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010-160 · domain

The Linux Operating System

This domain covers core Linux operating system concepts: environment variables, file and directory management, disk partitioning, and file ownership. Questions test practical command usage and conceptual understanding. Expect multiple-choice items, including 'choose two' formats, that require identifying correct commands or statements about how Linux manages processes, storage, and permissions in real administrative scenarios.

68 questions19 easy31 medium18 hard

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What this domain covers

What to know about The Linux Operating System

Be able to use commands like du, sort, head, fdisk, parted, and chown correctly. The most important thing is to know the exact syntax and options for each task, especially distinguishing between similar commands and understanding environment variable scope.

Environment variables and their effect on command execution and shell behavior

Finding largest files within a directory tree using du, sort, and head

Disk partitioning tools such as fdisk, parted, and gparted

Changing file ownership with chown and understanding user/group syntax

Watch out for

Common The Linux Operating System exam traps

  • ▸Confusing environment variables with shell variables, or assuming all variables are exported automatically.
  • ▸Using ls instead of du to find large files, or forgetting to sort and limit output.
  • ▸Mixing up chown and chmod, or specifying user and group in the wrong order.

Question index

All The Linux Operating System questions (68)

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1

Which command lists all files in a directory including hidden ones?

Easy
2

Which TWO of the following are examples of Linux distributions?

Easy
3

A helpdesk technician is preparing a Linux workstation for a new employee. The employee needs to know which account they are currently logged in as, without opening any graphical tools. Which single command should the technician recommend to display the current user's login name?

Easy
4

A new administrator needs to grant a colleague the ability to run a specific backup script as root without sharing the root password, while keeping the action auditable and restricted to that one command. The server already has the sudo package installed and the colleague has a normal user account. Which approach best meets these requirements?

Medium
5

A consultant is auditing a Linux workstation and finds that a regular user's home directory contains a file named .bashrc and a file named .profile. The user reports that environment variables set in .profile are not present in new interactive terminal windows opened from the desktop, yet aliases from .bashrc work. Which explanation best accounts for this behavior?

Hard
6

A new administrator is learning how Linux organizes its filesystem. She must identify which of the following statements about the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) are correct. (Choose two.)

Medium
7

Which TWO of the following are examples of common Linux filesystems?

Easy
8

A help-desk analyst needs to see which processes are consuming the most CPU and memory in real time, and must be able to sort and kill a runaway process interactively. Which utility best fits this requirement?

Medium
9

A user needs to change their own password on a Linux system. Which command should they use?

Medium
10

You need to determine the UUID of a partition to add it to /etc/fstab. Which command should you use?

Medium
11

A user reports that a script located in their home directory will not run when they type its name, even though the file exists and has execute permission. The user is currently in that home directory. Which action explains why the script is not found and how to run it?

Medium
12

You need to ensure that a server's time is synchronized with an external time source to prevent authentication errors. Which daemon is responsible for this?

Medium
13

You have added a new hard drive to your Linux server, but the system does not automatically recognize the device. What is the first step you should take to verify if the kernel detects the hardware?

Hard
14

A support engineer is handed a Linux server and needs to determine which user account is currently logged in on a remote SSH session before performing maintenance, so they can notify the right person. Which command most directly reports the usernames of users currently logged into the system?

Medium
15

A system administrator needs to identify which process is listening on TCP port 80 on a Linux server. Which command is most appropriate?

Medium
16

Which TWO of the following are valid ways to view system logs?

Medium
17

An administrator wants to view the current system load and active processes. Which utility is the most appropriate for a real-time monitor?

Easy
18

Which THREE of the following are components of a standard network configuration?

Hard
19

You are setting up a local network and need to verify the path traffic takes to reach a remote host. Which command should you use?

Hard
20

A systems administrator is documenting a server and wants to record which kernel release is currently running, including any distribution-specific patch level, for compatibility checks with a third-party driver. Which command should be used to display this information?

Medium
21

Which command is used to display the current directory path in the terminal?

Easy
22

A user wants to change the permissions of a file named 'data.txt' so that the owner can read and write, the group can read, and others have no access. Which command achieves this?

Easy
23

A Linux administrator needs to check which shell is currently assigned to the user account 'jdoe' in the system's user database, without logging in as that user. Which command will display this information?

Medium
24

A Linux administrator is auditing user accounts and needs to identify which files store local user account and hashed password information on a typical distribution. (Choose two.)

Hard
25

A developer needs to know the kernel version currently running on the server. Which command provides this information?

Easy
26

You are trying to troubleshoot why a user cannot connect to your server via SSH. You want to see if the SSH daemon is listening on the appropriate port. Which command should you run?

Hard
27

A Linux administrator is preparing a machine that must run headless as a file server. She needs to identify which of the following are characteristics of a Linux server installation rather than a typical desktop installation. (Choose two.)

Hard
28

Which TWO of the following commands help in identifying hardware on a system?

Medium
29

You suspect that a process is consuming too much CPU. Which command allows you to sort active processes by CPU usage?

Medium
30

A Linux administrator is reviewing the boot process on a server that uses systemd. She wants to determine which target the system will boot into by default and confirm the current default setting. Which command should she use?

Hard
31

A Linux administrator is reviewing how environment variables affect command execution. Which TWO of the following statements about environment variables are correct? (Choose two.)

Hard
32

A Linux administrator is troubleshooting a server that fails to boot completely. The system starts but drops into an emergency shell. Which command should the administrator use to view the most recent kernel messages that might indicate the cause?

Hard
33

A junior administrator is asked to determine which shell will be launched for a user named 'alex' upon login. The administrator inspects the /etc/passwd file and sees the following line: alex:x:1001:1001:Alex Smith:/home/alex:/bin/bash. Which field in this line specifies the login shell?

