91 Linux Multiple Choice Questions With Answers

Linux is a Unix-like open-source computer operating system (OS) that directly manages hardware and resources of a system such as CPU, memory, and storage, and manages the communication between software and hardware.

It was first released on 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds for computers and is considered more secure and faster than Windows.

It is freely distributable and is generally built around Linux Kernel (low-level system software that is used to manage hardware resources for users). Furthermore, it can be installed in mobiles, laptops, computers, notebooks, etc. Flavors of Linux OS include Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE Linux, Gentoo, etc.

Here we have compiled 91 Linux Interview Questions and Answers and presented them in this article based on the opinion of Linux Experts and Masters. These Interview Questions (MCQ) will definitely help you in your LINUX interview.

QUESTION NO: 1 On a default Linux system, what file system type does the dump command act upon?

A. Ext2
B. UFS
C. JFS
D. XFS
E. ReiserFS

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 2 Your machine has two working NIC’s with proper addresses. You want to split your network into two new subnets. What single command will accomplish this?

A. ifconfig
B. route
C. default
D. netstat
E. None of the choices

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 3 Which file system should never be backed up, and therefore never have to be restored?

A. ufs
B. usr
C. tmp
D. home
E. swap

Answer: E

QUESTION NO: 4 Which directory tree are you the least likely to backup or restore?

A. /tmp
B. /var
C. /proc
D. /usr
E. /usr

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 5 What command will verify the syntax of a hosts.allow and hosts.deny file combination?

A. tcpdchk
B. verify –tcp
C. ipswitch
D. tcpdump
E. tcpdmatch

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 6 How can you enable onscreen (non-printing) numbers in a vi session?

A. :set num
B. :se nu
C. :set -o number
D. :set +o num
E. None of the choices

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 7 When starting vi with the file nohup.out, which of the following will enable onscreen numbers?

A. vi +/set num nohup.out
B. vi +”se nu” nohup.out
C. vi /+”set number” nohup.out
D. vi +”:set num” nohup.out
E. echo “set numb” | vi nohup.out

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 8 What command will set a regular users password to force changing it every 60 days? Choose all that apply.

A. passwd -x 60 user1
B. chage -M 60 user1
C. passwd +x 60 user1
D. useradd -e 60 user1
E. usermod -f 60 user1

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 9 Which of the following commands will flush all print jobs on all configured queues of the system?

A. lprm -a all
B. lprm -all
C. lprm -a *
D. lpflush -all

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 10 Your /etc/passwd file appears to have approximately 1/2 shadow passwords and 1/2 standard unix encrypted passwords. What utility would you most likely run again to fix this?

A. pwconv
B. passconvert
C. useradd -conv
D. pwhash
E. passwd -fix

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 11 Your server has two fully functional NIC’s with correct IP configuration. The server is not forwarding traffic between the NIC’s. Which command string will set the cards to forward properly?

A. setparam 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_autoconfig
B. echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
C. set $=1 /proc/sys/net/ipv4/route
D. cat $1 > /proc/sys/net/ethernet
E. vi +/1 /proc/sys/net/unix/max_dgram_qlen

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 12 Which of the following are valid commands to affect your system’s printing?

A. lpq
B. lprm
C. lpstatus
D. lpr
E. lpio

Answer: A, B, D

QUESTION NO: 13 What configuration file is used for settings and conversion parameters for the ftp daemon?

A. ftpusers
B. ftpconvert
C. ftpconversions
D. in.ftpd
E. ftpdefaults

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 14 Which two commands share the same database for retrieving information?

A. whatis
B. whereis
C. apropos
D. find
E. man

Answer: A, C

QUESTION NO: 15 What command will show only complete word matches for a search term?

A. whatis
B. apropos
C. locate
D. find
E. whereis

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 16 What command will show partial word matches for a search term?

A. apropos
B. locate
C. whereis
D. whatis
E. find

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 17 What command is the functional equivalent of the command “man -k searchterm”?

