Match each command to its function in managing storage.
Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.
Partition table manipulator for MBR and GPT
Create a volume group in LVM
Create an ext4 file system on a partition
Attach a file system to a directory
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
fdisk: Manipulate disk partition table
The correct matches are: fdisk for partition table manipulation, mkfs for filesystem creation, mount for attaching filesystems, and lvcreate for logical volume creation. Common confusions include associating df or du with filesystem creation, and confusing lvcreate with display commands.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
fdisk: Manipulate disk partition table
Why this is correct
fdisk is an interactive command-line utility for viewing and manipulating the partition table on a disk device, normally /dev/sda. It lets you create, delete, and change partition types, then writes the MBR or GPT partition entries to the disk. For example, 'fdisk /dev/sdb' opens a menu where commands like n (new) and t (type) define partitions, but fdisk itself does not create filesystems.
mkfs: Create a filesystem
Why this is correct
mkfs (make filesystem) formats a block device by writing the bare filesystem structures — superblock, inode tables, and data bitmaps — so the kernel can manage files on it. Typically invoked as 'mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1' or 'mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/vg-data', it is the step after partitioning and before mounting. This command permanently erases existing data on the target partition by initializing the filesystem metadata.
mount: Attach a filesystem to a directory
Why this is correct
mount attaches a filesystem from a block device to a specified directory (mount point), making its contents accessible under the Linux VFS. For instance, 'mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/data' associates that partition with /mnt/data; until then the device is merely a raw block device. The kernel tracks these bindings in the mount table (see /proc/mounts or findmnt), and unmounting uses the corresponding umount command.
lvcreate: Create a logical volume
Why this is correct
lvcreate is an LVM command that allocates space from an existing volume group to create a new logical volume, e.g., 'lvcreate -L 20G -n lvdata vg0'. The result is a block device at /dev/vg0/lvdata that can later hold a filesystem (mkfs) and be mounted. Unlike mkfs or mount, lvcreate only provisions the logical storage — no filesystem or accessibility is created in this step.
df: Create a filesystem
Why it's wrong here
df (disk free) reports the amount of used and available space on mounted filesystems, reading from the kernel's statfs interface, as in 'df -h'. It does not create or format anything; filesystem creation is performed by mkfs and physical partitioning is done by fdisk or parted. Interpreting df as a filesystem-creation tool confuses a read-only monitoring utility with a destructive setup tool.
lvcreate: Display disk usage
Why it's wrong here
lvcreate does not display disk usage; it is an LVM command that creates a new logical volume from a volume group, using syntax such as 'lvcreate -L 10G -n data vg01'. Disk usage reporting is the job of df (for filesystem-level usage) or du (for directory-level usage), which query the kernel's mounted-filesystem statistics. Choosing lvcreate for this function conflates a storage-provisioning action with a reporting activity.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This EX200 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat 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 EX200 exam.