LPIC-2 Practice Test 36 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which protocol does Samba implement to provide file sharing services to Windows clients?

Accepted Answer

SMB. Samba implements the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol, specifically the CIFS variant, to provide file and printer sharing services to Windows clients. SMB operates over TCP port 445 (direct hosting) or NetBIOS over TCP/IP (ports 137-139), enabling cross-platform file access in mixed Linux/Windows environments.

Answer

HTTP

Answer

AFP

Answer

NFS

Question 2

An administrator wants to chroot SSH users in the 'jailed' group to their home directories. Which configuration in /etc/ssh/sshd_config achieves this?

Accepted Answer

Match Group jailed
  ChrootDirectory %h. The Match directive in sshd_config allows conditional configuration blocks based on criteria like group membership. The ChrootDirectory %h directive chroots the user to their home directory, which is the standard method for restricting SSH users to a specific filesystem area. This configuration applies only to users in the 'jailed' group, as required.

Answer

Subsystem sftp internal-sftp
  Match Group jailed
    ChrootDirectory %h

Answer

Match User jailed
  ChrootDirectory %h

Answer

ChrootGroup jailed
  ChrootDirectory %h

Answer

Match Group jailed
  ChrootJail %h

Question 3

An administrator needs to encrypt a large file using GPG with a symmetric cipher and then decrypt it on another system. Which command encrypts the file using AES256 and prompts for a passphrase?

Accepted Answer

gpg --symmetric --cipher-algo AES256 file.txt. `--symmetric` tells GPG to encrypt the file using a symmetric cipher (i.e., a single passphrase shared between sender and receiver), and `--cipher-algo AES256` selects the AES-256 encryption algorithm. The command will prompt for a passphrase interactively, which is exactly what the scenario requires.

Answer

gpg --clearsign --cipher-algo AES256 file.txt

Answer

gpg --encrypt --cipher-algo AES256 file.txt

Answer

gpg --sign --cipher-algo AES256 file.txt

Question 4

A web administrator has installed Apache httpd 2.4 on a Linux server. The default configuration serves files from /var/www/html. When accessing http://server/, the browser shows a directory listing of /var/www/html instead of the index.html file that exists in that directory. The administrator confirms that the user has read permissions on the file and that the file is named index.html. Which directive is most likely missing from the Apache configuration?

Accepted Answer

DirectoryIndex index.html. The DirectoryIndex directive specifies which file Apache should serve when a client requests a directory (e.g., /). Without it, or if it does not list index.html, Apache falls back to generating a directory listing (if Options +Indexes is enabled) or returns a 403 Forbidden. Since the default configuration for Apache 2.4 includes Options +Indexes and DirectoryIndex index.html, the most likely cause is that the DirectoryIndex directive was removed or overridden in a context (e.g., a <Directory> block) and no longer includes index.html, causing Apache to ignore the file and show the directory listing instead.

Answer

IndexOptions FancyIndexing

Answer

Options -Indexes

Answer

Require all granted

Question 5

Which file is used to configure which users and groups are allowed to use the 'cron' daemon?

Accepted Answer

/etc/cron.allow. The /etc/cron.allow file explicitly lists users and groups permitted to schedule cron jobs. If this file exists, only those entries can use crontab; all others are denied, regardless of /etc/cron.deny. This provides a whitelist-based access control mechanism for the cron daemon.

Answer

/var/spool/cron/

Answer

/etc/cron.d/

Answer

/etc/crontab

Question 6

Arrange the steps to perform a disaster recovery from a full system backup using tar.

Accepted Answer

Boot into rescue mode, then prepare disks, then mount the root filesystem, then extract backup using tar, then reboot.. The correct sequence for disaster recovery from a full system backup using tar ensures a logical progression: first gain access to a recovery environment (rescue mode), then prepare the storage devices, mount the target filesystem, restore the data from the backup archive, and finally reboot to the restored system. Any deviation leads to errors such as missing filesystem or incomplete restoration.

Answer

Boot into rescue mode, then mount the root filesystem, then prepare disks, then extract backup using tar, then reboot.

Answer

Boot into rescue mode, then prepare disks, then extract backup using tar, then mount the root filesystem, then reboot.

Answer

Boot into rescue mode, then prepare disks, then mount the root filesystem, then reboot, then extract backup using tar.

Question 7

A system administrator notices that a Linux client is unable to resolve hostnames after connecting to a new network. The client uses DHCP and the /etc/resolv.conf file contains only the loopback address 127.0.0.1. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The client is configured to use a local DNS resolver such as systemd-resolved or dnsmasq.. When /etc/resolv.conf contains only 127.0.0.1, it typically indicates that a local DNS resolver (like systemd-resolved or dnsmasq) is running on the client. These resolvers bind to the loopback address and handle DNS queries locally, often forwarding them to upstream servers provided by DHCP. The client can still resolve hostnames if the local resolver is properly configured to use the DHCP-supplied DNS servers, so the presence of 127.0.0.1 alone does not imply a failure.

