MODULE 6- Getting Help

Question 1

Which Linux tool displays built-in documentation for commands modeled after UNIX manuals?

Answer 1

man command (manual pages)

Question 2

Which command shows the man page for the ls command?

Answer 2

man ls

Question 2

What key do you press to exit a man page viewer?

Answer 2

Q key

Question 2

Which keys allow you to scroll through a man page?

Answer 2

Arrow keys

Question 2

Which key shows help for navigation while inside a man page?

Answer 2

H key

Question 2

Which software is commonly used as a pager to view man pages?

Answer 2

less (or sometimes more)

Question 3

What part of the man page typically describes how to run the command with options?

Answer 3

The SYNOPSIS section

Question 3

Which section suggests related commands or further documentation sources?

Answer 3

SEE ALSO

Question 3

Which section of a man page provides examples of how to run a command with its options and arguments?

Answer 3

SYNOPSIS

Question 3

What does the square bracket [ ] in a SYNOPSIS indicate about an option or argument?

Answer 3

It is optional—not required for the command to function.

Question 3

Which character do you type to begin searching for a term inside a man page?

Answer 3

/

Question 3

Which key takes you to the next match in a man page search?

Answer 3

n

Question 4

Which key takes you to the previous match in a man page search?

Answer 4

Shift + N

Question 4

What are man pages categorized by to manage the thousands of available entries?

Answer 4

Sections

Question 5

How many standard man page sections exist in most Linux distributions?

Answer 5

Nine

Question 6

Which section contains user-level commands like ls or cal?

Answer 6

→ Section 1 - General Commands

Question 6

Which section contains file formats like /etc/passwd?

Answer 6

→ Section 5 - File Formats and Conventions

Question 7

Which section includes system administration commands?

Answer 7

→ Section 8

Question 8

Which command displays all matching man pages and their section numbers for a given command?

Answer 8

man -f (or whatis)

Question 9

What command would you use to view the man page for the passwd file instead of the command?

Answer 9

→ man 5 passwd

Question 10

What does the output PASSWD(5) at the top of a man page tell you?

Answer 10

That the man page is in Section 5, related to file formats.

Question 10

If a man page exists in multiple sections, how do you choose the one you want?

Answer 10

→ By specifying the section number as the first argument to man.

Question 10

Which option helps you when you don’t remember the exact name of a man page?

Answer 10

-k or apropos, as they search names and descriptions for keywords.

Question 11

Which man option searches both names and descriptions of man pages using a keyword?

Answer 11

man -k (or apropos)

Question 11

Which command would help find man pages related to copying directories?

Answer 11

man -k copy

Question 12

Which command returns a short description of a command and the man page section it belongs to?

Answer 12

whatis or man -f

Question 12

Which command shows the location of both a command binary and its man pages?

Answer 12

whereis

Question 13

How are man page files typically stored on a Linux system?

Answer 13

As gzip-compressed files with a .gz extension.

Question 14

Why might a Linux system contain two man pages for the same command?

Answer 14

Due to legacy support from different UNIX variants.

Question 15

Which command is used to search for any file or directory on the system by scanning a prebuilt database?

Answer 15

locate

Question 16

Which command is used (by root) to manually update the locate database?

Answer 16

updatedb

Question 17

What is the limitation of the locate command when searching for files created recently?

Answer 17

→ Files created after the last database update will not be found.

Question 18

What does the -c option do when used with locate?

Answer 18

→ It displays only the count of matching entries.

Question 18

Why might locate not show all matching files for a regular user?

Answer 18

→ Due to file permissions, users can't see files they don’t have access to.

Question 19

Which option causes locate to match the search term only against the basename of the filename?

Answer 19

-b

Question 20

What is meant by the “basename” in the context of locate -b?

Answer 20

The part of the filename without directory paths.

Question 20

What does the output of locate gshadow include?

Answer 20

→ All files and man pages containing gshadow in their path or filename.

Question 20

What does the following command do: locate -c -b passwd?

Answer 20

→ It counts the number of matches where passwd appears in the basename.

Question 21

What character is used to limit locate output to only exact filename matches?

Answer 21

→ \ (backslash)

Question 22

What does the command locate -b "\passwd" return?

