LPI Updated 101-500 Exam Questions and Answers by ivar

The command that shows all shared libraries required by a binary executable or another shared library is ldd. This command queries the dynamic linker to find out which libraries are needed by the given file and displays them on the standard output. For example, to see the shared libraries required by the /bin/ls program, we can run:

ldd /bin/ls

The output will look something like this:

linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007ffd8a7f6000)libselinux.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libselinux.so.1 (0x00007f0c5a6c4000)libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007f0c5a4d3000)libpcre2-8.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpcre2-8.so.0 (0x00007f0c5a445000)libdl.so.2 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f0c5a441000)/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f0c5a8a5000)libpthread.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f0c5a41e000)

The output shows the name and the path of each shared library, as well as the address where it is loaded in memory. If the library is not found, the output will show not found instead of the path. The linux-vdso.so.1 library is a special case, as it is a virtual library that is not actually present on the filesystem, but is injected by the kernel into every process12.

References:

• How to Show All Shared Libraries Used by Executables in Linux? - Baeldung
• How to show all shared libraries used by executables in Linux? - Stack Overflow

The dd command can be used to create a new file that is 100kB in size. The dd command copies data from one source to another, using specified input and output block sizes. To create a new file that is 100kB in size, the dd command can use /dev/zero as the input source, which provides an endless stream of zeros, and specify the output file name, the output block size (bs) and the count of blocks to copy. For example, dd if=/dev/zero of=file.txt bs=1k count=100 will create a file named file.txt that is 100kB in size. The file command can be used to determine the type of a file. The mkfile command is not a valid Linux command. The touch command can be used to create a new empty file or update the access and modification times of an existing file, but it does not specify the size of the file. References: [LPI Exam 101 Detailed Objectives],Topic 103: GNU and Unix Commands, Weight: 25, Objective 103.3: Perform basic file management, dd command, file command, touch command

The Linux root partition is the partition that contains the root filesystem, which is the top-level directory of the filesystem hierarchy. The root filesystem contains the essential files and directories that are needed to boot the system, such as the kernel, the init system, the configuration files, the libraries, the binaries, and the device files. The root partition can be formatted with different filesystems, depending on the support of the kernel and the boot loader. Some of the common filesystems that can be used on Linux root partitions are:

• ext3: This is the third extended filesystem, which is a journaling filesystem that provides metadata and data integrity, fast recovery, and backward compatibility with ext2. ext3 is widely supported by most Linux distributions and boot loaders, and it is considered stable and reliable. ext3 has been the default filesystem for many Linux distributions, such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and CentOS, until it was replaced by ext4.
• XFS: This is a high-performance 64-bit journaling filesystem that supports large files and volumes, parallel I/O, extent-based allocation, and online defragmentation. XFS is designed for scalability and efficiency, and it is suitable for applications that handle large amounts of data, such as databases, video editing, and data warehousing. XFS is the default filesystem for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and it is also supported by other Linux distributions and boot loaders.

The other options are not valid filesystems for Linux root partitions, because:

• NTFS: This is the New Technology File System, which is the default filesystem for Windows operating systems. NTFS supports features such as journaling, encryption, compression, and access control. NTFS is not natively supported by the Linux kernel, and it requires a third-party driver, such as ntfs-3g, to read and write to NTFS partitions. NTFS is not compatible with the Linux boot loader, and it cannot be used as the root filesystem for Linux.
• VFAT: This is the Virtual File Allocation Table, which is an extension of the FAT32 filesystem that supports long file names. VFAT is a legacy filesystem that is mainly used for compatibility with older Windows and DOS systems. VFAT does not support features such as journaling, permissions, and symbolic links, and it has limitations on the file and volume size. VFAT is not suitable for the root filesystem for Linux, and it is not supported by the Linux boot loader.
• swap: This is not a filesystem, but a special type of partition that is used to store the memory pages that are not currently in use by the system. swap is used to extend the physical memory of the system, and it can improve the performance and stability of the system. swap is not a mountable partition, and it cannot be used as the root filesystem for Linux.

References:

• Linux Filesystems Explained — ext2/3/4, XFS, Btrfs, ZFS
• Linux File Systems: Ext2 vs Ext3 vs Ext4
• What is a Linux SWAP Partition and Why is it Important?

The modprobe command is used to add or remove modules from the Linux kernel. The modprobe command can automatically resolve and load the dependencies of a module, which are the other modules that the module depends on. The modprobe command reads the modules.dep file, which is generated by the depmod command, to determine the dependencies of a module. The syntax of the modprobe command is:

modprobe [options] module [module parameters]

The module is the name of the module to be loaded or removed. The module parameters are optional arguments that can modify the behavior of the module. The options are optional, and they can modify the behavior of the modprobe command, such as displaying the dependencies, listing the modules, or specifying the configuration file.

For example, to load the e1000e module, which is a driver for Intel Gigabit Ethernet adapters, along with any required dependency modules, use the following command:

modprobe e1000e

This command will load the e1000e module and any other modules that it depends on, such as the crc32c module. You can verify the loaded modules by using the lsmod command, which lists the modules and their dependencies, sizes, and usage counts.

The other options are not correct because:

• A. depmod: This command is used to generate the modules.dep file, which contains the dependency information for the modules. The depmod command does not load or remove any modules, but it prepares the modules.dep file for the modprobe command to use. The depmod command is usually run automatically when a new kernel or module is installed, and it does not need to be run manually by the user.
• B. insmod: This command is used to insert a single module into the kernel. The insmod command does not resolve or load any dependencies of the module, and it requires the full path to the module file as an argument. The insmod command is a low-level command that is rarely used by the user, and it is usually invoked by the modprobe command internally.
• D. module_install: This command does not exist in the Linux system. There is no such command as module_install in the Linux documentation or the man pages.
• E. loadmod: This command does not exist in the Linux system. There is no such command as loadmod in the Linux documentation or the man pages.

References:

• modprobe(8) - Linux manual page
• How to Load and Unload Kernel Modules in Linux - Linux Handbook
• Linux Kernel Module Programming Guide - TLDP