Chapter 9 Review Questions

1.) Which of the following occurs first when a computer is booted?

The CPU starts executing commands found in the BIOS.

2.) On new computers, the BIOS can typically boot from which of the following devices?

Hard disks, CD-ROM drives, removable disks, a network connection, or USB devices.

3.) When using LILO rather than GRUB, you must do which of the following after making a configuration change in order for the change to be effective the next time you boot Linux?

Run the lilo command as root.

4.) Assuming a standard configuration, the BIOS looks first in which of the following locations on a hard disk when trying to find a boot loader or operating system?

The boot record of the active partition on the first IDE hard disk.

5.) In order to use chained boot loaders, you must be certain that:

The first boot loader can be found by the BIOS, and each operating system can be reached via one of the chained boot loaders.

6.) The Linux kernel is a file having a name that starts with _____ and typically stored in the ______ subdirectory.

vmlinuz, /boot

7.) Which feature is part of GRUB but not LILO?

Including non-Linux operating systems in the list of bootable devices.

8.) Describe the output of the uname command.

It just says Linux, but if you add different designators to the command you can change the output.

9.) The GRUB boot manager can be reconfigured directly as you boot your system, but is also controlled by this configuration file:

/boot/grub/grub.conf

10.) Which of the following statements about boot parameters is accurate?

They are passed to the Linux kernel by the boot loader.

11.) The scripts in /etc/rc.d/init.d are provided by:

The software package that installs the service that the script controls.

12.) Explain the difference between the configuration data stored in files within the /etc/sysconfig directory and service-specific configuration data stored in other subdirectories of /etc.

You can edit the /etc/sysconfig files directly, where as if you use the service-specific configuration files the alterations you make there make the changes themselves.

13.) The ______ utility displays kernel hardware configuration messages from the system boot process.

dmesg

14.) The init program relies on the following configuration file:

/etc/inittab

15.) Name the two run levels normally used to run a Linux-based computer, and describe the difference between the two run levels.

Level 3 which has a non-graphical login, and level 5 which has a graphical login.

16.) The files in /etc/rc.d/init.d can be used to:

Stop and restart most standard services in Linux.

17.) Name three commands that can be used to begin a graceful shutdown of Linux.

reboot, halt, and shutdown

18.) A boot loader can be configured to boot multiple Linux kernel that use the same partition as their root file system. True or False?

False

19.) The timeout= parameter in a GRUB configuration and the delay=parameter in a LILO configuration both refer to:

How long the boot loader waits for user input before booting the default operating system.

20.) The service command is used to:

View or change the current status of a service via a script in /etc/rc.d/init.d

21.) The chkconfig command is used to:

Change the boot-up status of a service that is controlled via a script located in /etc/rc.d/init.d

22.) Name the graphical configuration utility provided with Red Hat Linux and Fedora that can be used in place of the command-line utilities service and chkconfig.

The Service Configuration utility.

23.) If a journaling file system prevents partially written information from causing a corrupted file system in Linux, why is it still important to use graceful shutdown techniques rather than just turning off the system power?

Because you can still lose important data that has not yet been written to the disk. If you do a graceful shutdown it gives the system a chance to write the data.

24.) Which command is typically executed when the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination is pressed, and where is that command configured?

It is a shutdown command that automatically restarts the system. It is configured in the /etc/inittab file.

25.) What is the command you use to cause the init program to reread its configuration file after you have made changes to it?

telinit