All 101-500 Test Inside LPI Questions

The /tmp directory should be on a separate partition if possible because it is world writable. This means that any user can create, modify, or delete files and directories in /tmp. This can pose a risk of filling up the / partition, which can cause system instability or failure. By having /tmp on a separate partition, we can limit the amount of disk space that can be used by temporary files and prevent users from affecting the / partition. The /tmp directory is also a common target for malicious attacks, so having it on a separate partition can improve the security and isolation of the system. The /tmp directory is one of the few directories that are world writable by default, according to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)1. The other directories that are usually world writable are /var/tmp and /var/lock, which are also used for temporary or lock files. However, these directories are not as frequently used or as large as /tmp, so they are less likely to fill up the / partition. The /tmp directory also has the sticky bit set, which means that only the owner of a file or directory can delete or rename it2. This prevents users from deleting or modifying other users’ files in /tmp. However, this does not prevent users from creating new files or directories in /tmp, which can still consume disk space and resources. Therefore, it is advisable to have /tmp on a separate partition if possible. References:

• Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
• Sticky bit - Wikipedia

The top-level system directory that is used for files and data that change regularly while the system is running and are to be kept between reboots is /var. The /var directory contains variable data that changes in size as the system runs. For instance, log files, mail directories, databases, and printing spools are stored in /var. These files and data are not temporary and need to be preserved across system reboots. The /var directory is one of the few directories that are recommended to be on a separate partition, according to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)1. This is because the /var directory can grow unpredictably and fill up the / partition, which can cause system instability or failure. By having /var on a separate partition, we can limit the amount of disk space that can be used by variable data and prevent users from affecting the / partition. The /var directory is also a common target for malicious attacks, so having it on a separate partition can improve the security and isolation of the system. References:

• Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

The swapoff command is used to disable swapping on a device or a file. It takes the path of the device or file as an argument, or -a to disable all swaps. Disabling swap can improve the performance of the system if there is enough physical memory, or it can be necessary if the swap size needs to be changed. However, disabling swap can also cause problems if the system runs out of memory and has no swap space to use. References:

• How to Disable Swap in Linux - Linux Handbook
• How to Permanently Disable Swap in Linux? - GeeksforGeeks
• LPI Linux Essentials - 1.1 Operating System Basics

 The command apt-cache can be used to perform a full text search on all available packages on a Debian system. It searches the package names and the descriptions for an occurrence of the regular expression given as a keyword and prints out the package name and the short description1. The syntax is: apt-cache search keyword. For example, apt-cache search openssh will return a list of packages related to OpenSSH2. The other commands are not suitable for this task because:

• apt is a high-level command-line tool that provides a user-friendly way to manage packages, but it does not have a search option3.
• apt-get is a low-level command-line tool that handles the installation and removal of packages, but it does not have a search option4.
• apt-search is not a valid command.
• dpkg is a tool to install, build, remove and manage Debian packages, but it does not have a search option5. It can only list the installed packages with the option -l4. References:
• How To Search For Available Packages From Command Line In Debian, Ubuntu Or Linux Mint [APT] - Linux Uprising Blog
• apt(8) — apt — Debian buster — Debian Manpages
• How to List Installed Packages on Debian | Linuxize
• Debian / Ubuntu Linux search package names with apt-cache command
• dpkg(1) — dpkg — Debian buster — Debian Manpages