EX200 Deploy, configure, and maintain systems Practice Question
An administrator has a logical volume 'lv_data' in a volume group 'vg_data' with a filesystem. The administrator needs to reduce the size of 'lv_data' by 2GB. Which sequence of commands should be performed?
⚠ Common exam trap
Red Hat often tests the misconception that you can reduce the logical volume first and then shrink the filesystem, but the correct order is always filesystem first, then LV reduction, with unmount and fsck as prerequisites.
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
✓
umount, e2fsck -f, resize2fs, lvreduce
Reducing a logical volume with a filesystem requires a specific sequence: first unmount the filesystem to ensure no writes occur, then run e2fsck -f to force a filesystem check and ensure consistency, then use resize2fs to shrink the filesystem to the desired size, and finally lvreduce to shrink the logical volume itself. This order prevents data corruption by resizing the filesystem before the underlying block device.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
umount, e2fsck -f, resize2fs, lvreduce
Why this is correct
This is the only safe sequence. The volume must be unmounted (`umount`) to stop the kernel from writing to it, then `e2fsck -f` forces a full consistency check so the filesystem metadata is known-good before any resize. Only after the check can `resize2fs` shrink the filesystem to its target size; once that completes successfully, `lvreduce` can shrink the logical volume to match, because the fs no longer occupies the space being removed.
- ✗
lvreduce, resize2fs, e2fsck, umount
Why it's wrong here
Running `lvreduce` as the first step removes physical extents from the logical volume while the filesystem is still mounted and unchanged, which instantly risks carving into live data and making the filesystem unreadable. Even if it happened to succeed, calling `resize2fs` afterward is backwards: you must shrink the filesystem first, then the LV, so the LV shrink never cuts off space the filesystem believes it owns. Finally, `e2fsck` after the LV was already reduced can only report corruption, not repair it, because the damage is already done.
- ✗
resize2fs, lvreduce, umount, e2fsck
Why it's wrong here
Attempting `resize2fs` first is invalid because shrinking an ext4 filesystem requires the volume to be unmounted — the `umount` step comes too late at position three, and any online shrink attempt will be refused by the tool. Even worse, `e2fsck` is deferred until the end, so the filesystem is resized without a prior check, meaning latent inconsistencies are propagated. By the time `umount` and `e2fsck` run, the LV has already been reduced to match the (potentially broken) FS, so there is no safety net.
- ✗
umount, lvreduce, resize2fs, e2fsck
Why it's wrong here
This sequence correctly unmounts the filesystem, but then commits the classic fatal mistake of shrinking the logical volume before shrinking the filesystem: `lvreduce` strips away extents that the filesystem still maps for its data structures, truncating the filesystem's device backing. After that, `resize2fs` cannot reliably resize a filesystem whose underlying device is smaller than the filesystem believes, and `e2fsck` last is futile because entire blocks are already missing. The filesystem must be shrunk first with `resize2fs`; only then does it become safe to reduce the LV.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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