Archive for category Question Dissection Series
Question Dissection: Configuring GRUB for Booting
Posted by RossB in Articles, Exam Details, Question Dissection Series on 2010/06/16
Note: The Question Dissection Series is designed to present a sample LPIC Exam question taken from various sources for study, providing the right and wrong answers with explanations designed to show you how questions should be read and understood. Additionally there are Notes that point to sites, resources and other tools to help you study properly for the concepts contained in the question.
Question: Configuring GRUB for Booting
From objective 101.2 Boot the System
When using the GRUB boot loader, which of the answers describes the first extended partition on the first hard disk in a GRUB configuration?
❍ A. /dev/hda4
❍ B. /dev/dsk/c0d0s3
❍ C. (hd0,4)
❍ D. c:8000
Answer C is correct because GRUB uses a description of (hdx,y) where x is the disk and y is the partition.
Answer A is incorrect because it describes a device file, not a GRUB object.
Answer B is incorrect because it describes a Solaris Unix device.
Answer D is incorrect because it is the debug location for low-level formatting an MFM/RLL disk.
Notes: Remember that GRUB is different from LILO in that it features a mini-command-line interface that features tab-completion, and instead of referring to the disks and partitions by /dev/hda1 etc., you use (hdx,y) where the disk number is x and the partition is y. A future article will deal with how to install, configure and troubleshoot GRUB.
Several resources can be helpful in learning more about this topic, the first of which would be Chapter 1 of the current version of my LPIC 1 Exam Cram 2 book (look for it in the sidebar ->), starting on Pg 19, the second would be the GRUB man pages ( man grub ).
Any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
RossB
Copyright 2000-2009 Ross Brunson
Question Dissection: Making Boot Diskettes
Posted by RossB in Articles, Exam Details, Question Dissection Series on 2010/05/23
Note: The Question Dissection Series is designed to present a sample LPIC Exam question taken from various sources for study, providing the right and wrong answers with explanations designed to show you how questions should be read and understood. Additionally there are Notes that point to sites, resources and other tools to help you study properly for the concepts contained in the question.
Question: Making Boot Diskettes
From objective 103.3 Perform basic file management
You need to create a boot disk on a running Linux system. Which command is used to perform this function?
❍ A. rawrite.exe
❍ B. diskcopy
❍ C. makeboot.bat
❍ D. dd
Answer D is correct because the dd command can write disk images from the installation CD-ROM to a floppy.
Answers A, B, and C are incorrect because they run on a DOS/Windows system.
Notes: While making boot diskettes isn’t the most up to date topic, you will definitely find situations still today that require a boot floppy, either because the machine has weird hardware, no DVD drive, or all you need to do is boot and repair something quick.
Several resources can be helpful in learning more about this topic, the first of which would be Chapter 1 of the current version of my LPIC 1 Exam Cram 2 book (look for it in the sidebar ->), starting on Pg 13, the second would be the dd man pages ( man dd ).
Any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
RossB
Copyright 2000-2009 Ross Brunson
Question Dissection: Run Commands via LILO
Posted by RossB in Articles, Books, Question Dissection Series on 2010/04/14
Note: The Question Dissection Series is designed to present a sample LPIC Exam question taken from various sources for study, providing the right and wrong answers with explanations designed to show you how questions should be read and understood. Additionally there are Notes that point to sites, resources and other tools to help you study properly for the concepts contained in the question.
Question: Run Commands via LILO
From objective 101.2 Install a Boot Manager
Which of the following LILO command options causes the foobar command to be executed upon reboot of the machine?
❑ A. lilo –b foobar
❑ B. lilo –R foobar
❑ C. lilo –v foobar
❑ D. lilo < foobar
Answer B is correct because the R option is designed to run a command upon the next system boot. Answer A is incorrect because the b option is for specifying the boot device.
Answer C is incorrect because the v option specifies verbosity when the command is run.
Answer D is incorrect because the lilo command doesn’t accept input in this fashion.
