CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Exam 1 | 58 Questions | 2026/2027
CNIT 340 Exam 1
Unix/Linux Administration Course Examination
58 Questions | With Complete Solutions | 2026/2027 Edition
Course CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Total Questions 58
Exam Exam 1 - Fundamentals through User Management
Format Multiple Choice (A-D)
Edition 2026/2027 Aligned to CompTIA Linux+ and LPI Objectives
Cognitive Mix 25% Recall / 50% Application / 25% Analys
Exam Coverage: Section 1 - Unix/Linux History & Fundamentals (Q1-Q10) | Section 2 - File System Hierarchy & Navigation
(Q11-Q22) | Section 3 - File Management & Permissions (Q23-Q34) | Section 4 - Text Processing & Filters (Q35-Q42) |
Section 5 - Shell Basics & Command Line (Q43-Q50) | Section 6 - User & Group Management (Q51-Q58).
Section 1: Unix/Linux History & Fundamentals
Topics: Unix history (Bell Labs, Thompson, Ritchie), Linux history (Torvalds, GNU, Stallman, GPL), open-source
licensing, distributions, kernel/shell/utilities, Unix philosophy, systemd targets, multi-user systems, SSH.
Q1: In 1969, an engineer at AT&T Bell Labs wrote the first version of the Unix operating
system on a spare PDP-7 minicomputer. Who is credited with this foundational work?
A. Linus Torvalds
B. Ken Thompson *[CORRECT]*
C. Richard Stallman
D. Brian Kernighan
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Ken Thompson authored the original Unix at Bell Labs in 1969, with Dennis Ritchie later contributing the
C language and co-authoring the portable kernel. Linus Torvalds created Linux (1991), and Richard Stallman
founded the GNU Project (1983), so neither could be the original Unix author. Brian Kernighan was a Bell Labs
colleague who helped popularize Unix but did not write the first version.
Q2: In August 1991, Linus Torvalds posted a usenet message announcing a "free operating
system" as a hobby project. What was the primary motivation that led to the creation of the
Linux kernel?
A. To replace Microsoft Windows on commodity desktop PCs
B. To create a free Unix-like kernel for his Intel 80386 PC because Minix was limited *[CORRECT]*
C. To compete with Apple macOS in the workstation market
D. To build a server-only operating system for the U.S. Department of Defense
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Torvalds started Linux because he wanted a free Unix-like system on his 80386 PC, and Minix (Andrew
Tanenbaum's teaching OS) had licensing and capability limits. The CNIT 340 curriculum stresses that Linux is a
kernel only, originally intended for personal x86 hardware, not a Windows or macOS replacement and not a defense
project.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 1
,CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Exam 1 | 58 Questions | 2026/2027
Q3: A new hire asks what the recursive acronym "GNU" stands for. As the senior Linux
administrator, what is the correct answer aligned with the FSF definition?
A. General Network Utility
B. GNU's Not Unix *[CORRECT]*
C. Global Network Unix
D. Generalized Unix System
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project in 1983 to build a free Unix-compatible operating system,
choosing the recursive acronym "GNU's Not Unix" to emphasize that the code was independent of AT&T Unix
source. The other options are fabricated backronyms and contradict the Free Software Foundation's official
documentation.
Q4: A software team wants to release a tool under a license that REQUIRES any distributed
modified version to also be released under the SAME license. Which open-source license best
satisfies this requirement?
A. MIT License
B. BSD 2-Clause License
C. GNU General Public License (GPL) v3 *[CORRECT]*
D. Apache License 2.0
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The GPL is a copyleft license whose "viral" clause forces derivative works to inherit the same GPL terms,
satisfying the requirement. MIT, BSD, and Apache 2.0 are all permissive licenses that allow re-licensing of
derivatives under proprietary terms, so they do not guarantee the same-license propagation the team requires.
Q5: A bank needs to deploy a Linux distribution for a mission-critical Oracle database server
with a 10-year vendor support lifecycle and certified vendor patches. Which distribution is the
most defensible choice?
