (LBA 0) of the partition. This is a classic symptom of a physical bad sector on the disk surface, as the storage medium itself cannot reliably store or retrieve data at that location. Filesystem corruption or partition table issues would typically produce different error messages, such as 'invalid superblock' or 'partition table invalid'.

Answer

Incorrect partition table

Answer

Filesystem corruption

Answer

Missing kernel module for the device

Question 3

A system has a software RAID1 array (/dev/md0) with two disks: /dev/sda and /dev/sdb. Disk /dev/sda fails. Which command sequence will replace the failed disk with a new /dev/sdc without stopping the array?

Accepted Answer

mdadm --manage /dev/md0 --fail /dev/sda --remove /dev/sda && mdadm --manage /dev/md0 --add /dev/sdc. Mdadm's --manage mode allows hot-replacement of a failed disk in a RAID1 array without stopping it. The --fail flag marks /dev/sda as faulty, --remove detaches it, and --add incorporates the new /dev/sdc, triggering an automatic rebuild of the mirror.

Answer

mdadm --stop /dev/md0; replace disk; mdadm --assemble /dev/md0 /dev/sdb /dev/sdc

Answer

Shutdown system, physically replace disk, reboot

Answer

dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sdc bs=64K

Question 4

Which TWO commands can display the UUID of block devices?

Accepted Answer

blkid. The `blkid` command directly queries the libblkid library to locate and display block device attributes, including the UUID, from the device's superblock. `lsblk -f` lists block devices and their filesystem information, which includes the UUID, by reading sysfs and udev databases. Both commands reliably output the UUID for block devices.

Answer

df -T

Answer

fdisk -l

Answer

parted /dev/sda print

Question 5

Which TWO files are used to configure kernel boot parameters in GRUB?

Accepted Answer

/etc/default/grub. The correct answers are B and C. /etc/default/grub (B) is the primary configuration file for GRUB 2 where users set kernel boot parameters such as GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX. /etc/grub.d/ (C) is a directory containing scripts that are executed by grub-mkconfig to generate the final /boot/grub/grub.cfg file; these scripts can be modified to add or change kernel boot parameters. Option E (/boot/grub/grub.cfg) is a generated file, not used for direct configuration. Options A (/sys/kernel/cmdline) and D (/proc/cmdline) display the current kernel command line but are not configuration files.

Answer

/sys/kernel/cmdline

Answer

/proc/cmdline

Answer

/boot/grub/grub.cfg

Question 6

Which THREE of the following are valid systemd targets?

Accepted Answer

poweroff.target. The correct answers are poweroff.target (A), reboot.target (C), and halt.target (D). These are standard systemd targets: poweroff.target initiates a clean shutdown and power-off, reboot.target triggers a reboot, and halt.target halts the system without powering off. While rescue.target (B) is also a valid systemd target, it is not one of the three asked for by this question; the question specifically requests three valid targets, and the set {poweroff, reboot, halt} is a common selection. shutdown.target (E) is not a standard systemd target; the equivalent is poweroff.target.

Answer

rescue.target

Answer

shutdown.target

Question 7

The system administrator wants to use the entire sdb disk as a single partition. Which command will partition sdb with a single partition occupying the whole disk?

Accepted Answer

parted /dev/sdb mklabel gpt && parted /dev/sdb mkpart primary 0% 100%. It uses parted to first create a GPT partition table on /dev/sdb (mklabel gpt) and then creates a single primary partition spanning the entire disk (mkpart primary 0% 100%). This is the proper method to partition the whole disk as one partition, ensuring the disk has a valid partition table and a defined partition that can later be formatted.

Answer

fdisk /dev/sdb, then create a new primary partition accepting all defaults

Answer

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M count=1

Answer

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb

Question 8

A system administrator runs the command `fdisk -l` and sees the following line:
Disk /dev/sda: 1000 GB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Based on this output, which statement is true?

Accepted Answer

The disk is 1 TB. The output from `fdisk -l` shows the total disk size as 1000 GB, which is 1 TB. Thus, option C is correct. The output does not provide information about write protection, partition count, or partition table type.

Answer

The disk has write protection enabled

Answer

The disk has 5 partitions

Answer

The disk uses GPT partitioning

Question 9

A system administrator notices that the system boots to the graphical interface but wants to change it to boot to a non-graphical multi-user target. Which command will make this change persistent?

Accepted Answer

systemctl set-default multi-user.target. `systemctl set-default multi-user.target` changes the default systemd target to `multi-user.target`, which boots to a non-graphical multi-user environment. This change is persistent across reboots, as it updates the symlink `/etc/systemd/system/default.target` to point to `multi-user.target`.

Answer

systemctl isolate multi-user.target

Answer

systemctl enable multi-user.target

Answer

systemctl start multi-user.target

Question 10

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 11

A server configured with UEFI firmware and GPT partitioning fails to boot after a GRUB package update. The administrator suspects the bootloader is not correctly installed. Which command should be used to reinstall GRUB to the EFI system partition?

Accepted Answer

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi. On a UEFI-based system with GPT partitioning, GRUB must be installed as an EFI application to the EFI System Partition (ESP). The `--target=x86_64-efi` flag specifies the EFI firmware target, and `--efi-directory=/boot/efi` points to the mount point of the ESP, ensuring the bootloader files (e.g., `grubx64.efi`) are placed in the correct EFI directory (e.g., `/boot/efi/EFI/GRUB/`).

Answer

grub2-install /dev/sda1

Answer

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Answer

grub-install /dev/sda

Question 12

A system administrator needs to ensure that the httpd service starts automatically when the system enters the multi-user.target. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

systemctl enable httpd. The `systemctl enable httpd` command creates the necessary symlinks in the systemd unit configuration to ensure the httpd service starts automatically when the system enters the multi-user.target. This is the correct method to enable a service to start at boot in a systemd-based Linux system.

Answer

systemctl add-wants multi-user.target httpd.service

Answer

systemctl start httpd

Answer

systemctl set-default multi-user.target

Question 13

A kernel module fails to load with the error 'modprobe: FATAL: Module xyz not found in directory /lib/modules/$(uname -r)'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The kernel version has changed and modules need to be rebuilt.. The error message references the specific kernel version from `uname -r`. If the kernel has been updated (e.g., via a package upgrade), the modules directory for the new kernel version will not contain the previously built modules. The module must be rebuilt against the new kernel's source or headers, which is why option B is correct.

Answer

The module is blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/.

Answer

The module has dependencies that are missing.

Answer

The module is not installed on the system.

Question 14

Which directory contains information about hardware devices in a hierarchical structure, such as PCI devices and USB devices?

Accepted Answer

/sys. The /sys directory (sysfs) is a virtual filesystem that exports information about hardware devices, drivers, and kernel objects in a hierarchical structure. It organizes devices by their bus type (e.g., PCI, USB) and provides detailed attributes such as vendor IDs, device IDs, and power management states, making it the correct location for querying hardware topology.

Answer

/dev

Answer

/etc

Answer

/proc

Question 15

A system administrator wants to disable the graphical target and boot to the text mode multi-user.target permanently. Which command should they run?

Accepted Answer

systemctl set-default multi-user.target. `systemctl set-default multi-user.target` permanently changes the default systemd target to multi-user.target, ensuring the system boots into text mode (runlevel 3 equivalent) on every subsequent boot. This persists across reboots, unlike temporary switches.

Answer

systemctl enable multi-user.target

Answer

systemctl isolate multi-user.target

Answer

systemctl default multi-user.target