Chapter 12 Linux Disk and System Management

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Summary

This chapter details many different system administration tasks. Disk and file system management, scheduling tasks, networking, analyzing core dumps, and installing new packages and patches are all routine tasks of the Linux system administrator. For the exam, keep the following points in mind:

Disk and File Management

•fdisk: Formats disk partitions

•mkfs: Creates a file system on a partition

•fsck: File system check for fixing disk errors

Job Scheduling

•at: Can only schedule a task for one time

•cron: Can schedule recurring tasks

Core Dumps

•core: Typical name of the core file

•gdb: GNU debugger tool for debugging core files

Networking

•ifconfig -a: Used to show information on all network interfaces

•ifconfig eth0: Configures the first ethernet interface

•ifconfig lo: Configures the loopback interface

Package Upgrades and Patches

•rpm -U: Upgrades an RPM package

•rpm -i: Installs an RPM package

•tar -xvf: Extracts a tar archive, tar file has .tar extension

•tar -zxvf: Extracts and decompresses a tar archive compress with gzip

•gunzip: Unzips a compressed file with extension .gz

•gzip: Compresses a file

•configure, make, make install to compile and install source code binaries

•Upgrade after work hours to avoid affecting users

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STUDY GUIDE

The Study Guide section provides you with the opportunity to test your knowledge about the Linux+ exam objectives that are covered in this chapter. The Assessment Questions provide practice for the real exam, and the Scenarios provide practice with real situations. If you get any questions wrong, use the answers to determine the part of the chapter that you should review before continuing.

Assessment Questions

1.What command do you use to format a partition with a file system?

A.fdisk

B.fsmake

C.format

D.mkfs

2.On a Linux Web server, the Apache http server keeps crashing unexpectedly. What can the Linux administrator check to stop the crashes?

A.process kill log

B.core file

C./var/log/dmesg

D.root cron file

3.An administrator wants to create the local loopback network interface on her Linux system. Which command will correctly perform the task?

A.ifconfig lo

B.ifconfig -loopback

C.ifconfig -a

D.ifconfig 255.255.255.255

4.Which of the following cron commands will create a cron job that will run at 5:00 a.m. every Sunday?

A.* 5 * * S /etc/cron.weekly

B./etc/cron.sunday

C.* 5 * * 0 /etc/cron.weekly

D.5 0 * * S /etc/cron.weekly

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5.What kind of file is stored with an extension of tar.gz?

A.Backup files

B.Temporary files

C.A special compression executable

D.A file that has been tar and gzipped

6.What command should be used to set a network interface to the IP address, 192.168.1.5, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0?

A.ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.0

B.ifconfig lo 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.0

C.ifconfig eth1 192.168.1.5 broadcast 255.255.255.0

D.ifconfig -a 192.168.1.5 255.255.255.0

7.Which option in fdisk will display the partition table?

A.s (show partition table)

B.p (print partition table)

C.fdisk partition

D.t (tables)

8.What command can you use to view and debug an application’s core file?

A.cron

B.debug

C.vi

D.gdb

9.To create a recurring scheduled task, which Linux scheduling tool should you use to perform the task?

A.cron

B.at

C.timer

D.gdb

10.To upgrade an RPM package, which is the proper command to use?

A.rpm -upgrade

B.rpm -i

C.rpm -U

D.rpm -upg

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11.What command can you use to enable an ethernet network interface that has already been configured?

A.ifconfig eth0 on

B.ifconfig eth0 up

C.ifconfig eth0 down

D.ifconfig eth0 start

12.What is the proper command to open and decompress a file with a tar.gz extension?

A.tar -zxvf filename

B.gzip -txvf filename

C.uncompress filename

D.gunzip -txvf filename

13.A core dump file contains this message, “Program terminated with signal 11, segmentation fault.” What does this message indicate?

A.The program is a kernel system process

B.Signal 11 means the program is still running, but had an error

C.The program halted because of a memory segment fault

D.Nothing, this is informational only

14.What command runs fdisk on the first ATA/IDE hard drive?

A.fdisk /dev/hda

B.fdisk /dev/sda1

C.fdisk hda1

D.fdisk /dev/hda2

15.An application is creating several, very large core dump files. What should the administrator do if he has no intention of debugging these files?

A.Copy them to gdb

B.Delete the core files

C.Move them to the root partition

D.Change the name of the file, so that new core files can be created

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16.What is the best reason to upgrade a package or application on your Linux system?

A.Updated security

B.Less program bugs

C.More program functionality

D.All of the above

17.When checking the partition information on your hard drive with fdisk, you notice that one of the partitions is formatted as “Linux Swap,” and is approximately 128MB in size. What is the purpose of this partition?

A.Special disk area for the Linux Swap file

B.Overflow area in case the main partition runs out of space

C.Virtual memory that is not used

D.Holds temp files and deleted items

18.What sort of kernel error can cause a Linux system to crash and write a memory core dump?

A.Cron daemon error

B.Corrupt swap file

C.Kernel panic

D.Web server error

19.An administrator needs to create a second network interface with an IP address of 192.168.1.10, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and a broadcast address of 192.168.1.254. What command will accomplish this task?

A.ifconfig eth1 192.168.1.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.254

B.ifconfig lo 192.168.1.10

C.ipconfig eth0 192.168.1.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 bc=254

D.ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.10 netmask 255.0.0.0 broadcast 192.168.1.254

20.What command should you use to set up a job to run at 11:59 p.m. today?

A.cron 59 11 * * *

B.at 23:59

C.cron 11:59pm

D.at 11:59am