EX200 Practice Test 24 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Refer to the exhibit. A user tries to execute a script located in /data/script.sh but gets 'Permission denied'. The script has execute permissions. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The filesystem is mounted with noexec. The most likely cause is that the filesystem where /data resides is mounted with the 'noexec' option. This mount option prevents the execution of any binary or script directly from that filesystem, regardless of the file's individual execute permissions. The 'noexec' flag is commonly set on partitions like /tmp or /var for security reasons, and it overrides the file's permission bits.

Answer

The filesystem is full

Answer

SELinux is blocking execution

Answer

The script is in a directory with noexec

Question 2

A system administrator needs to ensure a service called 'myapp' starts automatically at boot and also start it immediately without affecting the current boot configuration. Which TWO commands should be used?

Accepted Answer

systemctl start myapp. The 'systemctl enable myapp' command creates the necessary symlinks so that the service starts automatically at boot, while 'systemctl start myapp' launches the service immediately in the current session without altering the boot configuration. Together, they satisfy both requirements without affecting the existing boot setup.

Answer

systemctl daemon-reload myapp

Answer

systemctl restart myapp

Answer

systemctl activate myapp

Question 3

A system administrator is managing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 server that uses LVM for storage. The volume group 'vgdata' contains two 500 GB physical volumes (sdb and sdc) with a logical volume 'lvdata' of 800 GB formatted with XFS and mounted at /data. The administrator adds a new 200 GB disk /dev/sdd and intends to use all of its capacity to extend lvdata. The following commands are executed in order: pvcreate /dev/sdd, vgextend vgdata /dev/sdd, lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/vgdata/lvdata. The lvextend command completes successfully, but running 'df -h /data' still shows 800 GB. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The filesystem has not been grown after extending the logical volume.. After extending the logical volume with `lvextend`, the underlying block device has more space, but the filesystem still sees the original size. For XFS, you must run `xfs_growfs /data` (or `xfs_growfs /dev/vgdata/lvdata`) to expand the filesystem to use the newly allocated extents. Without this step, `df -h` continues to report the old filesystem size.

Answer

The volume group 'vgdata' is not active, so the new space is ignored.

Answer

The logical volume was extended using a snapshot instead of the original.

Answer

The physical volume was not created correctly and the space is not available.

Question 4

Order the steps to configure SELinux to allow Apache to read files in a custom directory /webcontent.

Accepted Answer

Create /webcontent directory → Set SELinux context using semanage fcontext → Apply context with restorecon → Verify with ls -Z. SELinux configuration involves setting proper file context for Apache to access custom directories.

Answer

Create /webcontent directory → Apply context with restorecon → Set SELinux context using semanage fcontext → Verify with ls -Z

Answer

Set SELinux context using semanage fcontext → Apply context with restorecon → Create /webcontent directory → Verify with ls -Z

Answer

Create /webcontent directory → Set SELinux context using semanage fcontext → Verify with ls -Z → Apply context with restorecon

Question 5

An administrator wants to create a symbolic link named 'link_to_hosts' in /tmp that points to /etc/hosts. Which command is correct?

Accepted Answer

ln -s /etc/hosts /tmp/link_to_hosts. The `ln -s` command creates a symbolic link. The correct syntax is `ln -s TARGET LINK_NAME`. Option B correctly specifies the existing target file `/etc/hosts` first, followed by the new link path `/tmp/link_to_hosts`, which creates the symbolic link in `/tmp` pointing to `/etc/hosts`.

Answer

ln -s /tmp/link_to_hosts /etc/hosts

Answer

ln -s /etc/hosts link_to_hosts

Answer

ln -s /tmp/link_to_hosts /etc/hosts

Question 6

A user jdoe, who is a member of the group staff, reports they cannot access the directory /shared. The administrator runs getfacl /shared and receives the output shown. Which of the following explains the issue?

Accepted Answer

An ACL entry denies all permissions for jdoe. The getfacl output shows a user ACL entry for jdoe with permissions '---' (no read, write, or execute), which explicitly denies all access. This user-specific ACL entry overrides any group or other permissions, so jdoe cannot access /shared regardless of group staff membership.

Answer

The group staff does not have execute permission

Answer

The mask entry restricts group permissions

Answer

The directory is read-only for the owner

Question 7

A new Linux administrator needs to read the manual page for the 'ls' command but also wants to search for the word 'color' within the manual. Which command accomplishes this?

Accepted Answer

man ls and then type /color. The man command opens the manual page for 'ls', and typing '/color' within the pager (usually less) performs an interactive forward search for the string 'color'. This allows the administrator to read the manual and search for the term in one session.

Answer

man -k color

Answer

man ls | grep color

Answer

man color

Question 8

Which THREE statements about /etc/shadow are true? (Choose exactly 3)

Accepted Answer

Contains account expiration dates.. The /etc/shadow file stores account expiration dates in the ninth field (field 9), which is the number of days since the epoch until the account is disabled. This field is used by the system to enforce account aging policies, such as automatically locking accounts after a set period of inactivity.

Answer

Is readable by all users.

Answer

Contains user ID numbers.