A. apropos searchterm
B. whatis searchterm
C. locate searchterm
D. find / -name searchterm
E. None of the selections

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 18 What command is the functional equivalent of the command “man -f searchterm”?

A. whatis searchterm
B. apropos searchterm
C. locate searchterm
D. find / -name searchterm
E. None of the selections

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 19 Where can you specify options that affect the booting of the system?

A. /etc/lilo.conf
B. boot= prompt
C. linux:
D. init 3
E. init 5

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 20 Which commands will print two copies of the file to the default printer? Choose all that apply.

A. cat hosts | lpr -#2
B. lpr -K2 hosts
C. lpr -P -count 2 hosts
D. cat hosts > lpr ; cat hosts > lpr
E. for 1 in 2 lpr hosts

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 21 On a default install of a Linux server, regardless of the distribution version, what are the easiest methods to disable telnet, but not uninstall or remove the service? Choose two.

A. Comment telnet out of the /etc/inetd.conf file
B. Delete the /etc/rc.d/init.d/telnet file
C. Rename all SXXtelnet links in the /etc/rc or /etc/rc.d directories
D. Run “chmod 554 /etc/xinetd.d/telnet”
E. Nothing, it’s not enabled by default

Answer: A, E

QUESTION NO: 22 Which daemon or service can be configured as a non-root user?

A. cron
B. ntp
C. lpr
D. nmbd
E. slocate

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 23 Which of the following options will speed up traceroute for distant network queries?

A. -n
B. -p
C. -0
D. -t
E. -q

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 24 What command could you use to confirm function of a ppp connection before establishing it?

A. minicom
B. hyperterminal
C. setserial
D. modemset
E. None of the choices

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 25 What file on a system contains a list of hosts that can’t connect to the machine’s services?

A. /etc/hosts/denial
B. /etc/hosts.deny
C. /etc/host.notallow
D. /etc/inetd.conf
E. /etc/hosts.not

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 26 Which of the following IP address ranges are considered private, according to RFC 1918? Choose all that apply.

A. 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255
B. 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255
C. 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255
D. 191.168.16.0 – 192.168.31.255
E. 172.16.0.0 – 172.16.255.255

Answer: A, B, C

QUESTION NO: 27 Which protocol is used for the majority of the ping command’s actions?

A. ICMP
B. UDP
C. TCP
D. NDP
E. NCP

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 28 What modprobe option will cause inactive kernel modules to be unloaded?

A. autoclean
B. inactive
C. remove
D. timeout
E. holdoff

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 29 Select all of the protocols that are supported by the Linux implementation of ppp.

A. chap
B. mschap
C. pap
D. spap
E. eap

Answer: A, B, C

QUESTION NO: 30 What command with options will cause the redirection symbol (>) to fail to overwrite the contents of an existing file?

A. set -o noclobber
B. set +o nooverwrite
C. export OVERWRITE=no
D. alias >=’!>’
E. None of the choices

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 31 Where can the lilo command install the boot menu and information? Choose all that apply.

A. Master Boot Record
B. BIOS
C. First Sector of a Partition
D. BootBlk
E. Boot Prom

Answer: A, C

QUESTION NO: 32 Which of the following is not a valid make command during a kernel recompile?

A. make dep
B. make clean
C. make xconfig
D. make modules
E. make gzlilo

Answer: E

QUESTION NO: 33 Which parameters should appear in a valid /etc/printcap file to allow a local printer queue to point to another machine’s print queue? Choose two.

A. rm
B. rp
C. remoteip
D. netprinter
E. netip

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 34 Which of the following commands will print the file putty on the printer hplaserj? Choose all that apply.

A. lpr -P hplaserj -F putty
B. lpr -Phplaserj putty
C. lpc printer=hplaserj file=putty
D. lpr -p hplaserj putty
E. lpr -P hplaserj putty

Answer: B, E

QUESTION NO: 35 Which of the following services would you be least likely to configure to be governed over by the Internet Super Server?

A. ftp
B. telnet
C. ssh
D. finger
E. bind

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 36 What ppp option governs how long an interrupted connection will remain down before it attempts to reconnect?

