LPIC-1 UUID Practice Question
Exhibit
# ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/ total 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 10 10:00 1234-5678 -> ../../sda1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 10 10:00 abcd-ef01 -> ../../sdb1
The system is unable to mount a filesystem that should be identified by UUID 1234-5678. The administrator checks /etc/fstab and finds the entry: UUID=1234-5678 /data ext4 defaults 0 2. What is the most likely cause of the mount failure?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common misconception is that mount failures are always due to a UUID mismatch in fstab, but the trap here is that the symlink in /dev/disk/by-uuid/ can be broken even when the UUID in fstab and on the filesystem match. This can happen after disk reordering or hardware changes.
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
✓
The symlink for UUID 1234-5678 is broken.
The most likely cause is that the symbolic link for UUID 1234-5678 is broken. In Linux, UUID-based mounts in /etc/fstab rely on symlinks in /dev/disk/by-uuid/ that point to the actual block device. If the symlink is missing or points to a non-existent device (e.g., after a disk reorder or hardware change), the system cannot resolve the UUID to a device, causing the mount to fail even if the filesystem itself is intact.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The /data mount point does not exist.
Why it's wrong here
If the mount point were missing, the error would be 'mount point does not exist'.
- ✗
The device /dev/sda1 is not formatted with ext4.
Why it's wrong here
The exhibit does not indicate filesystem type; mount would fail with 'wrong fs type' if that were the case.
- ✗
The UUID in the fstab entry is incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
The UUID matches the symlink name, so it is likely correct.
- ✓
The symlink for UUID 1234-5678 is broken.
Why this is correct
The symlink exists but the target /dev/sda1 may not exist, causing a broken link and mount failure.
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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.