Medium
34

Which THREE commands can be used to display information about system memory?

Hard
35

A server is running out of disk space. Which command allows you to view the space usage of directories in a human-readable format?

Medium
36

A Linux administrator needs to add a new user account named 'tester' with a home directory and a default shell of /bin/bash. Which command should be used?

Medium
37

A user wants to check the amount of free disk space on all mounted filesystems in a human-readable format. Which command should they use?

Easy
38

A helpdesk technician is asked to confirm which Linux kernel is currently running on a production web server so they can compare it against a vendor's supported-kernel list. They only have a standard shell session and want the most direct command that prints the running kernel release string. Which command should they use?

Easy
39

While exploring a Linux system, a new administrator runs `ls -l /etc/shadow` and sees that the file is owned by root and group shadow, with permissions `rw-r-----`. They want to understand which user accounts on the system are currently configured with a valid password hash versus those that are locked. Which command best lists only the accounts that have a real password hash set in `/etc/shadow`?

Medium
40

A system administrator is troubleshooting a Linux server that has become unresponsive. The administrator wants to view a snapshot of all currently running processes, including those not attached to a terminal, along with their process IDs and CPU usage. Which command should the administrator use?

Hard
41

A helpdesk technician is asked to install a Linux distribution on a spare workstation for a new employee who needs a full desktop environment. The technician wants to minimize the time spent selecting packages during installation. Which type of Linux distribution should the technician choose?

Easy
42

Which TWO of the following directories are usually located at the root of a Linux filesystem?

Easy
43

A technician has just unpacked a new server and needs to confirm which physical architecture the CPU reports so they can request the matching RPM package. Which command will display the machine's hardware architecture, such as x86_64?

Easy
44

A Linux system administrator notices that the /var/log directory is filling up quickly. They want to find the largest files within that directory tree to identify what is consuming space. Which command will accomplish this?

Hard
45

A consultant is preparing a presentation about the Linux ecosystem. She needs to explain the relationship between the kernel and a complete Linux distribution. Which statement best describes this relationship?

Medium
46

A user wants to view the contents of a text file named 'notes.txt' one page at a time, and also be able to scroll backward and forward within the file. Which command is best suited for this task?

Easy
47

A user reports that a script stored on a mounted USB drive will not execute when invoked by name, even though it runs when called explicitly through the shell with bash script.sh. The file has execute permission set for the user. Which is the most likely cause?

Hard
48

A system administrator is checking for hardware errors in the logs. Where are general system messages usually stored?

Medium
49

Which TWO of the following are considered hardware components?

Easy
50

A Linux administrator needs to grant a contractor temporary read and write access to a project directory without adding the contractor's account to a shared group or changing ownership of existing files. Which approach best meets this requirement while following standard Linux permission practice?

Hard
51

Which TWO of the following tools allow you to manage disk partitions?

Medium
52

A junior admin is confused about the difference between software RAID and hardware RAID. Which of the following is a primary characteristic of software RAID?

Medium
53

A technician is preparing a presentation on how Linux organizes its filesystem and wants to describe the role of the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. Which two statements accurately describe the FHS as it applies to mainstream Linux distributions? (Choose two.)

Medium
54

You need to change the ownership of a file to user 'admin'. Which command is the correct way to do this?

Medium
55

A help desk technician receives a call from a user who complains that their Linux workstation feels sluggish. The technician wants to see a dynamic, real-time list of processes sorted by CPU usage. Which command should the technician run?

Easy
56

You are managing a Linux server and need to confirm the IP address assigned to the eth0 interface. Which command is most appropriate on modern distributions?

Medium
57

A Linux administrator needs to check how much free space remains on each mounted filesystem before deploying a large application. The administrator wants a quick, human-readable summary showing used and available space per mount point. Which command should be used?

Medium
58

Which THREE of the following files/commands are involved in system startup or services?

Hard
59

An administrator needs to monitor network traffic in real-time on a specific interface. Which tool is commonly used to capture and display packets?

Hard
60

A user needs to find all files in the /var/log directory that have been modified in the last 24 hours. Which command will accomplish this?

Medium
61

A Linux user wants to create a new directory named 'projects' and then move an existing file named 'report.txt' into it. Which two commands will accomplish these tasks? (Choose two.)

Medium
62

A system administrator wants to check the partition table of a specific disk. Which tool is used for this?

Medium
63

Which THREE of the following items are typically found in the /etc directory?

Hard
64

A Linux administrator is reviewing user account files and needs to understand where user information is stored. Which TWO of the following files contain user account details? (Choose two.)

Medium
65

What is the purpose of the /proc directory in Linux?

Easy
66

Which TWO commands are commonly used to check network connectivity to a host?

Medium
67

A small business owner wants to implement a server that allows for long-term support and stability for critical financial applications. Which distribution strategy should they prioritize?

Easy
68

A technician needs to identify the amount of RAM installed in a server without opening the chassis. Which command provides this information from the command line?

Easy

Frequently asked questions

What does the The Linux Operating System domain cover on the 010-160 exam?
Be able to use commands like du, sort, head, fdisk, parted, and chown correctly. The most important thing is to know the exact syntax and options for each task, especially distinguishing between similar commands and understanding environment variable scope.
How many questions are in this domain?
This page lists all 68 The Linux Operating System questions in the 010-160 question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
What is the best way to practise this domain?
Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
Can I practise only The Linux Operating System questions?
Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.
LPI Linux Essentials (010-160, v1.6) (010-160) The Linux Operating System Practice Questions