LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
Which of the following commands displays the amount of free disk space on all mounted filesystems in a human-readable format?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse `df -h` (free disk space) with `du -sh` (used space for a directory) or `df -i` (inode usage), because all three involve storage-related metrics but serve fundamentally different purposes.
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
✓
df -h
The `df -h` command displays disk space usage for all mounted filesystems with sizes in human-readable units (e.g., KB, MB, GB). The `-h` flag converts raw block counts into powers of 1024 with appropriate suffixes, making the output easy to interpret at a glance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
df -i
Why it's wrong here
df -i displays inode usage rather than block space, so it shows no human-readable capacity figures. It tempts because it is a valid df invocation, and would be correct when the requirement is diagnosing inode exhaustion on a filesystem.
- ✓
df -h
Why this is correct
The -h flag makes df print sizes in powers of 1024 with human-readable suffixes (K, M, G), satisfying the human-readable requirement. Without it, df reports raw 1K blocks across all mounted filesystems, which is harder to interpret.
- ✗
du -sh
Why it's wrong here
du -sh reports the disk usage of files and directories, not free space on mounted filesystems. It tempts because it is a human-readable disk-related command, and would be correct when the requirement is measuring how much space a specific directory consumes.
- ✗
df -T
Why it's wrong here
df -T adds filesystem type to the output; the human-readable flag is -h, so sizes remain in blocks. It tempts because -T is a valid df option, and would be correct when the requirement is identifying each mount's filesystem type.
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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.