easyMultiple Choice
XK0-006 Practice Question: A system administrator notices that a critical…
A system administrator notices that a critical application's process is consuming too much CPU, affecting other services. The administrator needs to reduce the CPU priority of that process without affecting its memory or other resources. The process PID is 4521. Which command should the administrator use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse `nice` (for starting processes) with `renice` (for adjusting running processes), or they misremember the correct argument order for `renice`, leading them to choose option B or C.
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
✓
renice -n 10 -p 4521
The `renice` command is used to change the priority of an already running process. By specifying `-n 10` and `-p 4521`, the administrator sets the nice value to 10, which lowers the CPU priority (higher nice value = lower priority) without affecting the process's memory or other resources. This directly addresses the need to reduce CPU consumption for the critical application.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
renice -n 10 -p 4521
Why this is correct
renice alters the scheduling priority of an already-running process, identified here by PID 4521, without touching its memory allocation or other resource limits. The -n 10 value lowers CPU scheduling priority, reducing contention with other services as the stem requires.
- ✗
nice -n 10 -p 4521
Why it's wrong here
nice sets the priority of a newly launched command; it has no option to target an existing PID, so 'nice -n 10 -p 4521' fails to affect the running process. nice is tempting because it is the canonical CPU-priority tool, and would be correct if the administrator were starting the application afresh at reduced priority.
- ✗
renice -p 4521 10
Why it's wrong here
renice syntax is 'renice -n increment -p pid'; writing 'renice -p 4521 10' places the priority value where the PID is expected, so the command errors rather than adjusting PID 4521. renice is tempting because it is the correct tool for changing a running process's nice value, which is exactly what this scenario requires.
- ✗
chrt -p 10 4521
Why it's wrong here
chrt sets scheduling policy and real-time priority under SCHED_FIFO or SCHED_RR, not the nice value; 'chrt -p 10 4521' would attempt real-time priority 10, which alters scheduling class rather than lowering CPU share. chrt is tempting for latency-sensitive workloads needing deterministic real-time scheduling, not for de-prioritising a greedy process.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Process Management and System Monitoring
Key term
Value
Value is the perceived worth, benefit, or usefulness that a service, product, or activity delivers to stakeholders, especially customers and the business.
Key term
Process
In IT service management, a process is a structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective, such as managing incidents or changes, by transforming inputs into defined outputs.
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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.