LPIC-2 System Security Practice Question
To protect against SSH brute-force attacks, a system administrator installs fail2ban. Which configuration file should be modified to enable the SSH jail with default settings?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse jail.conf (the default file) with jail.local (the override file), or assume that fail2ban's main config file (fail2ban.conf) is used to enable jails, when in fact jails are managed separately in the jail configuration files.
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
✓
/etc/fail2ban/jail.local
Fail2ban uses jail.local to override default settings from jail.conf without modifying the package-managed file. The SSH jail is defined in jail.conf but enabling it with default settings requires creating or editing jail.local, which takes precedence over jail.conf. This ensures that customizations survive package updates.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
/etc/fail2ban/fail2ban.conf
Why it's wrong here
This file configures the fail2ban daemon, not jails.
- ✗
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
Why it's wrong here
sshd_config configures SSH, not fail2ban.
- ✓
/etc/fail2ban/jail.local
Why this is correct
This file overrides settings in jail.conf; enabling the SSH jail here is the proper method.
- ✗
/etc/fail2ban/jail.conf
Why it's wrong here
Editing jail.conf is discouraged; use jail.local for local modifications.
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JA
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.