Interview Questions and Answers - Linux Administrator

1.  How do u force a user to change password on next login in linux?

 

A.  chage -d 0 "User"

2.What command can be used to findout server architechure (x86 or x64) apart from 

    uname?

 

A. arch

 

3. How do u findout the users who are NOT logged in for more than 30 days? which file u 

    will check?

 

A. last , lastlog,   /var/log/wtmp

 

4. whats is called 1.5 stage in boot process of linux?

 

A. Which contains extra code to allow cylinders above 1024, or LBA type drives, to be read. The  

    1.5 boot loader is stored (if needed) in the MBR or the boot partition.The great thing about  

    GRUB is that it includes knowledge of Linux file systems. Instead of using raw sectors on the 

    disk, as LILO does, GRUB can load a Linux kernel from an ext2 or ext3 file system. It does this 

    by making the two-stage boot loader into a three-stage boot loader. Stage 1 (MBR) boots a 

    stage 1.5 boot loader that understands the particular file system containing the Linux kernel 

    image. Examples include reiserfs_stage1_5 (to load from a Reiser journaling file system) or  

   e2fs_stage1_5 (to load from an ext2 or ext3 file system). When the stage 1.5 boot loader is   

    loaded and running, the stage 2 boot loader can be loaded."

 

    So Basically,

 

    Stage 1 Boot loader is MBR

 

    Stage 2 Boot loader is GRUB

 

    Stage 1.5 Boot loader is e2fs_stage1_5 

    (Basically this module will load the knowledge of Filesystem to Grub to read the kernel)

 

5. When u try to create a file, u got a error that "No space available". But actually space  

     available on volume? How do u resolve this issue?

 

A. Try this df -i   list inode information instead of block usage [Perhaps are you out of inodes on 

    this file system.], To "rectify it", remove unwanted files or move them somewhere else.]