A. holddown
B. holdoff
C. inactive
D. delay
E. wait

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 37 What files affect the functioning of TCP Wrappers? Choose Two.

A. /etc/hosts.deny
B. /etc/nsswitch.conf
C. /etc/security/authconfig
D. /etc/default/clients
E. /etc/hosts.allow

Answer: A, E

QUESTION NO: 38 You are not using the WINS service on your network, but need to provide NETBIOS resolution to your hosts. What is the name of the daemon that provides these services on a Linux server?

A. nmbd
B. dns
C. winsd
D. lmhostsd
E. smbd

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 39 Select from the list below the daemons that are present on a standard Linux server to support routing. Choose all that apply.

A. gated
B. ripd
C. routed
D. ospfd
E. bgpd

Answer: B, C, D, E

QUESTION NO: 40 You are performing an onsite security inspection of division of your company. On an Apache server, you want to determine what files are needed and which can be removed from the /etc/httpd folder. Which of the following are possibly valid Apache configuration files? Choose all that apply.

A. httpd.conf
B. apached.conf
C. srm.conf
D. access.conf
E. in.http.conf

Answer: A, C, D

QUESTION NO: 41 In order to allow a Win95 host to resolve the name of and map network drives to your Linux server, what services should be running? Choose Two.

A. nmbd
B. smbd
C. named
D. routed
E. winsd

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 42 What is the simplest method to connect a Win98 host to a Linux Server? Choose all that apply.

A. Velcro
B. Samba
C. NFS
D. DNS
E. WINS

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 43 What files affect the name resolution functionality of a Linux host? Choose Three.

A. /etc/resolv.conf
B. /etc/hosts
C. /etc/default/names
D. /etc/nsswitch.conf
E. /etc/inet/hosts

Answer: A, B, D

QUESTION NO: 44 What is true about the root user and NFS?

A. NFS shares don’t allow root access by default
B. NFS automatically masks out share permissions
C. NFS automatically maps all root UID’s to the local user “rootsquash”
D. NFS ignores all users with a UID of 0 and a GID of 0
E. NFS pays no attention whatsoever to security

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 45 Where are the default settings for the useradd command kept?

A. /etc/default/useradd
B. /etc/sysconfig/useradd.cfg
C. /etc/.useradd
D. /etc/defaults/useradd
E. /etc/login.defs

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 46 What two files acting together make up the login environment for a user on a default install of Linux?

A. /etc/profile
B. /etc/bashrc
C. /etc/.login
D. ~/.bash_profile
E. /etc/.profile

Answer: A, D

QUESTION NO: 47 What protocol will allow you to keep accurate time on your hosts?

A. ntp
B. nntp
C. ncftp
D. inn
E. ntime

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 48 What will the following line in the /etc/exports file do? /data snowblower(rw) badhost (ro)

A. Give snowblower rw access to the data share, deny badhost any access, and allow ro for all other hosts
B. Give snowblower rw access to the data share, give badhost ro access to share and deny all others
C. Give snowblower no access to the data share, give badhost rw access and set ro access for all others
D. Cause a syntax error

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 49 You’ve just finished editing a new entry in the /etc/exports file. Which of the following will cause the changes to take effect without interrupting current connected users or rebooting the machine? Choose all that apply.

A. exportfs -a
B. /etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs restart
C. service nfs restart
D. kill -1 HUP nfs
E. init 1

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 50 What system file contains definitions of well known ports, their associated services and protocols?

A. /etc/services
B. /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
C. /etc/services.conf
D. /etc/inet/hosts
E. None of the choices

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 51 What file should be edited to make the system aware of newly added library files?

A. /etc/modules.conf
B. /etc/conf.modules
C. /etc/ld.so.conf
D. /etc/ld.so.cache
E. /etc/LD_LIBRARY_PATH.conf

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 52 What is the binary conversion of the IP address 192.168.1.10?