A. Arch Linux
B. Fedora Workstation
C. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) *[CORRECT]*
D. Kali Linux
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: RHEL offers 10-year (now up to 13 with ELS) vendor support, certified hardware/software compatibility,
and paid patches, which is the enterprise norm. Arch is a rolling release with no long-term guarantees, Fedora has a
~13 month lifecycle, and Kali is a penetration-testing distribution, none of which meet the bank's SLA requirements.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 2
, CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Exam 1 | 58 Questions | 2026/2027
Q6: When a user types ls -l at the bash prompt and presses Enter, which system
component is responsible for parsing the command, expanding glob patterns, and requesting
the kernel to list the directory?
A. The hardware layer (CPU privilege ring 0)
B. The Linux kernel directly
C. The shell (bash) *[CORRECT]*
D. The GRUB bootloader
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The shell is the user-space interpreter that tokenizes input, performs variable and glob expansion, locates
the binary via PATH, and asks the kernel (through execve()) to run /bin/ls. The kernel itself never parses interactive
commands; GRUB only loads the kernel at boot, and the CPU hardware layer does not interpret commands.
Q7: The Unix principle "everything is a file" dictates that hardware devices be exposed
through the filesystem. As an administrator, in which FHS directory will you find character
and block device files representing hard drives, terminals, and USB devices?
A. /etc
B. /dev *[CORRECT]*
C. /proc
D. /tmp
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: /dev holds special device files (e.g., /dev/sda, /dev/tty1, /dev/null) that the kernel exposes through the
device filesystem so that I/O uses read/write semantics. /etc holds configuration, /proc is a virtual filesystem of
process/kernel state, and /tmp is scratch space, none of which are intended to represent hardware devices.
Q8: On a modern systemd-based server, you need to bring the system to multi-user text mode
WITHOUT a graphical interface, which is equivalent to legacy System V runlevel 3. Which
target should you activate?
A. graphical.target
B. multi-user.target *[CORRECT]*
C. rescue.target
D. poweroff.target
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: multi-user.target is the systemd equivalent of runlevel 3: it brings up multi-user services without a display
manager. graphical.target maps to runlevel 5, rescue.target to runlevel 1 (single-user repair), and poweroff.target to
runlevel 0, so none of those satisfy the multi-user, no-GUI requirement.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 3
CNIT 340 Exam 1
Unix/Linux Administration Course Examination
58 Questions | With Complete Solutions | 2026/2027 Edition
Course CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Total Questions 58
Exam Exam 1 - Fundamentals through User Management
Format Multiple Choice (A-D)
Edition 2026/2027 Aligned to CompTIA Linux+ and LPI Objectives
Cognitive Mix 25% Recall / 50% Application / 25% Analys
Exam Coverage: Section 1 - Unix/Linux History & Fundamentals (Q1-Q10) | Section 2 - File System Hierarchy & Navigation
(Q11-Q22) | Section 3 - File Management & Permissions (Q23-Q34) | Section 4 - Text Processing & Filters (Q35-Q42) |
Section 5 - Shell Basics & Command Line (Q43-Q50) | Section 6 - User & Group Management (Q51-Q58).
Section 1: Unix/Linux History & Fundamentals
Topics: Unix history (Bell Labs, Thompson, Ritchie), Linux history (Torvalds, GNU, Stallman, GPL), open-source
licensing, distributions, kernel/shell/utilities, Unix philosophy, systemd targets, multi-user systems, SSH.
Q1: In 1969, an engineer at AT&T Bell Labs wrote the first version of the Unix operating
system on a spare PDP-7 minicomputer. Who is credited with this foundational work?
A. Linus Torvalds
B. Ken Thompson *[CORRECT]*
C. Richard Stallman
D. Brian Kernighan
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Ken Thompson authored the original Unix at Bell Labs in 1969, with Dennis Ritchie later contributing the
C language and co-authoring the portable kernel. Linus Torvalds created Linux (1991), and Richard Stallman
founded the GNU Project (1983), so neither could be the original Unix author. Brian Kernighan was a Bell Labs
colleague who helped popularize Unix but did not write the first version.
Q2: In August 1991, Linus Torvalds posted a usenet message announcing a "free operating
system" as a hobby project. What was the primary motivation that led to the creation of the
Linux kernel?
