LPIC-1 Essential System Services and Networking Practice Question
A small office has a network printer with IP 192.168.1.100. The printer is shared via CUPS. A user reports that they cannot print a document from their workstation. The printer appears in the list of available printers, but when they try to print, the job hangs in the queue with status 'processing'. The administrator suspects the printer may be offline or the CUPS service is not running. Which command should the administrator run first to gather diagnostic information about the printer and its queue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume a network connectivity test (ping) is the logical first step, but the question specifically asks for diagnostic information about the printer and its queue, which requires CUPS-specific status reporting, not just ICMP reachability.
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
✓
lpstat -t
The `lpstat -t` command shows the complete status of the CUPS print system, including all printers, their queues, and whether they are accepting jobs. Since the job is stuck with 'processing' status, this command will reveal if the printer is idle, disabled, or unreachable, and whether the queue is enabled or paused. It is the first diagnostic step before testing network connectivity or restarting services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
ping 192.168.1.100
Why it's wrong here
Pinging the printer only tests ICMP reachability; the job already sits in a CUPS queue, so the fault may lie in the spooler or driver rather than the network path. Ping is the right first step when no device responds at all.
- ✓
lpstat -t
Why this is correct
lpstat -t reports the CUPS scheduler status, default destination, printer states and queued jobs, revealing whether the printer is disabled or the queue is stalled. It gathers the broadest diagnostic picture first, before more targeted checks such as lpinfo or restarting cups.
- ✗
lpadmin -p printer -E
Why it's wrong here
lpadmin -p printer -E merely enables the named print queue; it reports nothing about job state, printer status or why processing stalls. Enabling a queue is appropriate after a queue has been disabled, not for gathering diagnostics.
- ✗
systemctl restart cups
Why it's wrong here
Restarting CUPS discards the queued job and any state needed for diagnosis, and the question asks for information gathering first. Restarting is the remedy once logs confirm the daemon has crashed, not the initial diagnostic step.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LPIC-1 practice question is part of Courseiva's free LPI 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 LPIC-1 exam.