LPIC-1 Devices, Filesystems and FHS Practice Question
You manage a CentOS 7 server that runs a critical application storing data on an XFS filesystem mounted at /data. The server experiences an unexpected power outage. After rebooting, the application fails to start, and you suspect filesystem corruption. You boot into single-user mode and attempt to mount /data, but the mount fails with an error: 'mount: /dev/sdb1: can't read superblock'. You run 'xfs_repair -n /dev/sdb1' and it reports the log is dirty and must be replayed or the filesystem repaired with the -L option (force log zeroing). You want to recover the filesystem with minimal data loss. Which action should you take?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates familiar with ext4 may instinctively choose fsck (Option C), not realizing that XFS has its own repair tool (xfs_repair) and that fsck is incompatible with XFS filesystems.
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
✓
Run 'xfs_repair -L /dev/sdb1' to force log replay and repair.
Xfs_repair -L /dev/sdb1 forces the log to be zeroed (cleared) and then performs a full filesystem check and repair. This is necessary when the log is dirty and cannot be replayed normally due to corruption, such as after an unclean shutdown. The -L option is the standard recovery method for XFS when the log is damaged, and it minimizes data loss by only discarding the log (which contains metadata changes that were not yet written to disk) while preserving the rest of the filesystem data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Run 'xfs_repair -L /dev/sdb1' to force log replay and repair.
Why this is correct
-L zeros the log and forces a replay, which is necessary when the log is corrupt.
- ✗
Mount the filesystem with the 'norecovery' option to bypass the log and then attempt to repair.
Why it's wrong here
Mounting with 'norecovery' does not repair the filesystem; it only allows read-only access.
- ✗
Run 'fsck -y /dev/sdb1' to automatically repair.
Why it's wrong here
fsck is for ext filesystems; for XFS, use xfs_repair.
- ✗
Run 'xfs_admin -U generate /dev/sdb1' to generate a new UUID and then mount.
Why it's wrong here
xfs_admin changes metadata, but does not repair corruption.
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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.