102-500 LPIC-1 Exam 102, Part 2 of 2, version 5.0 Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

The command ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime will create a symbolic link from the file /etc/localtime to the file /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC, which contains the binary time zone data for the UTC timezone. This will set the system’s timezone to UTC, which is the Coordinated Universal Time, the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time1. The /etc/localtime file is used by various system programs and libraries to determine the local time according to the configured timezone2. The /usr/share/zoneinfo directory contains the time zone information files for different regions and cities around the world3. The other commands are either invalid or will not change the system’s timezone permanently. The command cat UTC > /etc/timezone will overwrite the /etc/timezone file with the string “UTC”, which is not a valid timezone identifier. The /etc/timezone file is a plain text file that contains the name of the timezone, such as “America/New_York” or "Europe/Paris"4. The command date --timezone=UTC will display the current date and time in UTC, but will not change the system’s timezone setting. The command mv /usr/timezone/UTC /etc will move the file /usr/timezone/UTC to the /etc directory, but this file does not exist by default and has no effect on the system’s timezone configuration. References: 1: Coordinated Universal Time - Wikipedia 2: localtime(5) - Linux manual page 3: tz database - Wikipedia 4: How to Change or Set System Locales in Linux - Tecmint : date(1) - Linux manual page : How do I change my timezone to UTC/GMT? - Ask Ubuntu

 The crontab entry that could be used to set the system time at regular intervals is the one that uses the ntpdate command to synchronize the system clock with a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server. The ntpdate command takes one or more NTP server names or IP addresses as arguments and adjusts the system clock accordingly12. The crontab entry B specifies that the ntpdate command should be executed at the first minute of the zeroth hour (i.e., 00:01) of every day of every month of every weekday, using the NTP server ntp1.digex.net34. This will ensure that the system time is updated daily with a reliable source.

The other crontab entries are either invalid or ineffective for setting the system time at regular intervals. The date command can be used to display or set the system date and time, but it requires a specific format for the argument, not an NTP server name5. The runcron and settime commands are not standard Linux commands and their functionality is unknown. The $d, $t, and $24 variables are also undefined and meaningless in this context.

References: 1: Linux At, Batch, Atq, Atrm Command Help and Examples - Computer Hope 2: How to set a cron job to run at a exact time? - Stack Overflow 3: 107.2 Lesson 1 - Linux Professional Institute Certification Programs 4: How to setup a crontab to execute at specific time - Stack Overflow 5: Writing a specific format of time in a text file every minute using … - Ask Ubuntu

The password field of /etc/passwd is used to store the user’s encrypted password or a special character that indicates how the password is stored. In older Linux systems, the user’s encrypted password was stored in the /etc/passwd file. On most modern systems, this field is set to x, and the user password is stored in the /etc/shadow file12. The /etc/shadow file is more secure than the /etc/passwd file because it is readable only by the root user and not by regular users1. The other options are not valid characters for the password field of /etc/passwd. References:

Understanding the /etc/passwd File | Linuxize

Understanding the /etc/passwd File - GeeksforGeeks

The connection types, as seen in nmcli connection show, are the types of network configurations that Network Manager can manage. They are not the same as the network protocols or layers, such as TCP or IPv6, but rather the logical or physical ways of connecting to a network. According to the Network Manager reference manual1, some of the possible connection types are:

wifi: This connection type is for wireless network interfaces that use the IEEE 802.11 standard. It requires a wifi device and a wifi access point to establish a connection. The connection settings include the SSID, security, password, etc.

bridge: This connection type is for creating a network bridge, which is a device that connects two or more network segments and forwards packets between them. It requires a bridge device and one or more slave devices to be attached to the bridge. The connection settings include the bridge name, MAC address, STP, etc.

vpn: This connection type is for creating a virtual private network, which is a secure tunnel between two or more network endpoints. It requires a VPN plugin and a VPN service provider to establish a connection. The connection settings include the VPN type, service name, user name, password, etc.

