LPIC-1 System Architecture Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. $ lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT sda 8:0 0 223.6G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 512M 0 part /boot ├─sda2 8:2 0 16G 0 part [SWAP] └─sda3 8:3 0 207.1G 0 part /
Refer to the exhibit. The system has a single disk with three partitions. Which partition contains the root filesystem?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse the entire disk device (sda) with a partition (sda1, sda2, sda3), or assume the root filesystem is always on the first partition (sda1), ignoring that it can be on any numbered partition based on system design.
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
✓
sda3
The root filesystem is mounted from the partition that contains the / (root) directory. In Linux, partitions are numbered starting from 1 (e.g., sda1, sda2, sda3). The device sda itself refers to the entire disk, not a partition. Since the system has three partitions and the correct answer is sda3, partition sda3 must be the one designated as the root filesystem, typically identified by the mount point '/' in /etc/fstab or by the kernel boot parameter root=.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
sda
Why it's wrong here
sda is the whole disk, not a partition.
- ✗
sda1
Why it's wrong here
sda1 is mounted as /boot.
- ✗
sda2
Why it's wrong here
sda2 is swap space.
- ✓
sda3
Why this is correct
sda3 is mounted at / (root).
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every LPIC-1 question from scratch — 527 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. 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.