1 - Linux Fundamentals

Question 1

Which shell was the first shell to appear on UNIX systems?

Answer 1

The Bourne shell was the first to appear.

Thus, it is referred to as “the shell”.

Question 2

What is a “shell”?

Answer 2

A program that provides the user a command-line interface (CLI) to the kernel.

Question 3

Name 3 types of Bourne Shells.

hint: can include the original

Answer 3

1. Bourne shell - (sh)
2. Korn shell (ksh)
3. Bourne Again shell (bash)

Question 4

Who is the Bourne shell named after?

Answer 4

Stephen R. Bourne, the original author.

Note: the original shell was written in the mid 1970’s while Stephen was at AT&T Bell Labs

Question 5

______ is a command shell for Unix-like systems that was originally created as part of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) in 1978.

Answer 5

C Shell - (csh)

Question 6

Name 2 features C Shell incorporated for interactive use.

Answer 6

1. Aliases
2. Command history

Question 7

When was C Shell originally created?

Answer 7

In 1978 as part of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)

Question 8

Name the shell described.

“_____ has arrow keys that are automatically mapped for command recall and editing.”

Answer 8

bash

Question 9

Name the shell described.

“Has interactive features comparable to those in the C shell and includes convenient programming features like built-in arithmetic and C-like arrays, functions, and string-manipulation facilities.”

Answer 9

korn shell (ksh)

Question 10

Name the 3 types of shell.

Hint: describes their functions

Answer 10

1. Login Shell
2. Interactive Shell
3. Non-interactive Shell

Question 11

What 2 scripts are necessarily non-interactive?

Answer 11

1. Init
2. startup scripts

Question 12

What does it mean to be “non-interactive”?

Answer 12

that the shell must run without human intervention

Question 13

Name the term defined.

“This is the software that acts as the brain in Linux. It controls the hardware, which is then able to interact with applications.”

Answer 13

the Kernel

Question 14

A __________ is any active (running instance of a program.

Answer 14

Process

Question 15

Name the term defined.

“______ is a program that boots the operation system.”

Answer 15

Boot loader

Question 16

GRUB and ISOLINUX are 2 examples of what?

Answer 16

Boot loaders

Question 17

Name the term defined.

“A _______ is a method for storing and organizing files in Linux.”

Answer 17

file system

Question 18

A Linux or UNIX program that runs in the background.

Answer 18

Daemon

Question 19

What is the interface for typing commands on top of O.S called?

Answer 19

the Command Line Interface (CLI)

Question 20

What is a “systemcall”?

Answer 20

the fundamental interface between an application and the Linux kernel (OS).

Question 21

What is “man page” short for?

Answer 21

Manual page

Question 22

How is the man command utilized?

(Hint: what is it for?)

Answer 22

It is a built-in manual for using Linux commands, and allows users to view the reference manuals of a command or utility run in the terminal.

Question 23

Name at least 4 items that the man page includes.

Answer 23

1. Command description
2. Applicable options
3. Flags
4. Examples
5. other informative sections

Question 24

What other command is the same as:

man -f

Answer 24

whatis

Question 25

What command takes the manual page in its current format and outputs it to a .dvi file?

Answer 25

man -l

Question 26

The Manual pages are divided into 8 primary sections and 1 _________ section.

Answer 26

non-standard

Question 27

What causes a program executing in User mode to switch to Kernel mode?

Answer 27

requesting a service provided by the kernel

Question 28

Name 3 useful services the Kernel cannot provide to User processes.

Answer 28

1. filesystems 2. network communication 3. process management

Question 29

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ mode is the privileged mode where the process has unrestricted access to system resources like hardware, memory, etc.

Answer 29

Kernel

Question 30

The kernel itself is not a process but a process manager. [TRUE / FALSE}

Answer 30

TRUE

Question 31

Name one assumption of the process/Kernel model.

Answer 31

that processes requiring a kernel service use **system calls**

Question 32

A system call is a specific \_\_\_\_\_\_.

Answer 32

programming construct

Question 33

How does a system call function? Hint: 3 steps

Answer 33

1. System call sets up the parameters to identify the process request 2. System call then executes the hardware-dependent CPU instructions to switch from User to Kernel mode 3. Switch to Kernel mode occurs

Question 34

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ lets the OS know how to access and use information from that device.

Answer 34

device drivers

Question 35

How do device drivers simplify programming?

Answer 35

By acting as a **translator** between a device and the applications or operating systems that use it.

Question 36

Which Ring level is associated with Least Privilege?

Answer 36

Ring 3

Question 37

At what ring does the Kernel reside?

Answer 37

Ring 0

Question 38

Name the two categories of device drivers.

Answer 38

1. Kernel-Mode Device Driver 2. User-Mode Device Driver

Question 39

This category of device driver includes generic hardware that loads the BIOS, motherboard and processor.

Answer 39

Kernel-Mode Device Driver

Question 40

This category of device driver includes a USB driver that handles the different devices connected through a USB port.

Answer 40

User-Mode Device Driver

Question 41

This category of device driver includes the minimum system requirement device drivers for each OS.

Answer 41

Kernel-Mode Device Driver

Question 42

What action can a User take if the driver runs into a problem?

Answer 42

Kill the task

Question 43

Name 4 common Linux device drivers.

Answer 43

1. Character 2. Block 3. Network 4. USB Drivers