LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
An administrator needs to mount a USB drive with the ext4 filesystem automatically at boot. The drive has a filesystem label 'DATA'. Which entry in /etc/fstab will mount it at /mnt/data with noatime and default mount options?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates default to using /dev/sdX device names (option A) out of habit, forgetting that device names are dynamic and unreliable for persistent mounts, while also overlooking that 'defaults' must be explicitly included when other options like 'noatime' are specified.
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
✓
LABEL=DATA /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0
It uses the filesystem label 'DATA' to identify the USB drive, which is more reliable than a device name like /dev/sdb1 that can change between boots. The mount options 'noatime,defaults' are specified in the correct order, with 'defaults' providing standard mount options (rw, suid, dev, exec, auto, nouser, async) and 'noatime' disabling access time updates to reduce writes. The entry also includes the proper ext4 filesystem type and the mount point /mnt/data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0
Why it's wrong here
Using /dev/sdb1 is not persistent; device names can change.
- ✓
LABEL=DATA /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0
Why this is correct
Correct use of label and options.
- ✗
LABEL=DATA /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0
Why it's wrong here
Missing noatime option.
- ✗
UUID=DATA /mnt/data ext4 noatime,defaults 0 0
Why it's wrong here
UUID syntax is correct but DATA is a label, not a valid UUID.
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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.