Oracle Linux 8 Advanced System Administration Exam Practice Test
The Oracle Linux 8 Advanced System Administration Exam (1Z0-106) addresses command-line administration of Linux systems, including storage, user accounts, filesystems, networking, and Bash scripting. Practice questions sample operational decisions such as creating logical volumes, managing hostnames and firewall rules, checking inode capacity, preserving file metadata during copies, and handling failures in shell pipelines.
Exam overview
About the Oracle Linux 8 Advanced System Administration Exam
Linux administration requires choosing commands that change system state safely and verifying their effects. Storage work includes creating logical volumes within volume groups and inspecting mounted filesystems, while capacity checks distinguish available inodes from available disk space. Account and host management involve standard utilities for creating users and setting system identity. Network access tasks require understanding firewalld zones and persistent configuration. File operations depend on archive handling and metadata-preserving copy behavior. Bash administration adds control over line-oriented input, word splitting, backslash interpretation, and pipeline exit status. These skills support routine maintenance and troubleshooting: select the appropriate utility, account for persistence and side effects, and interpret command output before applying further changes. The practice bank samples these areas but does not establish an official topic list or weighting.
Sample Practice Questions
Review a selection from this exam's published US Practice Tests practice bank.
A shell script must read a configuration file line by line without treating backslashes specially or splitting each line into multiple words. Which Bash construct is appropriate?
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Correct answer: ASetting `IFS=` prevents leading and trailing whitespace from being trimmed, and `read -r` prevents backslash interpretation. The command-substitution loop can split on whitespace and mishandle many line contents.
A system administrator wants to create a new 1 GiB logical volume named `lvapp` in the volume group `vgapps`. Which command performs the allocation and creation?
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Correct answer: A`lvcreate` creates a logical volume; `-L 1G` sets its size, `-n lvapp` sets its name, and `vgapps` identifies the volume group from which space is allocated.
Which command creates a new account with a home directory using the standard user-management utility on Oracle Linux 8?
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Correct answer: A`useradd -m` creates the user and creates a home directory if one does not already exist. `groupadd` creates groups, `passwd` manages passwords, and `usermod` modifies an existing account.
An administrator needs to set the system hostname to `node7.example.net` using the systemd host-management utility. Which command should be used?
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Correct answer: A`hostnamectl set-hostname` changes the system hostname through systemd's host-management interface. `host` performs DNS lookups, and the other command forms are not valid for setting the hostname.
A system is running out of space in `/var`. Which command gives a human-readable summary of inode availability on the filesystem containing `/var`?
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Correct answer: B`df -i` reports inode usage and availability for filesystems. The path `/var` identifies the filesystem to inspect. `df -h` reports block-space usage instead.
An administrator needs to extract a compressed tar archive named `logs.tar.gz` into the current directory. Which command is appropriate?
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Correct answer: AThe `-x` option extracts an archive, `-z` handles gzip compression, and `-f` specifies the archive filename. The `-c` option creates an archive rather than extracting one.
An administrator wants to copy the contents of `/srv/data` to `/backup/data` while preserving permissions, ownership, timestamps, symbolic links, and other file metadata. Which command is best suited?
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Correct answer: BThe `-a` (archive) option makes rsync recurse and preserve common file attributes and symbolic links. The trailing slash on the source means copy the directory's contents into the destination directory.
How to use this practice test
The free practice set draws up to 20 random questions from the 50-question bank and displays results after the session. Use each item to check command selection and reasoning, especially where similar tools differ in persistence, metadata handling, or failure behavior. Revisit missed concepts by testing the command safely in a lab.
Preparation tips
- Practice creating a logical volume with `lvcreate`, then inspect the volume group and mounted filesystem to confirm allocation and availability.
- Compare `df -h` with `df -i`; identify when inode exhaustion can prevent file creation despite remaining disk space.
- Test firewalld changes with and without the permanent option, then reload and verify the active zone configuration.
- Use Bash exercises to distinguish `read` options for literal line input and `set -o pipefail` for pipeline failure detection.
- Compare archive extraction and metadata-preserving copy commands; verify ownership, permissions, timestamps, and symbolic-link behavior in a disposable directory.