Practice Test Geeks(SAC) System Administration Certification Practice Test
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System Maintenance and Troubleshooting Flashcards

7 cards from real SAC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 System Maintenance and Troubleshooting flashcards as text

  1. A system administrator needs to ensure a service starts automatically after every reboot on a systemd-based Linux system. Which command accomplishes this?

    Answer: systemctl enable servicename

    'systemctl enable servicename' creates the necessary symlinks to start the service automatically at boot on systemd systems.

  2. What is the function of 'chkdsk /r' on a Windows system compared to 'chkdsk /f'?

    Answer: /r locates bad sectors and recovers readable data in addition to fixing errors that /f handles

    chkdsk /f fixes file system errors, while /r does everything /f does plus scans for bad sectors and attempts to recover readable data.

  3. A server's NTP synchronization is drifting significantly. Which command on Linux checks the current NTP synchronization status?

    Answer: ntpstat or timedatectl show-timesync

    ntpstat or 'timedatectl show-timesync' (on systemd-timesyncd systems) display the current NTP synchronization status and drift.

  4. During troubleshooting, you find that a Linux server's /var partition is 100% full. Which command helps identify the largest directories consuming space?

    Answer: du -sh /var/* | sort -rh | head -10

    'du -sh /var/* | sort -rh | head -10' summarizes directory sizes in /var and sorts them largest first, quickly revealing the culprit.

  5. A patch management policy requires testing patches in a staging environment before production. What is the primary risk this process mitigates?

    Answer: Patches introducing compatibility issues or breaking production services

    Testing in staging catches compatibility issues, regressions, and configuration conflicts before they impact production systems.

  6. Which Windows tool allows administrators to view and manage scheduled tasks from the command line?

    Answer: schtasks

    The 'schtasks' command-line utility allows creating, deleting, querying, and running scheduled tasks on Windows systems.

  7. A server experiences intermittent packet loss on its primary NIC. After replacing the NIC, the issue persists. What should you investigate next?

    Answer: The network switch port, cable, or upstream infrastructure

    If replacing the NIC doesn't resolve packet loss, the problem is likely external — in the switch port, cable, or upstream network infrastructure.