EX200 · domain
Manage users and groups
Practise Red Hat Certified System Administrator EX200 Manage users and groups practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.
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What to know about Manage users and groups
Manage users and groups questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.
Which detail in the question changes the correct answer.
How to eliminate plausible but wrong options.
How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.
Watch out for
Common Manage users and groups exam traps
- ▸Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
- ▸Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
- ▸Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
- ▸Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.
Question index
All Manage users and groups questions (16)
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Which TWO commands can change the primary group of an existing user?
Medium2Refer to the exhibit. A user named 'carol' has been added to the system with the command useradd -G wheel carol. Which line in /etc/group will confirm that carol is now a member of the wheel group?
Medium3A system administrator needs to change the primary group of an existing user to a group that already exists. Which command should be used?
Medium4A user named jdoe is receiving 'Permission denied' errors when trying to access a file owned by root with permissions 644. The user is a member of the root group. What is the most likely cause?
Medium5A server has a requirement that all users in the 'finance' group must have a password aging policy that forces password change every 90 days. Which approach best achieves this for existing users?
Hard6Refer to the exhibit. What effect does the value INACTIVE=-1 have on newly created user accounts?
Hard7A Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 system enforces a security policy that user accounts must be disabled after 90 days of inactivity. The system administrator has configured /etc/shadow accordingly with the proper fields. User 'bob' has been on leave for 95 days. When bob returns and tries to log in, he is unable to do so. The administrator checks the shadow file and sees that bob's password expiration date has passed and the account is locked due to inactivity (the inactivity period has exceeded). The administrator wants to immediately reactivate bob's account without changing the password, and also wants to set the account to expire in 30 days from now (relative to the current date). Which set of commands should the administrator run to achieve this goal?
Hard8You are managing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 server that hosts backup scripts. A user named 'backup' (UID 1005) is a member of the 'backup' group. The directory /var/backups is owned by root:backup with permissions 775. The 'backup' user needs to create files in this directory. However, when the user attempts to create a file, they receive 'Permission denied'. You verify that 'backup' is indeed listed in the backup group in /etc/group. The user's current shell was started after their last login. Which of the following is the most likely cause and solution?
Hard9A system administrator needs to ensure that a user named 'bob' can access a shared directory '/data' owned by group 'developers'. The directory has permissions 2775 and is owned by root:developers. Bob is a member of the 'developers' group. However, when Bob tries to create a file in '/data', it fails with 'Permission denied'. What is the most likely cause?
Hard10An administrator wants to ensure that any new user accounts created on the system have a default primary group matching the username. What change is needed?
Medium11Which TWO commands can be used to add a user to a secondary group without removing existing supplementary group memberships? (Choose exactly 2)
Medium12A new employee named asmith needs a user account with a home directory and a specific UID of 1500. Which command accomplishes this?
Easy13A company needs to create a user account for a temporary contractor who will work for exactly 90 days. The account must be automatically disabled after 90 days. Which command should the administrator use?
Easy14A user was recently added to the 'testgrp' group using `usermod -aG testgrp user1`. However, when they try to access a file owned by testgrp with permissions 660, they get permission denied. What is the most likely reason?
Medium15A server has been compromised, and the administrator suspects an unauthorized user account may have been created. Which file should be examined to list all local user accounts?
Easy16An administrator wants to add the user 'jane' to the supplementary groups 'wheel' and 'docker' without removing her from other groups. Which command should be used?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Manage users and groups domain cover on the EX200 exam?
- Manage users and groups questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 16 Manage users and groups questions in the EX200 question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Manage users and groups questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.