010-160 Linux System Architecture & Installation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the acronym BIOS stand for?
- Basic Input/Output System (Correct answer)
- Binary I/O Subsystem
- Boot Initialization and Operating System
- Base Interface for Operating Software
Correct answer: Basic Input/Output System
BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System — firmware that initializes hardware before handing control to the bootloader.
Question 2: Which command displays block devices (disks and partitions) in a tree format showing mount points?
- lsblk (Correct answer)
- fdisk -l
- blkid
- df -h
Correct answer: lsblk
lsblk lists block devices in a tree structure, showing device names, sizes, types, and mount points.
Question 3: In the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), which directory holds essential system binaries needed for single-user/rescue mode?
- /bin (Correct answer)
- /usr/bin
- /sbin
- /opt/bin
Correct answer: /bin
/bin contains essential user-space binaries (like ls, cp, bash) that must be available even when /usr is not mounted.
Question 4: What kernel parameter would you add to the GRUB boot line to boot into single-user (rescue) mode?
- single (Correct answer)
- init=/bin/bash
- runlevel=1
- rescue=true
Correct answer: single
Appending 'single' to the kernel command line tells init to start in single-user mode (runlevel 1).
Question 5: Which tool creates a new filesystem (formats a partition) in Linux?
- mkfs (Correct answer)
- fdisk
- mount
- fsck
Correct answer: mkfs
mkfs (make filesystem) creates a new filesystem on a partition or disk device, e.g., mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1.
Question 6: What is a 'swap partition' used for in Linux?
- Extension of RAM using disk space when physical memory is exhausted (Correct answer)
- Temporary storage for package installation files
- A partition for swapping disk drives in RAID arrays
- Storage for kernel crash dump files
Correct answer: Extension of RAM using disk space when physical memory is exhausted
Swap space allows the kernel to move inactive memory pages to disk, effectively extending available RAM.
Question 7: Which directory contains device files that represent hardware devices as files in Linux?
- /dev (Correct answer)
- /sys
- /proc
- /run
Correct answer: /dev
/dev contains special device files (block and character devices) that represent hardware such as disks, terminals, and random number generators.
010-160 Linux System Architecture & Installation 5
What does the acronym BIOS stand for?