LFCS Essential Commands Practice Question
A cron job runs a script every hour but sometimes fails because the script cannot find commands like 'tar' and 'gzip'. The script works when run manually from a terminal. What is the best fix?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think adding a PATH to the cron job definition (Option D) is the best fix, but the LFCS exam emphasizes absolute paths as the more robust and portable solution for scripts run by cron.
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
✓
Use absolute paths for all commands in the script.
Cron jobs run in a minimal environment with a restricted PATH (often just /usr/bin:/bin). When the script uses commands like 'tar' and 'gzip' without absolute paths, the shell cannot locate them. Using absolute paths (e.g., /bin/tar, /bin/gzip) ensures the script always finds the commands regardless of the environment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Run the cron job as root.
Why it's wrong here
Running as root does not solve the PATH issue; root's PATH may still be limited.
- ✗
Modify the script to source the user's .bashrc.
Why it's wrong here
Sourcing .bashrc may introduce unexpected variables and is not a robust solution.
- ✓
Use absolute paths for all commands in the script.
Why this is correct
Absolute paths ensure the script finds the commands regardless of the environment's PATH.
- ✗
Add a PATH statement to the cron job definition.
Why it's wrong here
While setting PATH in the crontab can help if the script is called directly, it's better to handle PATH within the script.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LFCS practice question is part of Courseiva's free Linux Foundation 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 LFCS exam.