easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
XK0-006 Practice Question: A new user 'jdoe' has been added using the…
A new user 'jdoe' has been added using the command 'useradd jdoe', but upon first login, the user receives a message that the home directory does not exist. Which command should the administrator run to resolve this issue while also populating the home directory with default skeleton files?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers think `usermod -d` (Option C) will both set and create the home directory, but it only updates the path in `/etc/passwd` without creating the directory or copying skeleton files, which is a common misconception in Linux user management.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
useradd -m jdoe
The `useradd -m jdoe` command creates the user's home directory and copies the default skeleton files from `/etc/skel` into it. Since the user was initially created without the `-m` flag, the home directory was not created, causing the login error. Running `useradd -m` on an existing user will create the missing home directory and populate it with skeleton files, resolving the issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
chown jdoe:jdoe /home/jdoe
Why it's wrong here
This only changes ownership; the directory does not exist yet.
- ✗
mkdir /home/jdoe; cp /etc/skel/* /home/jdoe/
Why it's wrong here
This manually creates the directory and copies files, but it is not the standard tool and may miss file permissions or extended attributes.
- ✗
usermod -d /home/jdoe jdoe
Why it's wrong here
This only changes the home directory path in /etc/passwd; the directory may not exist and skeleton files are not copied.
- ✓
useradd -m jdoe
Why this is correct
The -m flag creates the home directory and copies skeleton files from /etc/skel.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
User and Group Administration
Key term
useradd
A command-line utility in Unix-like operating systems used to create a new user account with specified settings.
Key term
User
A user is any person, system, or device that interacts with an IT service, resource, or identity system, typically authenticated through credentials and authorized to perform specific actions.
About these practice questions
This XK0-006 question is part of Courseiva's 979-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This XK0-006 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the XK0-006 exam.