LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Question
An administrator needs to check the system's load averages without displaying any process information. Which command should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse `uptime` with `w` or `top` because both also display load averages, but the question explicitly requires no process information, which `w` and `top` include.
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
✓
uptime
The `uptime` command displays the current time, how long the system has been running, the number of logged-in users, and the system load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes. It does not show any process-level information, making it the correct choice for checking load averages alone.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
w
Why it's wrong here
w prints load averages alongside a list of logged-in users, their terminals, login times and current commands, so it displays user and process information the task excludes. It is tempting because its first line contains the load averages, and w would be correct when you need to see who is logged in and what they are running.
- ✗
top
Why it's wrong here
top displays load averages but also a live, continuously refreshing process table, violating the requirement to show no process information. It is tempting because its header line does include load averages, and top would be the right choice when you also need interactive per-process CPU and memory monitoring.
- ✗
ps
Why it's wrong here
ps reports process status and never prints system load averages, so it cannot satisfy the requirement at all. It is tempting because administrators routinely use ps to inspect running processes, and it would be the correct tool when the task is listing processes rather than reading load averages.
- ✓
uptime
Why this is correct
uptime prints the current time, uptime duration, logged-in user count and the 1-, 5- and 15-minute load averages, then exits. It reads /proc/loadavg without listing processes, unlike top or ps, satisfying the requirement to view load averages without process information.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 402 original LPIC-1 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.