hardMultiple Choice
XK0-006 Practice Question: After a system update, a server takes…
After a system update, a server takes significantly longer to boot. The administrator wants to identify which systemd service is causing the delay. Which command provides a detailed analysis of boot time spent by each service?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse `systemd-analyze blame` with `systemd-analyze critical-chain`, mistakenly thinking the latter provides per-service timing, when in fact it only shows the dependency chain and not the individual time spent by each service.
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
✓
systemd-analyze blame
The `systemd-analyze blame` command prints a list of all running systemd units, sorted by the time they took to initialize during boot. This directly answers the administrator's need to identify which specific service is causing the delay, as it shows the exact time spent by each service.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
systemd-analyze time
Why it's wrong here
systemd-analyze time reports only total firmware, loader, kernel and userspace durations, with no per-service breakdown, so the culprit stays hidden. It is tempting as the quickest first check after a slow boot, and it would be correct for confirming that userspace, rather than firmware, dominates.
- ✓
systemd-analyze blame
Why this is correct
`systemd-analyze blame` lists each unit's initialisation duration in descending order, directly exposing the service responsible for the slow boot. It satisfies the stem's requirement for a per-service breakdown of boot time, unlike `systemd-analyze time`, which reports only total firmware, loader and userspace durations.
- ✗
systemd-analyze critical-chain
Why it's wrong here
critical-chain prints the dependency chain of units on the boot path with timings, not a per-service breakdown of total boot time. It is tempting because it analyses boot performance, but the command that lists each unit's time is systemd-analyze blame, which the question's requirement matches.
- ✗
systemd-analyze plot
Why it's wrong here
systemd-analyze plot renders an SVG timeline of service activation, so it shows overlap visually rather than listing per-unit durations. It is tempting because it is genuinely useful for spotting parallelisation problems, but the stem asks for a detailed per-service breakdown, which systemd-analyze blame provides.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Key term
systemd
systemd is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems that initializes and manages processes, services, and system resources after the kernel boots.
Key term
Service
A service is a software component or system that performs a specific function and is available to be used by other programs or users over a network.
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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.