Answer

The DHCP server did not provide DNS server information.

Answer

The /etc/resolv.conf file is a symbolic link to /run/NetworkManager/resolv.conf.

Answer

The /etc/resolv.conf file is not being updated by the DHCP client.

Question 8

Match each LVM term to its definition.

Accepted Answer

Physical Volume (PV): A physical disk or partition that is initialized for use by LVM.. In LVM, Physical Volumes (PVs) are physical disks/partitions; Volume Groups (VGs) pool them; Logical Volumes (LVs) are created from VGs; Physical Extents (PEs) are the smallest allocation units on PVs. Common confusions involve swapping VG and LV definitions or confusing PE with LV.

Answer

Logical Volume (LV): The smallest allocatable unit of space on a Physical Volume.

Answer

Volume Group (VG): A virtual block device that can be used as a filesystem.

Question 9

Which TWO steps are required to enable IP forwarding on a Linux system permanently?

Accepted Answer

Add net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 to /etc/sysctl.conf. Adding `net.ipv4.ip_forward=1` to `/etc/sysctl.conf` makes the change persistent across reboots. Option C is correct because running `sysctl --system` loads settings from all sysctl configuration files (including `/etc/sysctl.conf`) without requiring a reboot, applying the change immediately and permanently. Together, these two steps ensure IP forwarding is enabled both now and after system restart.

Answer

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

Answer

sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

Answer

iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

Question 10

Match each systemd unit type to its function.

Accepted Answer

service: Manages a daemon or process. Common systemd unit types include service (daemon management), socket (socket-based activation), timer (scheduled tasks), and target (grouping). Distractors swap definitions between types.

Answer

service: Schedules periodic tasks

Answer

socket: Manages a mount point

Question 11

Which TWO commands display UUIDs of block devices? (Select TWO)

Accepted Answer

lsblk -o UUID. B is correct because `lsblk -o UUID` explicitly lists the UUID column for all block devices, showing the filesystem UUIDs. D is correct because `blkid` is the dedicated command to display block device attributes, including UUIDs, by reading the udev database or directly probing the device.

Answer

parted /dev/sda print

Answer

udevadm info --query=all --name=/dev/sda

Answer

fdisk -l

Question 12

A system administrator needs to find out which kernel parameters were passed at boot time. Which command displays the kernel boot parameters?

Accepted Answer

cat /proc/cmdline. The correct command is `cat /proc/cmdline` because the Linux kernel stores the boot parameters (also known as the kernel command line) passed by the bootloader (e.g., GRUB) in the virtual file `/proc/cmdline`. Reading this file directly displays the exact parameters used during boot, such as `root=`, `quiet`, or `splash`.

Answer

dmesg

Answer

lsmod

Answer

cat /proc/version

Question 13

A system administrator wants to ensure that only key-based authentication is allowed for SSH and password authentication is disabled. Which configuration change is required in /etc/ssh/sshd_config?

Accepted Answer

PasswordAuthentication no and PubkeyAuthentication yes. Setting `PasswordAuthentication no` disables password-based login, while `PubkeyAuthentication yes` enables public key authentication. Together, these directives ensure that only users with a valid SSH key pair can authenticate, meeting the requirement to disable password authentication entirely.

Answer

PasswordAuthentication yes and PubkeyAuthentication yes

Answer

PasswordAuthentication no and PubkeyAuthentication no

Answer

PasswordAuthentication no

Question 14

A system administrator wants to change the default kernel boot parameters temporarily to debug a boot issue. Which step should be taken at the GRUB menu to modify kernel parameters for the next boot only?

Accepted Answer

Select the kernel entry and press 'e' to edit the boot parameters.. Pressing 'e' at the GRUB menu allows you to edit the boot parameters for the selected kernel entry temporarily. This modifies the kernel command line only for the current boot, without persisting changes to disk. After editing, pressing Ctrl+X or F10 boots the system with the modified parameters, making it ideal for debugging boot issues.

Answer

Edit /etc/default/grub and run update-grub to apply changes.

Answer

Press 'c' to enter the command line and modify parameters.

Answer

Press 'Esc' to access the advanced options menu.

Question 15

During boot, the kernel panics because the root filesystem cannot be mounted. Which kernel parameter should be added at the GRUB prompt to try an alternative root device?

Accepted Answer

root=/dev/sdb1. The kernel parameter 'root=' specifies the device for the root filesystem. When the default root device fails to mount, adding 'root=/dev/sdb1' at the GRUB prompt overrides the compiled-in root and tells the kernel to attempt mounting from that alternative block device. This is the standard method to redirect the root mount during boot troubleshooting.

Answer

init=/bin/sh

Answer

rescue

Answer

single