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Top 60 Linux Interview Questions & Answers

1) What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system based on UNIX and was first introduced by Linus Torvalds. It is
based on the Linux Kernel and can run on di erent hardware platforms manufactured by Intel,
MIPS, HP, IBM, SPARC, and Motorola. Another popular element in Linux is its mascot, a penguin
figure named Tux.

2) What is the di erence between UNIX and LINUX?

Unix originally began as a propriety operating system from Bell Laboratories, which later on
spawned into di erent commercial versions. On the other hand, Linux is free, open source and
intended as a non-propriety operating system for the masses.

3) What is BASH?

BASH is short for Bourne Again SHell. It was written by Steve Bourne as a replacement to the
original Bourne Shell (represented by /bin/sh). It combines all the features from the original
version of Bourne Shell, plus additional functions to make it easier and more convenient to
use. It has since been adapted as the default shell for most systems running Linux.

4) What is Linux Kernel?

The Linux Kernel is a low-level systems so ware whose main role is to manage hardware
resources for the user. It is also used to provide an interface for user-level interaction.

5) What is LILO?

LILO is a boot loader for Linux. It is used mainly to load the Linux operating system into main
memory so that it can begin its operations.

6) What is a swap space?

Swap space is a certain amount of space used by Linux to temporarily hold some programs that
are running concurrently. This happens when RAM does not have enough memory to hold all
programs that are executing.

7) What is the advantage of open source?

Open source allows you to distribute your so ware, including source codes freely to anyone
who is interested. People would then be able to add features and even debug and correct
errors that are in the source code. They can even make it run better and then redistribute these
enhanced source code freely again. This eventually benefits everyone in the community.

8 ) What are the basic components of Linux?

Just like any other typical operating system, Linux has all of these components: kernel, shells
and GUIs, system utilities, and an application program. What makes Linux advantageous over
other operating system is that every aspect comes with additional features and all codes for
these are downloadable for free.

9) Does it help for a Linux system to have multiple desktop environments installed?

In general, one desktop environment, like KDE or Gnome, is good enough to operate without
issues. It's all a matter of preference for the user, although the system allows switching from
one environment to another. Some programs will work in one environment and not work on
the other, so it could also be considered a factor in selecting which environment to use.

10) What is the basic di erence between BASH and DOS?

The key di erences between the BASH and DOS console lie in 3 areas:

- BASH commands are case sensitive while DOS commands are not;

- Under BASH, / character is a directory separator and \ acts as an escape character. Under DOS,
/ serves as a command argument delimiter and \ is the directory separator

- DOS follows a convention in naming files, which is 8 character file name followed by a dot and
3 characters for the extension. BASH follows no such convention.

11) What is the importance of the GNU project?

This so-called Free so ware movement allows several advantages, such as the freedom to run
programs for any purpose and freedom to study and modify a program to your needs. It also
allows you to redistribute copies of so ware to other people, as well as the freedom to improve
so ware and have it released for the public.

12) Describe the root account.

The root account is like a systems administrator account and allows you full control of the
system. Here you can create and maintain user accounts, assigning di erent permissions for
each account. It is the default account every time you install Linux.

13) What is CLI?

CLI is short for Command Line Interface. This interface allows the user to type declarative
commands to instruct the computer to perform operations. CLI o ers greater flexibility.
However, other users who are already accustomed to using GUI find it di icult to remember
commands including attributes that come with it.

14) What is GUI?

GUI, or Graphical User Interface, make use of images and icons that users click and manipulate
as a way of communicating with the computer. Instead of having to remember and type
commands, the use of graphical elements makes it easier to interact with the system, as well as
adding more attraction through images, icons, and colors.

15) How do you open a command prompt when issuing a command?

To open the default shell (which is where the command prompt can be found), press Ctrl-Alt-F1.
This will provide a command line interface (CLI) from which you can run commands as needed.

16) How can you find out how much memory Linux is using?

From a command shell, use the "concatenate" command: cat /proc/meminfo for memory
usage information. You should see a line starting something like Mem: 64655360, etc. This is the
total memory Linux thinks it has available to use.

You can also use commands

 free - m

vmstat

top

htop

to find current memory usage

17) What is a typical size for a swap partition under a Linux system?

The preferred size for a swap partition is twice the amount of physical memory available on the
system. If this is not possible, then the minimum size should be the same as the amount of
memory installed.

18) What are symbolic links?

Symbolic links act similarly to shortcuts in Windows. Such links point to programs, files or
directories. It also allows you instant access to it without having to go directly to the entire
pathname.

19) Does the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination work on Linux?

Yes, it does. Just like Windows, you can use this key combination to perform a system restart.
One di erence is that you won't be getting any confirmation message and therefore, a reboot is
immediate.