The other options are not correct because:

tcp: This is not a connection type, but a network protocol that operates at the transport layer. It provides reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of data between applications. It is not a configuration option for Network Manager.

Ethernet: This is not a connection type, but a network technology that operates at the physical and data link layers. It defines the standards for wiring, signaling, and framing of data packets. It is not a configuration option for Network Manager, but rather a device type that can be used by other connection types, such as bridge or vpn.

ipv6: This is not a connection type, but a network protocol that operates at the network layer. It provides addressing and routing of data packets across networks. It is not a configuration option for Network Manager, but rather an IP configuration option that can be used by other connection types, such as wifi or vpn. References:

https://www.networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nm-settings-nmcli.html

The configuration file for the OpenSSH server is called sshd_config. It is typically located in /etc/ssh on most *NIX systems, but is /etc/sshd_config in the case of MacOS X and perhaps other systems. OpenSSH has two different sets of configuration files: one for client programs (ssh, scp, and sftp) and one for the server daemon (sshd). System-wide SSH configuration information is stored in the /etc/ssh/ directory1. References: 1: Where is the configuration file for OpenSSH server?

 The /etc/shadow file is a text file that stores encrypted passwords, along with user name, password expiration values, and last password change date. The credential information in the shadow file is encrypted using a one-way hash function to disable decryption. The /etc/shadow file contains one entry per line for each user listed in /etc/passwd file. Each line of the /etc/shadow file contains nine comma-separated fields, and the second field is the encrypted password of the user. The password field uses the $type$salt$hashed format, where $type is the method of cryptographic hash algorithm, salt is a random string, and hashed is the result of applying the hash function to the user’s password and the salt. The /etc/shadow file is only readable by the root user, and it is used to enhance the security and control of user passwords.

The other information listed are not stored in /etc/shadow file, but in /etc/passwd file. The /etc/passwd file is a text file that contains basic information about each user account on the system. Each line of the /etc/passwd file contains seven colon-separated fields, and they are:

Username: The name of the user account.

Password: An x character indicates that the encrypted password is stored in /etc/shadow file.

User ID (UID): The numerical identifier of the user account.

Group ID (GID): The numerical identifier of the primary group of the user account.

User ID Info: The comment field that can store additional information about the user, such as full name, phone number, etc.

Home Directory: The absolute path to the user’s home directory, where the user’s personal files and settings are stored.

Shell: The absolute path to the user’s default login shell, which is the program that runs when the user logs in to the system.

References:

Understanding the /etc/shadow File | Linuxize

Understanding /etc/shadow file format on Linux - nixCraft

/etc/shadow file format | Linux#

[/etc/passwd file format | Linux#]

The command systemctl list-timers shows all active systemd timers, which are units that can be used to schedule the execution of other units at specific times or after certain intervals. The output of the command includes the following columns:

NEXT: The next time the timer will trigger.

LEFT: The time left until the next trigger.

LAST: The last time the timer triggered.

PASSED: The time passed since the last trigger.

UNIT: The name of the timer unit.

ACTIVATES: The name of the unit that is activated by the timer.

For example, the following output shows two active timers: apt-daily.timer and apt-daily-upgrade.timer, which are used to perform automatic updates on Debian-based systems.

NEXT LEFT LAST PASSED UNIT ACTIVATES Mon 2021-11-15 06:00:00 UTC 9h left Sun 2021-11-14 06:00:01 UTC 20h ago apt-daily.timer apt-daily.service Mon 2021-11-15 06:23:51 UTC 9h left Sun 2021-11-14 06:23:51 UTC 20h ago apt-daily-upgrade.timer apt-daily-upgrade.service 2 timers listed.

The other commands in the options are either invalid or unrelated to systemd timers:

systemctl-timer show is not a valid command. To show the details of a specific timer unit, the command systemctl show unit.timer can be used, where unit is the name of the unit that is activated by the timer.

timectl list is not a valid command. To list the available time zones, the command timedatectl list-timezones can be used. To list the current time and date settings, the command timedatectl can be used without any arguments.

systemctl -t is not a complete command. To list all units of a specific type, the command systemctl -t type can be used, where type is the name of the unit type, such as service, timer, socket, etc.

timeq is not a valid command. It may be confused with the time command, which measures the time taken by a command or program to execute.

