Practice for the LPI Linux Essentials exam with 12 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: Which option can be used with tail to print the last 10 lines of a file and then keep printing any new lines that may be. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Which option can be used with tail to print the last 10 lines of a file and then keep printing any new lines…
- Which of the following commands will create an archive file, named backup.tar, containing all the files from…
- Which command is used to print the first 10 lines of a file to the display?
- After installing a new package, in which directory are you most likely to find its configuration file?
- Which of the following directories is often used to store log files?
- Which of the following is used as a virtual or pseudo filesystem to provide a tree of all of the device nodes…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Which option can be used with tail to print the last 10 lines of a file and then keep printing any new lines that may be added continuously?
Answer: B. -f
The follow option keeps the file open and continuously displays new lines as they are appended. This is heavily used for monitoring active system logs in real time.
Q2. Which of the following commands will create an archive file, named backup.tar, containing all the files from the directory /home?
Answer: A. tar -cf backup.tar /home
The -c flag creates a new archive and the -f flag specifies the archive file name, placing the filename immediately after. Using -x extracts files instead of creating them, making the other options fail.
Q3. Which command is used to print the first 10 lines of a file to the display?
Answer: C. head
The head command prints the first ten lines of a file by default. The tail command outputs the last ten lines, while cat outputs the entire file.
Q4. After installing a new package, in which directory are you most likely to find its configuration file?
Answer: B. /etc
The /etc directory specifically stores system and application configuration files. The /lib directory holds shared libraries, while /usr contains user utilities and programs.
Q5. Which of the following directories is often used to store log files?
Answer: A. /var
The /var directory contains variable data like system logs, specifically within /var/log. The /usr directory holds static application data, while /temp is incorrect.
Q6. Which of the following is used as a virtual or pseudo filesystem to provide a tree of all of the device nodes and drivers in the running kernel?
Answer: D. /dev
The /dev directory contains device nodes that provide user space access to the device drivers running in the kernel. Do not confuse this with /sys, which exposes kernel subsystem information and hardware topology, or /proc, which contains process and memory data.
Q7. Which type of link points to another file like a shortcut in Windows or a Macintosh alias?
Answer: B. Symbolic link
A symbolic link acts as a pointer to another file path, similar to a Windows shortcut. A hard link points directly to the data on the disk, so deleting the original file does not break a hard link.
Q8. Which type of link contains the data in the target file?
Answer: A. Hard link
A hard link points directly to the inode data on the disk rather than just referencing a file path. Symbolic links act as mere shortcuts, which break entirely if the original target file is deleted.
Q9. Which of the following tasks is not performed automatically for a user account when it is created using the useradd command?
Answer: B. Create the user's home directory
The useradd command does not automatically create the home directory unless the capital M option is supplied. Note that without configuration changes, assigning the home path and creating the directory can be ambiguous on some distributions.
Q10. Which of the following does Raspberry Pi OS run on?
Answer: C. Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi OS, formerly known as Raspbian, is a Debian-based distribution specifically optimized to run on Raspberry Pi hardware. For the exam, associate SBCs like the Raspberry Pi with low-cost embedded deployments.
Q11. Which of the following programs on a Linux system could you use as a replacement for Microsoft Word?
Answer: C. Writer
Writer is the word processing application included in the LibreOffice suite, serving as a standard alternative to Microsoft Word. Note that Pico and Nano are plain text editors used in terminals, not full word processors.
Q12. Which of the following can be used to represent a single number from 3 to 9?
Answer: B. [3-9]
The bracket range [3-9] tells the shell to match exactly one character from three through nine. Remember that ranges must be specified in ascending order and match individual characters, not multi-digit numbers.
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