The SystemAdmin Test
 
  1. When do sysadmins get their best work done?
    1. At night.
    2. After everyone else leaves.
    3. When the boss is gone.
    4. While high on caffeine.
  2. The computer does not use YP.  Dave Ritter messes up /etc/passwd.  Nate argues that this could effect 'ls'. Jeff Whomer says that's just not true.  Who's right, and why?






  3. Jason Stakvel pulls the network cable on Mike Zalaznik's computer (as a practical joke).  Mike had been editing a file.  What's the first time Mike will notice that the cable's been pulled.
    1. Within a few seconds
    2. When Mike goes to save the file, if it's an NFS mounted file.
    3. The next time Mike goes to log in, if Mike uses YP.
    4. He probably won't.
  4. About how big is the is the Linux kernel you compiled and put in /boot?
    1. About 1K
    2. About 20K
    3. About 400K
    4. About 8M
  5. Lori does not know how to write shell scripts.  Help her write a script that deletes all files named 'NursesStink' anywhere on the hard drive.







  6. Pick one ...
    1. In general, /boot should be the first partition on the disk.
    2. In general, /boot should be the last partition on the disk.
    3. In general, /boot should be on it's own disk.
    4. In general, /boot should not be on the same partition as /tmp.  However, partition order is irrelevant.
  7. What is an 'suid' program?
    1. A program that runs using the permissions of the user who ran it.
    2. A program that uses a special library, and not the standard C library.
    3. Older programs that use a different format for system calls.
    4. A program that runs using the permissions of the user who owns the file.
    5. A program that runs using 'root's permissions.
    6. None of the above.
  8. Nate Gilman is  a client using YP and NFS and a networked printer.  He notices that his computer pauses sometimes as he's working.  It does not seem to matter what he's doing when it pauses.  Which is the most likely suspect
    1. YP
    2. NFS
    3. The network printer
  9. What is /dev/hdb3?
    1. The third IDE drive, second partition.
    2. The second SCSI drive, third partition
    3. The third track on the second music CD.
    4. None of the above.
  10. Rick Reinacher wants to rename the root account to be 'cubs'.  He wants to be able to log in as 'cubs' and have all of root's powers and privileges.  Can he do this?
    How can he do this?  




  11. Renee Gleason types "ls -l /tmp | grep Jutila | wc".  What does this tell her?




  12. Adam Cary is trying to crack passwords.  He notices that when he runs his password cracking program, the hard drive light stays on constantly, and his load average is quite low.  He has money to spend.  What should he spend his money on to improve password cracking speed?
    1. A larger hard drive.
    2. A faster CPU.
    3. A better network card.
    4. Something else: _______________________
  13. (Yes/No) Mike Verba is tired of taking classes by me.  He wants to alter his grade so that he gets an A+ (instead of his normal A).  He notices that the permissions on the grade file are "744".  Can he edit the file?
  14. Mike Dellangelo wants to give his sister an account on Euclid.  What files and directories must he change to do this.  List at least TWO.
    ______________________________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________________________
  15. Ray Tracer does not have enough space on Euclid to store his ray tracings.  He suspects that John Bollinger is using too much space.  Ray wants to know how much space John is using, but John has set his home directory's permissions to none for group and other.  Ray does not know the root password for Euclid.  He is wearing his "Got Root?" tee shirt.  He's alone in the lab, and suspects he will be that way for at least ten minutes.  Ray is willing to break some rules to get this important information, but not willing to destroy hardware.  What can Ray do?







  16. What will John do when he walks in too early?



  17. Zach has installed Samba in the normal way using the RPM files, but deleted the files /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S45samba and /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S45samba because he does not want Samba to start at boot time.  He does want to start Samba right now.  What command should he type? ___________________________________
  18. On Jeremiah's computer, what is run level 4?  Hint:  It's the same as on Dave Whaley's computer, and Jo Lawton's computer.
    1. Single user mode, no networking, no graphics.
    2. Multi-user mode, no networking, no graphics.
    3. Multi-user mode, networking, no graphics.
    4. Multi-user mode, networking, graphics.
    5. None of the above
  19. (Yes/No) Can an EXT2 partition exceed 2G?
  20. About how many processes are running after bootup on your computer at run level 3?
    1. About 2
    2. About 20
    3. About 200
    4. About 2,000
  21. (Yes/No) Jeff Lake accidentally deletes the file /bin/bash and then logs out.  He notices the system will not log him back in, even with the right password and login name.  Jeff Seger suggests using run level 1 to get back in to fix the damage.  Is this good advise?
  22. Andy Poe types the command 'slurpfest /home -name horn -destroy 2> /dev/null'.  Why did he have the "2> /dev/null" part?
    1. It must be part of the slurpfest argument list.
    2. It reads input from a file.
    3. It writes timing information to a file.
    4. None of the above.
  23. Suppose that your hostname is set to 'euclid.nmu.edu' and your IP number is 198.110.193.109.  The real euclid has it's hostname set to 'euclid.nmu.edu' and it's IP number set to 198.110.193.9.  The DNS server thinks that the IP number for 'euclid.nmu.edu' is 198.110.193.10.  What will happen?
    1. All traffic from other computers for 'euclid.nmu.edu' will go to your computer.
    2. All traffic from other computers for 'euclid.nmu.edu' will go to the real euclid.
    3. They will split the traffic.
    4. Neither will get traffic.
    5. Both will get a copy of all the traffic from other computers for 'euclid.nmu.edu'.