A. To replace Microsoft Windows on commodity desktop PCs
B. To create a free Unix-like kernel for his Intel 80386 PC because Minix was limited *[CORRECT]*
C. To compete with Apple macOS in the workstation market
D. To build a server-only operating system for the U.S. Department of Defense
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Torvalds started Linux because he wanted a free Unix-like system on his 80386 PC, and Minix (Andrew
Tanenbaum's teaching OS) had licensing and capability limits. The CNIT 340 curriculum stresses that Linux is a
kernel only, originally intended for personal x86 hardware, not a Windows or macOS replacement and not a defense
project.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 1
,CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Exam 1 | 58 Questions | 2026/2027
Q3: A new hire asks what the recursive acronym "GNU" stands for. As the senior Linux
administrator, what is the correct answer aligned with the FSF definition?
A. General Network Utility
B. GNU's Not Unix *[CORRECT]*
C. Global Network Unix
D. Generalized Unix System
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project in 1983 to build a free Unix-compatible operating system,
choosing the recursive acronym "GNU's Not Unix" to emphasize that the code was independent of AT&T Unix
source. The other options are fabricated backronyms and contradict the Free Software Foundation's official
documentation.
Q4: A software team wants to release a tool under a license that REQUIRES any distributed
modified version to also be released under the SAME license. Which open-source license best
satisfies this requirement?
A. MIT License
B. BSD 2-Clause License
C. GNU General Public License (GPL) v3 *[CORRECT]*
D. Apache License 2.0
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The GPL is a copyleft license whose "viral" clause forces derivative works to inherit the same GPL terms,
satisfying the requirement. MIT, BSD, and Apache 2.0 are all permissive licenses that allow re-licensing of
derivatives under proprietary terms, so they do not guarantee the same-license propagation the team requires.
Q5: A bank needs to deploy a Linux distribution for a mission-critical Oracle database server
with a 10-year vendor support lifecycle and certified vendor patches. Which distribution is the
most defensible choice?
A. Arch Linux
B. Fedora Workstation
C. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) *[CORRECT]*
D. Kali Linux
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: RHEL offers 10-year (now up to 13 with ELS) vendor support, certified hardware/software compatibility,
and paid patches, which is the enterprise norm. Arch is a rolling release with no long-term guarantees, Fedora has a
~13 month lifecycle, and Kali is a penetration-testing distribution, none of which meet the bank's SLA requirements.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 2
, CNIT 340 - Unix/Linux Administration Exam 1 | 58 Questions | 2026/2027
Q6: When a user types ls -l at the bash prompt and presses Enter, which system
component is responsible for parsing the command, expanding glob patterns, and requesting
the kernel to list the directory?
A. The hardware layer (CPU privilege ring 0)
B. The Linux kernel directly
C. The shell (bash) *[CORRECT]*
D. The GRUB bootloader
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The shell is the user-space interpreter that tokenizes input, performs variable and glob expansion, locates
the binary via PATH, and asks the kernel (through execve()) to run /bin/ls. The kernel itself never parses interactive
commands; GRUB only loads the kernel at boot, and the CPU hardware layer does not interpret commands.
Q7: The Unix principle "everything is a file" dictates that hardware devices be exposed
through the filesystem. As an administrator, in which FHS directory will you find character
and block device files representing hard drives, terminals, and USB devices?
A. /etc
B. /dev *[CORRECT]*
C. /proc
D. /tmp
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: /dev holds special device files (e.g., /dev/sda, /dev/tty1, /dev/null) that the kernel exposes through the
device filesystem so that I/O uses read/write semantics. /etc holds configuration, /proc is a virtual filesystem of
process/kernel state, and /tmp is scratch space, none of which are intended to represent hardware devices.
Q8: On a modern systemd-based server, you need to bring the system to multi-user text mode
WITHOUT a graphical interface, which is equivalent to legacy System V runlevel 3. Which
target should you activate?
A. graphical.target
B. multi-user.target *[CORRECT]*
C. rescue.target
D. poweroff.target
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: multi-user.target is the systemd equivalent of runlevel 3: it brings up multi-user services without a display
manager. graphical.target maps to runlevel 5, rescue.target to runlevel 1 (single-user repair), and poweroff.target to
runlevel 0, so none of those satisfy the multi-user, no-GUI requirement.
CNIT 340 Exam 1 - Complete Solutions 2026/2027 Page 3