Answer 22

→ Only files whose basename exactly matches passwd.

Question 23

Who can update the locate database using updatedb?

Answer 23

→ Only the root user.

Question 24

Which command provides structured documentation with a book-like layout and hyperlinks for Linux commands and features?

Answer 24

info

Question 25

What is the main organizational difference between info and man pages?

Answer 25

→ info uses a single, navigable structure like a book, while man pages are standalone documents.

Question 26

Which key in info returns you to your last position before jumping to a different node?

Answer 26

L

Question 26

Which command is typically viewed as a reference resource rather than a learning guide?

Answer 26

man

Question 26

Which keys are used to navigate info documentation line by line?

Answer 26

Arrow keys

Question 27

Which key moves you to the node one level up in info documentation?

Answer 27

U

Question 28

Which tutorial can be accessed within the info system to help new users learn navigation?

Answer 28

→ Press h while in an info document to open the tutorial.

Question 28

Which command shows the section of the manual a command’s man page is in, and may list multiple variants (e.g., (1) and (1p)) of the same command?

Answer 28

→ whatis or man -f

Question 29

Which command would you use to find both the binary and the man pages associated with a command like ls?

Answer 29

whereis

Question 30

Which key exits the entire info system, closing the document entirely?

Answer 30

q — It quits info altogether and returns you to the shell.

Question 30

Which key opens a help screen listing all movement commands while reading an info document?

Answer 30

Shift+H — It displays the available navigation keys in a popup window.

Question 31

Why might a regular user see fewer results when using locate?

Answer 31

→ Because locate respects file permissions; users can't see results for files they don't have access to.

Question 32

Which key closes the help screen and returns you to the current document?

Answer 32

l (lowercase L) — It exits the help window and brings back the node you were reading.

Question 32

Which key opens an interactive tutorial explaining how to use the info system?

Answer 32

h — It launches the built-in Info tutorial.

Question 33

Which arrow key scrolls the document up by one line in the info viewer?

Answer 33

Up arrow — It moves the view one line upward.

Question 33

Which arrow key scrolls the document down by one line in the info viewer?

Answer 33

Down arrow — It moves the view one line downward.

Question 34

Which key scrolls one full screen backward within a node in the info document?

Answer 34

PgUp — It moves the display backward one screenful.

Question 34

Which key jumps to the beginning of the current node being viewed?

Answer 34

Home — It scrolls instantly to the top of the node.

Question 35

Which key scrolls one full screen forward within a node in the info document?

Answer 35

PgDn — It moves forward by one screenful.

Question 36

Which key jumps to the end of the current node being viewed?

Answer 36

End — It scrolls instantly to the bottom of the node.

Question 37

Which key brings you back to the last node you visited in the current window?

Answer 37

l (lowercase L) — It functions like a "back" button in web browsers.

Question 38

Which key takes you to the previous node in the document's overall sequence, not just the current level?

Answer 38

[ — It steps backward across nodes in the document order.

Question 39

Which key takes you to the next node in the document's overall sequence?

Answer 39

] — It steps forward across nodes in the document order.

Question 40

Which option can be used with most Linux commands to get a quick summary of options and usage?

Answer 40

--help — It shows a synopsis-style help output similar to a man page.

Question 41

Which directory is commonly used to store documentation files from third-party software vendors on most Linux systems?

Answer 41

/usr/share/doc

Question 42

Which older or alternative directory might some Linux distributions use instead of /usr/share/doc for documentation files?

Answer 42

/usr/doc

Question 42

Which type of files are typically stored in system documentation directories and often contain setup or usage information?

Answer 42

Readme files — These files usually have names like README or readme.txt and offer guidance on software usage or configuration.

Question 43

To Start searching forward from current position in man page which character do you enter?

Answer 43

/

Question 44

To Start searching backward from current position in man page which character do you enter?

Answer 44

?

Question 45

Instead of using man -f to display all man page sections for a name which other command would you use?

Answer 45

whatis

Question 45

Which command would you use to view the man pages for the word passwd

Answer 45

man -f passwd

Question 46

Which alternative command to locate searches the live filesystem rather than a static database?

Answer 46

find