EX200 Create and configure file systems Practice Question
Exhibit
# df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/sda1 50G 20G 30G 40% / /dev/sdb1 100G 10G 90G 10% /data # lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT sda 8:0 0 50G 0 disk └─sda1 8:1 0 50G 0 part / sdb 8:16 0 100G 0 disk └─sdb1 8:17 0 100G 0 part /data sdc 8:32 0 10G 0 disk # mount | grep sdc #
Refer to the exhibit. An administrator wants to mount /dev/sdc1 on /mnt/storage. What must be done first?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common pitfall in the Red Hat RHCSA exam is thinking you can directly mount a raw disk or create a filesystem on a non-existent partition, leading candidates to select mkfs.xfs or /etc/fstab before partitioning.
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
✓
Create a partition on /dev/sdc
The exhibit shows that /dev/sdc has no partition table (it is a raw disk). Before you can mount a filesystem on /dev/sdc1, you must first create a partition on /dev/sdc using a tool like fdisk or parted. Without a partition, the block device /dev/sdc1 does not exist, so any mount attempt would fail with a 'no such device' error.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Mount /dev/sdc directly
Why it's wrong here
Issuing mount /dev/sdc /some/dir attempts to mount the whole raw disk, not a filesystem. While Linux can sometimes mount certain filesystems on a whole disk device, /dev/sdc currently has no partition table and no filesystem, so the mount will fail with an error like 'wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock'. The proper workflow in most enterprise environments is to create a partition (e.g., /dev/sdc1), format it, and then mount that partition.
- ✗
Add an entry to /etc/fstab
Why it's wrong here
Adding an entry to /etc/fstab for /dev/sdc (or /dev/sdc1) is premature because the device node /dev/sdc1 does not exist and /dev/sdc has no filesystem. Even if you wrote a line specifying /dev/sdc as the device, systemd and mount commands would attempt to mount a blank device and fail at boot or during manual mount. The /etc/fstab entry should only be created after the partition and filesystem exist, and you must also test the entry with 'mount -a' to avoid boot issues.
- ✓
Create a partition on /dev/sdc
Why this is correct
The exhibit shows /dev/sdc as a whole disk with no recognized partitions (e.g., no /dev/sdc1). Before you can format and mount storage, you must create a partition table and a partition on the disk using a tool such as parted or fdisk. This step creates the necessary block device /dev/sdc1, which can then be formatted with mkfs.xfs and mounted. Without a partition, neither the device name referenced in the question nor a filesystem exists.
- ✗
Run mkfs.xfs /dev/sdc1
Why it's wrong here
Running mkfs.xfs /dev/sdc1 will fail because /dev/sdc1 does not exist in the kernel's device list; the disk /dev/sdc has no partitions. Attempting to format a nonexistent block device produces an error such as 'No such file or directory' from mkfs. The partition must be created first (with fdisk or parted), and only after that can you create the filesystem on the partition.
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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.