References:

LPIC-1 Exam 102 Objectives, Topic 107: Administrative Tasks, Subtopic 107.2: Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs, Weight: 4, Key Knowledge Areas: Use cron and systemd timers to run jobs at regular intervals and to use anacron to manage system cron jobs. Objective: Use systemd timers to run jobs at regular intervals and to use anacron to manage system cron jobs.

LPIC-1 Exam 102 Learning Materials, Topic 107: Administrative Tasks, Subtopic 107.2: Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs, Section 107.2.3: systemd timers, Page 21-22.

The lsof command, meaning list open files, is a command-line utility in the Linux system to display information about files that are opened by processes1. The lsof command can take various options and arguments to filter and format the output. One of the options that can be used to identify the PID of a process which opened a TCP port is the -i option, which selects the listing of files whose Internet address matches the specified address. The address can be specified as a port number, a host name, or a combination of both. For example, to list the processes that are listening on TCP port 80, one can run:

lsof -i TCP:80

The output shows the command name, the PID, the user name, the file descriptor, the type, the device, the size/off, the node, and the name for each process. The name column shows the local and remote addresses and port numbers for the TCP connection. For example, the output may look like:

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME httpd 1234 root 4u IPv4 12345 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN) httpd 2345 www-data 4u IPv4 12345 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN) httpd 3456 www-data 4u IPv4 23456 0t0 TCP 192.168.1.10:80->192.168.1.20:1234 (ESTABLISHED)

This shows that the httpd command, which is the Apache web server, is listening on TCP port 80 with the PID 1234 and 2345, and has an established connection with the remote address 192.168.1.20 and port 1234 with the PID 3456. To kill the process by PID, one can use the kill command with the -SIGTERM option, which sends a termination signal to the process. For example, to kill the process with the PID 3456, one can run:

kill -SIGTERM 3456

The other options are not correct because:

ptrace: This is not a command, but a system call that allows a process to trace and control the execution of another process. It is used by debuggers and other tools that need to monitor and manipulate the behavior of other processes2. It does not display the PID of a process which opened a TCP port.

strace: This is a command that traces the system calls and signals of a process. It can be used to diagnose, debug, and monitor the interaction between a process and the kernel3. It does not display the PID of a process which opened a TCP port.

debug: This is not a command, but a general term that refers to the process of finding and fixing errors in a program or system. There are various tools and methods that can be used for debugging, such as debuggers, loggers, profilers, etc4. It does not display the PID of a process which opened a TCP port.

nessus: This is a command that runs the Nessus vulnerability scanner, which is a tool that scans a network or a system for security flaws and potential attacks5. It does not display the PID of a process which opened a TCP port. References:

https://www.howtogeek.com/28609/how-can-i-tell-what-is-listening-on-a-tcpip-port-in-windows/

https://bing.com/search?q=identify+PID+of+process+that+opened+a+TCP+port

 An SSH host key is a cryptographic key used for authenticating computers in the SSH protocol. Host keys are key pairs, typically using the RSA, DSA, or ECDSA algorithms. Public host keys are stored on and/or distributed to SSH clients, and private keys are stored on SSH servers. Each host (i.e., computer) should have a unique host key. Host keys are used for authentication towards the connecting client, analogous to user SSH keys. Host keys are generated using asymmetric encryption algorithms like RSA, DSA, or ECDSA algorithms12. When a client connects to the host, the host sends its public host key to the client, and the client verifies that the host key matches the one stored in its known hosts file. If the host key is unknown or has changed, the client will display a warning and prompt the user to accept or reject the host key. This is to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, where an attacker intercepts the connection and pretends to be the legitimate host. The other options are either incorrect or irrelevant to the purpose of an SSH host key. References:

What is an SSH Host Key & How are They Configured?, What are SSH Host Keys? section

