LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Question
A zombie process appears in the process list. The parent process has PID 1234. Which command will most likely remove the zombie?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates mistakenly think they can kill the zombie itself with kill -9, not realizing that a zombie is already dead and the only way to remove it is to force its parent to reap it or terminate the parent.
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
✓
kill -9 1234
A zombie process is a child process that has terminated but whose exit status has not been read by its parent. The zombie cannot be killed directly because it is already dead; it only remains in the process table until the parent calls wait(). Sending SIGKILL (kill -9) to the parent process (PID 1234) causes the parent to terminate, and the zombie child is then adopted by init (PID 1), which automatically reaps it by calling wait().
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
kill -9 1234
Why this is correct
A zombie is already dead, so signalling it does nothing; only its parent can reap it. Killing PID 1234 with SIGKILL terminates the parent, after which init adopts and reaps the zombie, clearing it from the process table.
- ✗
kill -9 <zombie_pid>
Why it's wrong here
A zombie has already terminated, so SIGKILL cannot be delivered; the process entry persists until the parent reaps it via wait. It is tempting because kill -9 forcibly ends running processes, but the zombie's parent (PID 1234) must be signalled or terminated instead.
- ✗
wait <zombie_pid>
Why it's wrong here
wait is a shell builtin that blocks until a child terminates and reaps it; it cannot be invoked against an arbitrary zombie PID from another shell. It is tempting because wait is the mechanism by which a parent reaps children, but only the parent process itself can call it.
- ✗
reboot
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting clears the process table, but it is a disruptive system-wide action that does not address the parent's failure to reap its child. It is tempting as a guaranteed cleanup method, yet the correct fix is to signal or terminate the parent process so it calls wait.
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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.