A. 11000000.10101000.00000001.00001010
B. 01101010.11000100.10101000.00000001
C. 00000001.00001010.11000000.10101000
D. 10101000.00000001.00001010.11000000
E. None of the choices

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 53 Your investigation of a system turns up a file that contains the line below:
find /home -iname .rhosts -exec rm -f {} \;
What is the purpose of this script?

A. To enhance system security
B. To remove all program error dumps
C. To remove all temporary files in the user’s home directories
D. To reset the configuration for the rsh and rexec utilities

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 54 What command will convert your shadow password file to md5 compatible passwords?

A. passconv
B. pwconv
C. mdconv
D. mdsum
E. passwd –convert

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 55 Your machine’s IP address used to function, but it’s only got the localhost “lo” entry now. What three client-mode commands could you possibly use to get a new DHCP address?

A. dhcpd
B. ipconfig
C. dhclient
D. pump
E. dhcpcd

Answer: C, D, E

QUESTION NO: 56 Which two services resolve Netbios names to IP addresses?

A. WINS
B. NetbiosSVC
C. smbd
D. nmbd
E. DNS

Answer: A, D

QUESTION NO: 57 Which daemon allows Linux to share it’s file systems and printers with unmodified Windows clients?

A. X Window
B. nmbd
C. smbd
D. WINS
E. NFS

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 58 What configuration files on a Linux Server can be configured to share file systems with clients? Choose Two.

A. /etc/nmbd
B. /etc/smbd
C. /etc/smb/samba.conf
D. /etc/smb.conf
E. /etc/samba/smb.conf

Answer: D, E

QUESTION NO: 59 What command is used to monitor connections to the SMB server?

A. smbclient
B. testparm
C. smbstatus
D. smbstat

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 60 Which of the following will run a file named myscript every 23 minutes past midnight every two hours?

A. 23 0-23/2 * * * /myscript
B. 23 */0-23 * * * /myscript
C. 23 @2 * * * /myscript
D. 11 2/0-23 * * * /myscript

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 61 Which backup method resets the archive bit? Select all that apply.

A. Full
B. Incremental
C. Differential
D. Copy
E. DirTree

Answer: A, B

QUESTION NO: 62 Which backup method will require the minimum tapes to restore?

A. Full
B. Incremental
C. Differential
D. Copy
E. DirTree

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 63 What is the command to map a Windows user ID to a Linux user ID for use with the Samba Server?

A. smbuser
B. smbpasswd
C. smbadduser
D. useraddsmb
E. useradd

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 64 When using the PPP daemon make a connection, what option is set to configure it to use hardware flow control?

A. crtscts
B. rsync
C. nsync
D. connect

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 65 When using pppd which authentication protocol is the most secure?

A. clear text
B. PAP
C. CHAP
D. LAP

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 66 Your DNS server needs to be configured for speed and security. Choose the best answer.

A. Disable inetd, run named standalone, only allow tcp on ports 25 and 53
B. Disable inetd, run named standalone, only allow tcp on ports 25 and 110
C. Enable inetd, run named as an inetd service, only allow tcp on ports 25 and 53
D. Disable inetd, run named as a standalone on the apache server.

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 67 Shares can be configured for export via the NFS service by editing what file?

A. /etc/exports
B. /etc/export
C. /etc/exportfs
D. /etc/nfs/exports

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 68 A file exists on a server, but has no content. Users cannot submit jobs to an attached printer. Choose the correct file that must be edited to fix this problem.

A. /etc/hosts
B. /etc/hosts.allow
C. /etc/host.deny
D. /etc/hosts.lpd
E. /var/spool/hosts.lpd

Answer: D

QUESTION NO: 69 What does “make bzImage” do as opposed to “make zImage”?

A. makes a bz encrypted kernel
B. makes a kernel with a better compression ratio
C. makes a kernel with built in gzip application
D. nothing

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 70 In the following output, which is representative of the host performing gateway functions?
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
10.3.3.0 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.77.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 vmnet1
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

A. The default gateway is on 192.168.77.0 network
B. The current host is the also the default gateway
C. Its eth0 interface is incorrectly configured
D. The 192.168.1.1 is the default gateway

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 71 Select the files that are associated with TCP Wrappers. Choose all that apply.

