LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
You are a systems administrator for a medium-sized company that runs a web server on a Linux host. The server has two physical disks: /dev/sda (250 GB) and /dev/sdb (500 GB). The root filesystem is on /dev/sda2, and /var is on /dev/sda3 (50 GB). The web application stores user-uploaded files in /var/www/uploads, which is part of the /var filesystem. Recently, /var has been running out of space because uploads have grown to 40 GB. You have added /dev/sdb1 (500 GB) and created an ext4 filesystem on it. You need to make the space available for uploads without disrupting the current file paths. The server must remain online during the process. Which of the following actions should you take?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse symbolic links with bind mounts, assuming a symlink to a device or mount point will work, when in fact only a bind mount can transparently redirect directory access to a different filesystem without breaking paths or requiring manual mounting.
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
✓
Mount /dev/sdb1 on /mnt, copy /var/www/uploads to /mnt/uploads, then mount --bind /mnt/uploads /var/www/uploads.
Using a bind mount allows you to mount the new 500 GB filesystem at /mnt/uploads and then bind it to /var/www/uploads, preserving the existing file paths without moving or renaming anything. This operation can be performed online without unmounting /var or disrupting the web server, as bind mounts are a feature of the Linux kernel that make a mounted filesystem accessible at another directory.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Convert /var to use LVM by backing up, reformatting, and restoring data.
Why it's wrong here
Converting /var to LVM would require unmounting the filesystem to migrate data, which violates the requirement that the server remain online during the process. This option is tempting because LVM allows dynamic resizing and addition of physical volumes without altering existing paths, making it a correct choice when the filesystem can be taken offline for the initial migration.
- ✗
Create a symbolic link from /var/www/uploads to /dev/sdb1.
Why it's wrong here
You cannot symlink to a block device; you need a filesystem mount. This would not work.
- ✗
Move /var/www/uploads to /mnt/uploads and create a symbolic link from /var/www/uploads to /mnt/uploads.
Why it's wrong here
The uploads directory is on /var which is full; moving to /mnt is okay, but the symlink doesn't free space on /var unless the data is moved off. However, the data would still physically reside on /var if moved incorrectly. The correct procedure would be to copy to new filesystem, then use bind mount.
- ✓
Mount /dev/sdb1 on /mnt, copy /var/www/uploads to /mnt/uploads, then mount --bind /mnt/uploads /var/www/uploads.
Why this is correct
This moves the data to the new disk and uses a bind mount to keep the original path, preserving application access without downtime.
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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.