20) How do you refer to the parallel port where devices such as printers are connected?

Whereas under Windows you refer to the parallel port as the LPT port, under Linux you refer to
it as /dev/lp . LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3 would therefore be referred to as /dev/lp0, /dev/lp1, or
/dev/lp2 under Linux.

21) Are drives such as hard drive and floppy drives represented with drive letters?

No. In Linux, each drive and device have di erent designations. For example, floppy drives are
referred to as /dev/fd0 and /dev/fd1. IDE/EIDE hard drives are referred to as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb,
/dev/hdc, and so forth.

22) How do you change permissions under Linux?

Assuming you are the system administrator or the owner of a file or directory, you can grant
permission using the chmod command. Use + symbol to add permission or – symbol to deny
permission, along with any of the following letters: u (user), g (group), o (others), a (all), r
(read), w (write) and x (execute). For example, the command chmod go+rw FILE1.TXT grants
read and write access to the file FILE1.TXT, which is assigned to groups and others.

23) In Linux, what names are assigned to the di erent serial ports?

Serial ports are identified as /dev/ttyS0 to /dev/ttyS7. These are the equivalent names of COM1
to COM8 in Windows.

24) How do you access partitions under Linux?

Linux assigns numbers at the end of the drive identifier. For example, if the first IDE hard drive
had three primary partitions, they would be named/numbered, /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2 and
/dev/hda3.

25) What are hard links?

Hard links point directly to the physical file on disk, and not on the pathname. This means that
if you rename or move the original file, the link will not break since the link is for the file itself,
not the path where the file is located.

26) What is the maximum length for a filename under Linux?

Any filename can have a maximum of 255 characters. This limit does not include the path
name, so therefore the entire pathname and filename could well exceed 255 characters.

27)What are filenames that are preceded by a dot?

In general, filenames that are preceded by a dot are hidden files. These files can be
configuration files that hold important data or setup info. Setting these files as hidden makes it
less likely to be accidentally deleted.

28) Explain virtual desktop.

This serves as an alternative to minimizing and maximizing di erent windows on the current
desktop. Using virtual desktops can clear the desktop when you can open one or more
programs. Rather than minimizing/restoring all those programs as needed, you can simply
shu le between virtual desktops with programs intact in each one.
29) How do you share a program across di erent virtual desktops under Linux?

To share a program across di erent virtual desktops, in the upper le -hand corner of a program
window look for an icon that looks like a pushpin. Pressing this button will "pin" that
application in place, making it appear in all virtual desktops, in the same position onscreen.

30) What does a nameless (empty) directory represent?

This empty directory name serves as the nameless base of the Linux file system. This serves as
an attachment for all other directories, files, drives, and devices.

31) What is the pwd command?

The pwd command is short for print working directory command.

Example:

pwd

Output:

/home/guru99/myDir

32) What are daemons?

Daemons are services that provide several functions that may not be available under the base
operating system. Its main task is to listen for service request and at the same time to act on
these requests. A er the service is done, it is then disconnected and waits for further requests.

33) How do you switch from one desktop environment to another, such as switching from KDE
to Gnome?

Assuming you have these two environments installed, just log out from the graphical interface.
Then at the login screen, type your login ID and password and choose which session type you
wish to load. This choice will remain your default until you change it to something else.

34) What are the kinds of permissions under Linux?

There are 3 kinds of permissions under Linux:- Read: users may read the files or list the
directory- Write: users may write to the file of new files to the directory- Execute: users may run
the file or lookup a specific file within a directory

35) How does case sensitivity a ect the way you use commands?

When we talk about case sensitivity, commands are considered identical only if every character
is encoded as is, including lowercase and uppercase letters. This means that CD, cd, and Cd are
three di erent commands. Entering a command using uppercase letters, where it should be in
lowercase, will produce di erent outputs.

36) What are environmental variables?

Environmental variables are global settings that control the shell's function as well as that of
other Linux programs. Another common term for environmental variables is global shell
variables.

37) What are the di erent modes when using vi editor?

There are 3 modes under vi:- Command mode – this is the mode where you start in- Edit mode
– this is the mode that allows you to do text editing- Ex mode – this is the mode wherein you
interact with vi with instructions to process a file

38) Is it possible to use shortcuts for a long pathname?

Yes, there is. A feature known as filename expansion allows you do this using the TAB key. For
example, if you have a path named /home/iceman/assignments directory, you would type as
follows: /ho[tab]/ice[tab]/assi[tab] . This, however, assumes that the path is unique and that
the shell you're using supports this feature.

39) What is redirection?

