EX200 Essential Tools Practice Question
Exhibit
$ systemctl status sshd ● sshd.service - OpenSSH server daemon Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/sshd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: failed (Result: start-limit) since Mon 2024-10-10 10:00:00 EDT; 2min ago Process: 1234 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/sshd -D $OPTIONS (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Main PID: 1234 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Feb 10 10:00:00 host systemd[1]: sshd.service: start request repeated too quickly. Feb 10 10:00:00 host systemd[1]: sshd.service: Failed with result 'start-limit'.
Refer to the exhibit. Why did the sshd service fail?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume the failure is due to a configuration error or missing binary, but the 'start-limit-hit' status is a systemd mechanism that explicitly indicates too many restart attempts, not a problem with the service itself.
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
✓
The service start was requested too many times in quick succession.
B is correct because systemd's `StartLimitIntervalSec` and `StartLimitBurst` settings (default: 10 seconds and 5 starts) prevent rapid service restarts. When `sshd` fails repeatedly within the interval, systemd marks it as failed with the status 'start-limit-hit' to avoid resource exhaustion from restart loops.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The service binary is missing.
Why it's wrong here
The binary is definitely present because the log records that /usr/sbin/sshd was executed successfully — systemd only logs the successful exec after the binary is resolved and loaded. If the binary were missing or unbootable, the failure would be reported earlier as an exec format error or 'No such file or directory' (exit status 203/204), not as a start request repeated too quickly. In this log, the service actually started and then exited repeatedly, so the missing-binary theory is contradicted by the evidence.
- ✓
The service start was requested too many times in quick succession.
Why this is correct
The log literally contains the message 'start request repeated too quickly', which is systemd's rate-limiting protection for units that crash immediately after starting. When a service fails more than StartLimitBurst times within StartLimitIntervalSec, systemd refuses to attempt further starts until the interval elapses or the unit is reset. The sshd service has hit this start limit, so the failure is correctly explained by too many rapid restart attempts, not by a faulty binary, bad config, or memory exhaustion.
- ✗
The configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config has a syntax error.
Why it's wrong here
A syntax error in /etc/ssh/sshd_config would cause sshd itself to produce explicit errors such as 'Bad configuration options' or '/etc/ssh/sshd_config line N: invalid', and then exit with a configuration-related failure reason. Here, the log shows no such diagnostics; it shows that the service process was repeatedly started and then stopped, with systemd's start-limit message appearing afterward. The absence of any sshd-specific error text means the configuration file is not the cause.
- ✗
The system ran out of memory.
Why it's wrong here
Running out of memory would generate kernel OOM-kill messages, show systemd reporting a 'Memory allocation failed' error, or result in a cgroup memory kill event; none of those appear in the exhibit. An OOM condition also would not produce a 'start request repeated too quickly' message, because that message only occurs after rapid, failed start attempts are rate-limited. Since the log's only notable entry is the start-limit rejection, a memory shortage is not supported by the evidence.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 427 original EX200 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.