LFCS Service Configuration Practice Question
Which THREE actions will affect the state of a systemd service that is currently running? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse `disable` (which only affects future boots) with `stop` (which affects the current runtime state), or think `daemon-reload` immediately impacts running services when it only updates unit definitions for subsequent operations.
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
✓
systemctl kill myapp.service
`systemctl kill myapp.service` sends a signal (default SIGTERM) to the main process of the running service, which can terminate or alter its state. This directly changes the service from a running state to a stopped or failed state depending on the signal and process behavior.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
systemctl kill myapp.service
Why this is correct
Sends a signal to the service process.
- ✓
systemctl reload myapp.service
Why this is correct
Reloads configuration without restarting.
- ✗
systemctl disable myapp.service
Why it's wrong here
Disables the service from starting at boot; does not affect current running state.
- ✗
systemctl daemon-reload
Why it's wrong here
Reloads unit files, but does not modify running services.
- ✓
systemctl stop myapp.service
Why this is correct
Stops the running service.
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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.