LPIC-2 Advanced Networking Configuration Practice Question
A system administrator recently configured two NICs in a bonding interface (bond0) using mode 1 (active-backup). Although both links appear up, traffic never fails over when the primary link goes down. Which command should the administrator use to diagnose the bonding status and determine the root cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume ifconfig or ethtool showing 'UP' means the bonding driver will failover, but bonding relies on its own link monitoring (miimon or arp_interval) which must be explicitly configured and verified via /proc/net/bonding/bond0.
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
✓
cat /proc/net/bonding/bond0
/proc/net/bonding/bond0 is the kernel-level interface that exposes the current bonding driver state, including active slave, link status, and failover counters. In mode 1 (active-backup), this file shows whether the primary interface is actually marked as 'up' by the bonding driver and whether the backup interface is ready to take over. The administrator can check for issues such as the primary link being stuck in a 'down' state due to misconfigured MII monitoring or missing 'miimon' parameter.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
netstat -i
Why it's wrong here
Shows interface statistics but no bonding details.
- ✓
cat /proc/net/bonding/bond0
Why this is correct
Shows bonding driver status: active slave, link failures, MII status.
- ✗
ifconfig bond0
Why it's wrong here
Only shows basic interface statistics, not bonding-specific info.
- ✗
ethtool bond0
Why it's wrong here
Shows link status but does not report bond failover state.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LPIC-2 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-2 exam.