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30- Linux Shell Interview Questions for Beginners with Answers

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8 views

30- Linux Shell Interview Questions for Beginners with Answers

Uploaded by

abhikumbhar1908
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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30+ Linux Shell Interview Questions for Beginners with Answers

1. What is the Linux Shell?

Answer:
The shell is a command-line interface that interprets user commands and passes them to the
operating system for execution. Common shell types include Bash, Zsh, and Fish.

2. What is the difference between a shell and a terminal?

Answer:

​ Shell: A program that processes commands and returns outputs (e.g., Bash, Zsh).
​ Terminal: A user interface to interact with the shell (e.g., GNOME Terminal, xterm).

3. How do you display the current working directory in Linux?

Answer:
Use the pwd command:

pwd

4. How do you list files and directories in Linux?

Answer:
Use the ls command:

ls

Options:

​ ls -l: Detailed view.


​ ls -a: Include hidden files.

5. How do you create a directory in Linux?

Answer:
Use the mkdir command:

mkdir new_directory
6. How do you remove a file and a directory?

Answer:

​ Remove a file: Use rm filename.


​ Remove a directory: Use rmdir directory_name (if empty) or rm -r
directory_name (for non-empty directories).

7. What is the purpose of the cd command?

Answer:
The cd command is used to change directories:

cd /path/to/directory

8. How do you view the contents of a file?

Answer:
Use commands like cat, more, or less:

cat file.txt
less file.txt

9. How do you search for a file in Linux?

Answer:
Use the find command:

find /path -name filename

10. What is the difference between > and >> operators?

Answer:

​ >: Overwrites the file content.


​ >>: Appends content to the file.

Example:

echo "Hello" > file.txt # Overwrites


echo "World" >> file.txt # Appends

11. How do you check disk usage in Linux?

Answer:
Use the df and du commands:

df -h # Disk space usage


du -h file # Directory or file size

12. How do you display the first or last few lines of a file?

Answer:

​ First few lines: Use head:

head -n 5 file.txt

​ Last few lines: Use tail:

tail -n 5 file.txt

13. How do you search for a string in a file?

Answer:
Use the grep command:

grep "search_string" file.txt

14. What is the purpose of the chmod command?

Answer:
The chmod command changes file permissions:

chmod 755 file.txt

15. How do you check the running processes in Linux?

Answer:
Use the ps or top command:
ps -aux
top

16. How do you kill a process in Linux?

Answer:
Use the kill command with the process ID (PID):

kill -9 PID

17. What does the alias command do?

Answer:
The alias command creates shortcuts for commands:

alias ll="ls -la"

18. How do you display system information in Linux?

Answer:
Use commands like uname and hostname:

uname -a # Kernel information


hostnamectl # System hostname and details

19. How do you check network connectivity?

Answer:
Use the ping command:

ping google.com

20. How do you archive files in Linux?

Answer:
Use the tar command:

tar -cvf archive.tar file1 file2

21. How do you extract files from a tar archive?


Answer:
Use the tar command:

tar -xvf archive.tar

22. What is the sudo command?

Answer:
sudo allows a user to execute commands as another user, usually root:

sudo apt update

23. How do you check the current user in Linux?

Answer:
Use the whoami command:

whoami

24. How do you schedule tasks in Linux?

Answer:
Use the cron utility:

crontab -e

Example:

0 5 * * * /path/to/script.sh # Runs script at 5 AM daily

25. How do you count lines, words, and characters in a file?

Answer:
Use the wc command:

wc file.txt

Options:

​ wc -l: Line count.


​ wc -w: Word count.
​ wc -c: Character count.

26. How do you view the history of commands?

Answer:
Use the history command:

history

27. What is the purpose of environment variables?

Answer:
Environment variables store configuration data. Display them using printenv or echo:

echo $PATH

28. How do you compress files in Linux?

Answer:
Use the gzip command:

gzip file.txt

29. How do you create symbolic links?

Answer:
Use the ln -s command:

ln -s target_file link_name

30. What is the difference between soft link and hard link?

Answer:

​ Soft link: Points to the file path and breaks if the target is moved/deleted.
​ Hard link: Points to the file content and remains valid even if the target is moved.

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