A. /etc/hosts
B. /etc/hosts.allow
C. /etc/hosts.deny
D. /etc/allow.hosts
E. /etc/allow.deny

Answer: B, C

QUESTION NO: 72 Which file is responsible for configuring the inet daemon?

A. /etc/inetd.conf
B. /etc/xinetd.conf
C. /etc/tcpd.conf
D. /etc/inet.conf

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 73 Which option in the /etc/fstab file causes all users IDs to be mapped to the system’s anonymous ID when mounting a NFS mounted file system?

A. no-root-squash
B. all-squash
C. all-id-squash
D. root-squash

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 74 Which fstab option governs that all root ID are mapped to anonymous ID when mounting a NFS mounted file system?

A. no-root-squash
B. root-squash
C. all-squash
D. squash-root

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 75 What command would load the module msdos.o and all its dependancies?

A. modinfo -a msdos
B. lsmod -a msdos
C. modprobe msdos
D. insmod -d msdos

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 76 You have just added new modules to your system. What command would you execute to rebuild the modules.dep file?

A. depmod –rebuild
B. update-dependancies
C. depmod -a
D. insmod -dependancies

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 77 Which port is used for DNS

A. 110
B. 21
C. 23
D. 52
E. 53

Answer: E

QUESTION NO: 78 Which ports are used for FTP data and control? Choose Two.

A. 20
B. 23
C. 22
D. 21
E. 25

Answer: A, D

QUESTION NO: 79 What command would rebuild the ld.so.cache file

A. ldd
B. ldconfig
C. ld.so.cache -rebuild
D. ld

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 80 On a debian system which of the following would build a boot disk

A. mkboot /dev/floppy
B. makeboot –device /dev/fd0 2.4.18-12
C. mkboot –device /dev/fd0 2.4.18-12
D. mkboot /boot/vmlinux-2.4.18-12
E. mkbootdisk /boot/vmlinux-2.4.18-12

Answer: D

QUESTION NO: 81 What configuration file and directive will alter your apache server IP and or port that it listens to?

A. Port
B. IPAddress
C. Listen
D. MinSpareServers

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 82 What Apache directive must you change when using inetd to control your Apache server?

A. ServerType
B. ServerInetd
C. InetServer
D. StartServer
E. ServerMethod

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 83 Which Apache Directive specifies the location of the HTTP documents?

A. RootDocument
B. ServerRoot
C. DocumentRoot
D. RootServer
E. DocPath

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 84 What command can be used to shut down the Apache server gracefully

A. apacheshut
B. apachectl
C. apachestop
D. apachestart

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 85 What is the recommended setting for StartServers in a medium sized Apache installation?

A. 5
B. 10
C. 15
D. 20

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 86 Your server logfile shows repeated connections to TCP port 143, What service is being accessed?

A. smtp
B. imap
C. pop3
D. pop2
E. nmbd

Answer: B

QUESTION NO: 87 To learn more about the management or ownership of a website, what’s the best utility to use?

A. tracert
B. traceroute
C. whois
D. ping
E. telnet

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 88 You have a Linux system routing 3 networks through 3 separate NICs and are having trouble with your IP forwarding. What file would you check to ensure that IP forwarding is enabled?

A. /etc/defaultrouter
B. /proc/net/tcp
C. /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
D. /var/log/messages

Answer: C

QUESTION NO: 89 What command would cause a print job to be printed next regardless of its current position in the queue.

A. lpc topq
B. lpc -t
C. lpq -t
D. lpc move
E. lpq –next

Answer: A

QUESTION NO: 90 Which two files are responsible for allowing users to execute cron jobs?

A. /etc/cron.allow
B. /var/spool/cron.allow
C. /var/spool/cron.allow
D. /etc/cron.deny

Answer: A, D

QUESTION NO: 91 What file must you create in your home directory in order to enable mail forwarding?

A. .redirect
B. .forward
C. .plan
D. .mail
E. None of the choices

Answer: B

Post Views: 458