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Quiz: System Administration Essentials

Test your understanding of user management, services, and system administration.

1. What does useradd do?

  1. Adds a USB device
  2. Creates a new user account
  3. Adds a user to a group
  4. Increases user privileges
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. useradd creates a new user account. For example, sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash newuser creates a user with a home directory (-m) and bash shell (-s). Use passwd to set their password.

Concept Tested: User Management

See: Chapter 23 - Adding Users

2. What is systemd?

  1. A system debugger
  2. The init system and service manager for modern Linux
  3. A disk formatter
  4. A system monitoring tool
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. systemd is the init system for most modern Linux distributions. It manages the boot process, starts and stops services (daemons), and handles system state. It replaced older init systems like SysV init.

Concept Tested: Systemd

See: Chapter 23 - Systemd

3. What does systemctl start nginx do?

  1. Installs nginx
  2. Starts the nginx service
  3. Stops the nginx service
  4. Restarts the computer
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The correct answer is B. systemctl start nginx starts the nginx service (web server). Other common commands: stop (stop service), restart (stop then start), status (check if running), enable (start at boot).

Concept Tested: Systemctl Commands

See: Chapter 23 - Managing Services

4. What does systemctl enable nginx do?

  1. Starts nginx immediately
  2. Configures nginx to start automatically at boot
  3. Enables advanced nginx features
  4. Allows network access to nginx
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. systemctl enable configures a service to start automatically when the system boots. It creates symlinks in the systemd target directories. Use disable to prevent auto-start.

Concept Tested: Service Auto-start

See: Chapter 23 - Enabling Services

5. What file contains encrypted user passwords?

  1. /etc/passwd
  2. /etc/shadow
  3. /etc/passwords
  4. /etc/users
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The correct answer is B. /etc/shadow contains encrypted (hashed) passwords. It's only readable by root for security. /etc/passwd contains user account info but no longer stores passwords (they're replaced with 'x').

Concept Tested: Password Storage

See: Chapter 23 - Shadow File

6. What does the usermod command do?

  1. Changes the user's mode
  2. Modifies user account properties
  3. Moderates user activity
  4. Moves user files
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The correct answer is B. usermod modifies existing user accounts. Common uses: usermod -aG sudo username (add to group), usermod -s /bin/zsh username (change shell), usermod -L username (lock account).

Concept Tested: User Modification

See: Chapter 23 - Modifying Users

7. What is the purpose of the journalctl command?

  1. Manages disk journaling
  2. Views systemd journal logs
  3. Creates journal entries
  4. Journals file changes
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The correct answer is B. journalctl queries and displays logs from the systemd journal. Use journalctl -u nginx for a specific service, journalctl -f to follow logs in real-time, or journalctl -b for current boot only.

Concept Tested: System Logs

See: Chapter 23 - Journalctl

8. What does the boot process start with on modern Linux systems?

  1. The kernel loads first, then BIOS
  2. BIOS/UEFI → Bootloader → Kernel → systemd
  3. systemd starts everything
  4. The shell loads first
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The correct answer is B. The boot sequence: BIOS/UEFI initializes hardware → bootloader (GRUB) loads the kernel → kernel initializes and starts systemd (PID 1) → systemd starts all other services and brings up the system.

Concept Tested: Boot Process

See: Chapter 23 - Boot Process

9. What command adds a user to a group?

  1. groupadd user group
  2. usermod -aG groupname username
  3. addgroup user to group
  4. chgrp user groupname
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. usermod -aG groupname username adds the user to the specified group. The -a means append (don't remove from other groups), and -G specifies supplementary groups.

Concept Tested: Group Management

See: Chapter 23 - Group Membership

10. What does passwd command do without arguments?

  1. Shows password policy
  2. Changes your own password
  3. Resets all passwords
  4. Displays encrypted passwords
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Running passwd without arguments lets you change your own password. As root, passwd username changes another user's password. It prompts for the new password twice to confirm.

Concept Tested: Password Management

See: Chapter 23 - Changing Passwords