EX200 Configure local storage Practice Question
Which of the following is true regarding shrinking logical volumes?
⚠ Common exam trap
Red Hat often tests the misconception that all filesystems can be shrunk similarly, but the trap here is that XFS is fundamentally unshrinkable, and candidates confuse online resizing (which XFS supports for growth) with shrinking.
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
✓
XFS filesystems cannot be shrunk
B is correct because XFS filesystems do not support shrinking. The XFS design is based on allocation groups and a log-structured metadata layout that makes online or offline shrinking infeasible without significant filesystem restructuring. This is a fundamental limitation of XFS, unlike ext4 which can be shrunk offline.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
You can reduce a volume while it is mounted if you use resize2fs
Why it's wrong here
The resize2fs command cannot shrink a mounted ext4 filesystem; online shrinking is unsupported for ext4. While resize2fs can grow a mounted filesystem, a shrink operation requires the filesystem to be unmounted and then checked with e2fsck. Attempting to shrink a mounted volume will be rejected or cause metadata corruption.
- ✓
XFS filesystems cannot be shrunk
Why this is correct
XFS was architecturally designed for high scalability and only supports growing a filesystem, not shrinking it. The extent-based B-tree structure and lack of any shrink mechanism in the on-disk format make reducing an XFS filesystem impossible even when unmounted. This is why a logical volume with XFS must be backed up and recreated at a smaller size if space needs to be reclaimed.
- ✗
Reducing an LVM volume is a simple process
Why it's wrong here
Reducing an LVM logical volume is a multi-step, high-risk procedure, not a simple one-step operation. You must first unmount the filesystem, then use e2fsck and resize2fs or a similar tool to shrink the filesystem to a size no larger than the target volume size, and then carefully run lvreduce to match. If the filesystem is shrunk to a size larger than the reduced volume or if steps are done in the wrong order, data corruption is almost certain.
- ✗
Ext4 filesystems support online shrinking
Why it's wrong here
Ext4 does not support online shrinking at all; the kernel's ext4 driver only implements online grow operations. Shrinking requires an offline session where the filesystem is unmounted and the resizer can safely move allocation structures and update superblock and block group metadata. As a result, any tool that claims to shrink an ext4 filesystem while it remains mounted will fail or require the volume to be taken offline.
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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.