Question 9

Which THREE of the following practices are recommended when creating simple shell scripts in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment to ensure reliability, security, and maintainability?

Accepted Answer

Quote variables when used in commands, e.g., "$file" instead of $file.. Quoting variables (e.g., "$file") prevents word splitting and glob expansion, which can cause commands to operate on unexpected arguments or filenames with spaces. This is a fundamental shell scripting best practice that directly improves reliability and security by preserving the intended value of the variable.

Answer

Use #!/bin/sh for compatibility, even if bash-specific features are needed.

Answer

Always run scripts by invoking the interpreter directly (e.g., bash script.sh) instead of making them executable.

Question 10

Which two statements are true regarding network teaming (teamd) compared to bonding?

Accepted Answer

Teaming supports more advanced features like load balancing and link monitoring. Teaming (teamd) provides advanced features such as IEEE 802.3ad load balancing, active-backup, and LACP support, along with more sophisticated link monitoring (e.g., ARP ping, NSNA) compared to the older bonding driver. Teaming uses the libteam library to offer a modular and extensible architecture, which is why option E is also correct.

Answer

Teaming must be configured manually with configuration files only

Answer

Bonding is deprecated in RHEL 8

Answer

Bonding does not support active-backup mode

Question 11

An administrator is configuring an NFS mount in /etc/fstab to mount from server:/export to /mnt/data. The mount must use the 'hard' and 'nosuid' options. Which line is correct?

Accepted Answer

server:/export /mnt/data nfs nosuid,hard 0 0. It specifies the NFS filesystem type and includes both required mount options: 'nosuid' (disallows set-user-identifier/set-group-identifier bits) and 'hard' (retries NFS requests indefinitely until the server responds). The syntax follows the correct /etc/fstab format: :/ .

Answer

server:/export /mnt/data nfs defaults,noexec,nodev 0 0

Answer

server:/export /mnt/data nfs nosuid,hard,defaults 0 0

Answer

server:/export /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0

Answer

server:/export /mnt/data nfs suid,soft 0 0

Question 12

A Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 server is used as a file server. It has a 1 TB disk /dev/sdc formatted as XFS and mounted at /srv/files. The /etc/fstab entry uses the device name /dev/sdc. After a hardware replacement, the new disk is detected as /dev/sdd, and the server fails to boot because /srv/files cannot be mounted. The administrator used 'blkid' and found the new disk's filesystem UUID is 'abc-123'. What is the best course of action to ensure reliable mounting after future reboots?

Accepted Answer

Change the /etc/fstab entry to use UUID=abc-123 and run mount -a. Using the filesystem UUID in /etc/fstab provides a persistent identifier that remains constant regardless of the device name assigned by the kernel. After the hardware replacement, the disk is detected as /dev/sdd, but its UUID ('abc-123') is unchanged. Changing the fstab entry to UUID=abc-123 ensures the system can reliably mount the filesystem on every boot, as the UUID is tied to the filesystem itself, not the kernel's device enumeration order.

Answer

Add the 'nofail' option to the /etc/fstab entry and reboot

Answer

Create a symbolic link /dev/sdc pointing to /dev/sdd

Answer

Use PARTUUID instead of UUID in /etc/fstab

Question 13

A system administrator wants to run a container that uses the rootless mode available in Podman. Which requirement must be met for rootless containers to work correctly?

Accepted Answer

The user must have entries in /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid for user namespace mapping.. Rootless Podman containers require user namespace mapping to assign subordinate UIDs and GIDs from the host to the container. Without entries in /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid for the user, Podman cannot allocate the necessary ID ranges, and the container will fail to run in rootless mode.

Answer

The container must be run with the '--privileged' flag.

Answer

The system must have cgroups v2 enabled.

Answer

The user must have root privileges to run the container.

Question 14

A user reports that they cannot log in to a RHEL 9 system. The administrator checks /etc/passwd and finds the user's shell is set to /sbin/nologin. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The user account is intentionally disabled for login.. The /sbin/nologin shell is a valid shell entry that, when set as a user's login shell, prevents interactive login by immediately exiting with a message that the account is not available. This is a standard method for disabling login for system accounts (e.g., daemon, bin) or intentionally disabling a user account while keeping the account and its files intact. Option D correctly identifies that the user account is intentionally disabled for login.

Answer

The SSH service is not running.

Answer

The user account has been locked by pam_tally2.

Answer

The user's password has expired.

Question 15

Which TWO statements about systemd journal and rsyslog are correct?

Accepted Answer

The journal stores logs in a structured binary format, allowing filtering by fields like _UID or _SYSTEMD_UNIT.. The systemd journal stores log data in a structured binary format (using the journald protocol), which allows filtering by specific fields such as _UID, _SYSTEMD_UNIT, or _COMM. This enables precise queries via journalctl, unlike plain-text log files.

Answer

rsyslog reads log messages directly from the journal files in /var/log/journal.

Answer

The command 'journalctl --list-boots' lists only the current boot's journal entries.

Answer

The command 'journalctl -u sshd.service' outputs the same as 'tail -f /var/log/messages' for SSH logs.