Redirection is the process of directing data from one output to another. It can also be used to
direct an output as an input to another process.

40) What is grep command?

grep a search command that makes use of pattern-based searching. It makes use of options
and parameters that are specified along with the command line and applies this pattern in
searching the required file output.
41) What could be the problem when a command that was issued gave a di erent result from
the last time it was used?

One highly possible reason for getting di erent results from what seems to be the same
command has something to do with case sensitivity issues. Since Linux is case sensitive, a
command that was previously used might have been entered in a di erent format from the
present one. For example, to lists all files in the directory, you should type the command ls, and
not LS. Typing LS will either result in an error message if there is no program by that exact
name exist or may produce a di erent output if there is a program named LS that performs
another function.

42) What are the contents of /usr/local?

It contains locally installed files. This directory matters in environments where files are stored
on the network. Specifically, locally-installed files go to /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib, etc.).
Another application of this directory is that it is used for so ware packages installed from
source, or so ware not o icially shipped with the distribution.

43) How do you terminate an ongoing process?

Every process in the system is identified by a unique process id or pid. Use the kill command
followed by the pid to terminate that process. To terminate all process at once, use kill 0.

44) How do you insert comments in the command line prompt?

Comments are created by typing the # symbol before the actual comment text. This tells the
shell to completely ignore what follows. For example "# This is just a comment that the shell
will ignore."

45) What is command grouping and how does it work?

You can use parentheses to group commands. For example, if you want to send the current
date and time along with the contents of a file named OUTPUT to a second file named
MYDATES, you can apply command grouping as follows: (date cat OUTPUT) > MYDATES

46) How do you execute more than one command or program from a single command line
entry?

You can combine several commands by separating each command or program using a
semicolon symbol. For example, you can issue such a series of commands in a single entry:
 ls –l cd .. ls –a MYWORK which is equivalent to 3 commands: ls -l cd.. ls -a MYWORK

**Note that this will be executed one a er the other, in the order specified.

47) Write a command that will look for files with an extension "c", and has the occurrence of the
string "apple" in it.

Answer:

Find ./ -name "*.c" | xargs grep –i "apple"

48) Write a command that will display all .txt files, including its individual permission.

Answer:

ls -al *.txt

49) Write a command that will do the following:

-look for all files in the current and subsequent directories with an extension c,v
-strip the,v from the result (you can use sed command)
-use the result and use a grep command to search for all occurrences of the word ORANGE in
the files.

Find ./ -name "*.c,v" | sed 's/,v//g' | xargs grep "ORANGE"

50) What, if anything, is wrong with each of the following commands?

a) ls -l-s
b) cat file1, file2
c) ls - s Factdir

Answers:
a) there should be space between the 2 options: ls -l -s
b) do not use commas to separate arguments: cat file1 file2
c) there should be no space between hyphen and option label: ls –s Factdir
51) What is the command to calculate the size of a folder?

To calculate the size of a folder uses the command du –sh folder1.

52) How can you find the status of a process?

Use the command

ps ux

53) How can you check the memory status?

You can use the command

free -m to display output in MB

free -g to display output in GB

54) Explain how to color the Git console?

To color the Git console, you can use the command git config—global color.ui auto. In the
command, the color.ui variable sets the default value for a variable such as color.di and
color.grep.

55) How can you append one file to another in Linux?

To append one file to another in Linux you can use command cat file2 >> file 1. The operator >>
appends the output of the named file or creates the file if it is not created. While another
command cat file 1 file 2 > file 3 appends two or more files to one.

56) Explain how you can find a file using Terminal?

To find a file you have to use a command, find . –name "process.txt" . It will look for the current
directory for a file called process.txt.

57) Explain how you can create a folder using Terminal?

To create a folder, you have to use command mkdir. It will be something like these: ~$ mkdir
Guru99

58) Explain how you can view the text file using Terminal?
To view the text file, go to the specific folder where the text files are located by using the
command cd and then type less filename.txt.

59) Explain how to enable curl on Ubuntu LAMP stack?

To enable curl on Ubuntu, first, install libcurl, once done use following command sudo/etc/init
.d /apache2 restart or sudo service apache2 restart.

60) Explain how to enable root logging in Ubuntu?

The command which enables root logging is

#sudo sh-c 'echo "greater-show-manual-login=true" >>/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf'

61) How can you run a Linux program in the background simultaneously when you start your
Linux Server?

By using nohup. It will stop the process receiving the NOHUP signal and thus terminating it you
log out of the program which was invoked with. & runs the process in the background.

62) Explain how to uninstall the libraries in Linux?

To uninstall the libraries in Linux, you can use command sudo apt-get remove library_name
 Linux Certification Quiz

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