LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
Which TWO options in /etc/fstab affect whether a filesystem is mounted at boot? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'auto' with 'defaults' or think 'ro' affects boot mounting, when in fact only 'auto' and 'noauto' directly control automatic mounting at boot.
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
✓
auto
The 'auto' option (C) explicitly tells the system to mount the filesystem automatically at boot time via `mount -a` (as run by systemd or init scripts). Conversely, 'noauto' (E) prevents automatic mounting at boot, requiring manual intervention. Both directly control boot-time behavior in /etc/fstab.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
user
Why it's wrong here
user allows ordinary users to mount, but does not relate to boot mounting.
- ✗
defaults
Why it's wrong here
defaults does not directly relate to boot mount; it includes auto but is not a specific boot option.
- ✓
auto
Why this is correct
auto tells mount -a (boot) to mount the filesystem.
- ✗
ro
Why it's wrong here
ro sets read-only, does not affect whether it's mounted at boot.
- ✓
noauto
Why this is correct
noauto prevents the filesystem from being mounted at boot.
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.