SSH Host Key Management Demystified, What are SSH host keys? section

What is SSH host key - omnisecu.com, first paragraph

The command journalctl is included in systemd and supports selecting messages from the systemd journal by criteria such as time or unit name. The systemd journal is a binary log file that stores system and service messages. The journalctl command can be used to view, filter, export, and manipulate the journal entries. For example, to show all messages from a specific unit, such as sshd.service, the command would be:

journalctl -u sshd.service

To show all messages from a specific time range, such as yesterday, the command would be:

journalctl --since=yesterday

The journalctl command has many options and arguments that can be used to customize the output and perform various operations on the journal. For more information, see the man page of journalctl or the official documentation1. References: [LPI 102-500 Exam Objectives], Topic 106.2: System logging, Weight: 3. [systemd-journald.service(8) — systemd — Debian unstable — Debian Manpages], Section NAME.

 The nsswitch.conf file is a configuration file that determines the sources and the order of the sources that are queried for various system databases, such as user information, group information, host names, network services, and more. The C library uses this file to look up various system information when a program or a command requests it. For example, when a user logs in, the C library will use the nsswitch.conf file to determine where to find the user’s password, whether it is in the local /etc/passwd file, or in a remote LDAP server, or both. The nsswitch.conf file allows the system administrator to configure the system databases in a flexible and modular way. References:

[LPI Linux Essentials - Topic 106: The Linux Operating System]

[LPI Linux Administrator - Exam 102 Objectives - Topic 110: Security]

[Linux man page for nsswitch.conf]

The statement hosts: files dns is valid in the file /etc/nsswitch.conf. It means that the system will use the local /etc/hosts file and the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolve host names to IP addresses. The order of the sources on the line determines the order in which they will be queried. In this case, the system will first check the /etc/hosts file for a matching host name, and if not found, it will query the DNS servers configured in /etc/resolv.conf. The other statements in the question are not valid in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. The statement multi on is not a valid keyword or source for any database. The statement 192.168.168.4 dns-server is not a valid syntax for specifying a source or an action. The statement include /etc/nsswitch.d/ is not a valid way to include another file or directory in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. References:

[LPI Linux Administrator - Exam 102 Objectives - Topic 109: Networking Fundamentals]

nsswitch.conf(5) - Linux manual page

What is the /etc/nsswitch.conf file in Linux – TecAdmin

 The keywords dns and files can be used in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file to specify a source for host name lookups. The keyword dns means that the system will use the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolve host names to IP addresses. The keyword files means that the system will use the local /etc/hosts file to resolve host names to IP addresses. The order of the keywords on the line determines the order in which the sources will be queried. For example, the following line in /etc/nsswitch.conf:

hosts: files dns

means that the system will first check the /etc/hosts file for a matching host name, and if not found, it will query the DNS servers configured in /etc/resolv.conf. The other keywords in the question are not valid for the hosts database. The keyword resolv is used for the services database, which contains network service names and port numbers. The keyword remote is not a standard keyword, but it may be used by some applications to implement their own name service providers. The keyword hosts is the name of the database itself, not a source for it. References:

[LPI Linux Administrator - Exam 102 Objectives - Topic 109: Networking Fundamentals]

nsswitch.conf(5) - Linux manual page

What is the /etc/nsswitch.conf file in Linux – TecAdmin

The lowest numbered unprivileged TCP port is 1024. A port number is a 16-bit unsigned integer, thus ranging from 0 to 65535. The port numbers in the range from 0 to 1023 are the well-known ports or system ports. They are used by system processes that provide widely used types of network services. On Unix-like operating systems, a process must execute with superuser privileges to be able to bind a network socket to an IP address using one of the well-known ports. Therefore, the lowest numbered port that can be used by a normal user without root access is 1024, which is the first unprivileged port123 References:

1: How to bind to port number less than 1024 with non root access?

2: lowest numbered unprivileged TCP port - Bing

3: List of TCP and UDP port numbers - Wikipedia

4: Privileged Ports - World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

5: What is the lowest TCP port number? – TeachersCollegesj