LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
A system is experiencing frequent crashes. Investigation shows that the root filesystem is mounted with 'errors=remount-ro'. The admin wants to prevent data loss by mounting with 'errors=panic' in /etc/fstab. Which change is correct?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think they can simply add 'errors=panic' as an extra option (Option A) without removing the existing 'errors=remount-ro', not realizing that duplicate 'errors=' directives create ambiguity and are not the intended way to change the error handling policy.
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
✓
Replace 'errors=remount-ro' with 'errors=panic'
The admin wants to change the error behavior from remounting the filesystem read-only to panicking the kernel. In /etc/fstab, each mount option is a comma-separated list; to change the error handling, you must replace the existing 'errors=remount-ro' with 'errors=panic' in the options field. Adding an additional 'errors=panic' would create a conflict (the last one parsed typically wins, but it's ambiguous and not the intended clean configuration).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add 'errors=panic' as an additional option
Why it's wrong here
Adding without removing the old option may lead to conflict or last one wins; best to replace.
- ✗
Change the mount point to /panic
Why it's wrong here
Irrelevant; mount point does not affect error handling.
- ✗
Use 'defaults,errors=panic'
Why it's wrong here
'defaults' includes default options like rw, suid, dev, exec, auto, nouser, async; using defaults and then errors=panic would work, but the question asks for the correct change from the current state, which is simply replacing.
- ✓
Replace 'errors=remount-ro' with 'errors=panic'
Why this is correct
Directly changes the error handling behavior.
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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.