LPIC-1 Essential System Services and Networking Practice Question
Which TWO commands can be used to display the current routing table on a Linux system?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse `ss -r` with `ss -t` or `ss -u` (which show TCP/UDP sockets) or think `iptables -L` shows routing rules, but `iptables` only manages packet filtering and NAT rules, not the routing table.
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
✓
route -n
The `route -n` command displays the kernel IP routing table, showing destination networks, gateways, and interfaces. The `-n` flag ensures numeric output (no hostname resolution), which is useful for troubleshooting. The `ip route show` command is part of the modern `iproute2` suite and also displays the routing table, providing more detailed and flexible output than the legacy `route` command.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
ss -r
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: ss -r shows routing table? Actually ss does not have -r; it shows socket statistics.
- ✓
route -n
Why this is correct
Correct: route -n displays the routing table in numeric format.
- ✗
iptables -L
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: iptables -L lists firewall rules, not the routing table.
- ✗
ifconfig -r
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: ifconfig does not have a -r option.
- ✓
ip route show
Why this is correct
Correct: ip route show displays the routing table.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 527 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.