Notes: LILO allows for command execution upon next boot, and knowing how this works can shorten the cycle of a scripted installation, new software installation or updates etc. In addition, knowing how to install, configure and troubleshoot LILO is still an important skill to possess as a sysadmin, although distributions are using GRUB more than ever these days.
Several resources can be helpful in learning more about this topic, the first of which would be Chapter 1 of the current version of my LPIC 1 Exam Cram 2 book (look for it in the sidebar ->), starting on Pg 14, the second would be the lilo man pages ( man lilo ).
Any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
RossB
Copyright 2000-2009 Ross Brunson
Question Dissection: Kernel Modules Loaded
Posted by RossB in Books, Question Dissection Series on 2010/04/03
Note: The Question Dissection Series is designed to present a sample LPIC Exam question taken from various sources for study, providing the right and wrong answers with explanations designed to show you how questions should be read and understood. Additionally there are Notes that point to sites, resources and other tools to help you study properly for the concepts contained in the question.
Question: Kernel Modules Loaded
From objective 101.1 Determine and configure hardware settings
Which command shows currently loaded Kernel modules and their dependencies? (Choose all that apply.)
❑ A. cat /proc/modules
❑ B. lsdev
❑ C. cat /proc/kernel/modules
❑ D. lsmod
❑ E. kmod –list
Answers A and D are correct because they display nearly identical
information about the loaded modules and their dependencies.
Answer B shows the system’s devices, I/O ports, DMA, and IRQs but not modules, so it’s incorrect.
Answer C is incorrect because that directory and file path do not exist.
Answer E is incorrect because there is no such option for the kmod daemon.
Notes: Traditionally, a Linux installation has included a little to a lot of troubleshooting, and the ability to determine what Kernel modules are loaded is key to fixing issues with hardware. One of my favorite ways to troubleshoot these sorts of situations is after the installation fails, or you can’t configure X or a DVD-ROM drive, boot up a Live CD from openSUSE or Knoppix and then run the various module-related commands to gather information on what works. Then it’s a matter of using that information to get the appropriate driver modules loaded on the troubled installation. Another trick is to find a similar machine that is currently working, and use the module-related commands to do the same thing as mentioned above.
Several resources can be helpful in learning more about this topic, the first of which would be Chapter 1 of the current version of my LPIC 1 Exam Cram 2 book (look for it in the sidebar ->), starting on Pg 6, the second would be the lsmod man pages ( man lsmod ).
Any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
RossB
Copyright 2000-2009 Ross Brunson
Question Dissection: LILO Timeout
Posted by RossB in Articles, Books, Question Dissection Series on 2010/03/27
Note: The Question Dissection Series is designed to present a sample LPIC Exam question taken from various sources for study, providing the right and wrong answers with explanations designed to show you how questions should be read and understood. Additionally there are Notes that point to sites, resources and other tools to help you study properly for the concepts contained in the question.
Question: LILO Timeout
From objective 102.2 Install a Boot Manager
Your system’s /etc/lilo.conf file has been edited to have a value of 50 for the timeout option. What is the effect of this on the system, assuming the lilo command was used afterward to update the boot loader location?
❍ A. The system waits 5 seconds to boot.
❍ B. The system waits 50 seconds to boot.
❍ C. The system won’t boot; it’s incorrect.
❍ D. The system waits the hex value of 50 to boot.
Answer A is correct because it will wait 5 seconds to boot the default entry. The timeout option’s values are in 1/10ths of a second.
Answer B is incorrect because the timeout option’s values are in seconds.
Answer C is incorrect because the system will boot the default entry.
Answer Dis incorrect because the timeout option uses 1/10ths of a second for its value.
Notes: Boot managers are really important, obviously you can’t boot the system if your LILO or GRUB files are pooched. A couple of resources for learning more about this topic exist, the first of which would be Chapter 1 of the current version of my book LPIC 1 Exam Cram 2 (look for it in the sidebar ->), starting on Pg 14, the second would be the lilo man pages, ( man 5 lilo.conf ), and a great HOWTO about the Linux Boot Process titled: From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.
Any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
RossB
Copyright 2000-2009 Ross Brunson