Free LPI 102-500 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 7

The TZ environment variable is used to change the time zone for the commands run from within the environment variable’s scope. It specifies the name of a time zone as defined in the /usr/share/zoneinfo directory or a custom time zone in the POSIX format12. The TZ variable can be set either globally in a shell profile file or locally in a shell session. For example, to set the time zone to America/New_York for the current shell session, one can use the following command:

export TZ=America/New_York

To verify the change, one can use the date command to display the current date and time according to the TZ variable. The TZ variable can also be used to run a single command with a different time zone without affecting the system’s time zone. For example, to run the date command with the Asia/Tokyo time zone, one can use the following syntax:

TZ=Asia/Tokyo date

The TZ variable is useful for testing how applications behave in different time zones or for displaying the time in different locations34. References:

How to Set or Change the Time Zone in Linux | Linuxize

Linux / UNIX: TZ Environment Variable - nixCraft

Get Current System Time Zone in Linux | Baeldung on Linux

Setting the TZ Environment Variable on Linux | InterSystems Developer

 The crontab entry that could be used to set the system time at regular intervals is the one that uses the ntpdate command to synchronize the system clock with a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server. The ntpdate command takes one or more NTP server names or IP addresses as arguments and adjusts the system clock accordingly12. The crontab entry B specifies that the ntpdate command should be executed at the first minute of the zeroth hour (i.e., 00:01) of every day of every month of every weekday, using the NTP server ntp1.digex.net34. This will ensure that the system time is updated daily with a reliable source.

The other crontab entries are either invalid or ineffective for setting the system time at regular intervals. The date command can be used to display or set the system date and time, but it requires a specific format for the argument, not an NTP server name5. The runcron and settime commands are not standard Linux commands and their functionality is unknown. The $d, $t, and $24 variables are also undefined and meaningless in this context.

References: 1: Linux At, Batch, Atq, Atrm Command Help and Examples - Computer Hope 2: How to set a cron job to run at a exact time? - Stack Overflow 3: 107.2 Lesson 1 - Linux Professional Institute Certification Programs 4: How to setup a crontab to execute at specific time - Stack Overflow 5: Writing a specific format of time in a text file every minute using … - Ask Ubuntu

The usermod command is a utility for modifying user accounts. One of its options is -G, which allows specifying a list of supplementary groups that the user is a member of. If the user is currently a member of a group that is not listed, the user will be removed from that group. For example, to remove the user alice from the group sales, one can use the command sudo usermod -G admin alice, assuming that alice is only a member of admin and sales groups. Alternatively, one can use the gpasswd command with the --delete option to remove a user from a specific group without affecting other groups. For example, to remove the user alice from the group sales, one can use the command sudo gpasswd --delete alice sales. The other commands in the options are not used for removing a user from a group. The grouprm command does not exist. The groupmod command is used for modifying group attributes, not membership. The passwd command is used for changing user passwords, not groups. The usergroups command is used for displaying the groups that a user belongs to, not modifying them. References:

usermod(8) - Linux man page

gpasswd(1) - Linux man page

How to Remove User From Group in Linux [Quick Tip]

The best way to temporarily suspend a single user’s ability to interactively login is to use the chage command to expire the user account. The chage command can modify the expiration date of a user account, which is stored in the /etc/shadow file. By setting the expiration date to a past date, the user account will be locked and the user will not be able to login. This method is temporary because the expiration date can be changed again to a future date or removed to unlock the user account. For example, to expire the user account linuxconfig, we can use the following command:

# chage -E 0 linuxconfig

This will set the expiration date to January 1, 1970, which is the epoch date. To check the expiration date of a user account, we can use the -l option:

# chage -l linuxconfig

Last password change : Aug 24, 2021

Password expires : never

Password inactive : never

Account expires : Jan 01, 1970

Minimum number of days between password change : 0

Maximum number of days between password change : 99999

Number of days of warning before password expires : 7

To remove the expiration date of a user account, we can use the -E option with an empty argument:

# chage -E "" linuxconfig

The other options are either invalid or not recommended. Adding the user name to /etc/nologin will not work, because /etc/nologin is a file that contains a message to be displayed to users who try to login when the system is down for maintenance. Changing the user’s password is not a good idea, because it will affect the user’s authentication and may cause security issues. Changing the user name in /etc/passwd will also affect the user’s authentication and may cause inconsistencies with other files and services. Placing the command logout in the user’s profile will not prevent the user from logging in, but only log them out immediately after login, which is not very elegant or secure. References: 1: How to disable user login with Linux nologin - LinuxConfig.org 2: Disable a user’s login without disabling the account - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange 3: How to Block or Disable Normal User Logins in Linux? - GeeksforGeeks 4: How to Disable User Logins on Linux | Baeldung on Linux 5: How to Disable a User in Linux - Linux Nightly 6: How to deactivate or disable a user account in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - Vitux 7: chage(1) - Linux manual page

 The /etc/crontab file is the system-wide crontab file that can be edited only by root. It has a different format from the normal crontab files that can be edited by individual users using the crontab command. The differences are:

The /etc/crontab file can specify a year field as the sixth field in a cron entry. This allows for scheduling jobs that run only in specific years. The normal crontab files do not have a year field and assume the current year for all entries.

The /etc/crontab file has a user field as the seventh field in a cron entry. This allows for running commands as different users from the crontab owner (root). The normal crontab files do not have a user field and run commands as the crontab owner.

The /etc/crontab file does not need to be installed with the crontab command. It is read by the cron daemon automatically. The normal crontab files need to be installed with the crontab command to be recognized by the cron daemon.

The /etc/crontab file and the normal crontab files both allow for environment variable substitution. However, the /etc/crontab file sets some default environment variables such as SHELL, PATH, MAILTO, and HOME, which can be overridden by entries in the file. The normal crontab files inherit the environment variables from the cron daemon, which are usually minimal.

References:

crontab(5) - Linux manual page

Linux Crontab Format

How to schedule a task using Linux crontab (/etc/crontab) file

/etc/crontab - Linux Bash Shell Scripting Tutorial Wiki

The correct crontab entry for executing myscript at 30 minutes past every hour on Sundays is D. 30 0-23 * * 0 myscript. This is because the crontab format consists of six fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week, and command. The values for each field can be:

A single number, such as 5 or 10.

A range of numbers, such as 1-5 or 10-15.

A list of numbers separated by commas, such as 1,3,5 or 10,12,14.

An asterisk (*), which means all possible values for that field.

A step value, which means every nth value for that field, such as */5 or 10-20/2.

The day of week field can be either a number from 0 to 6, where 0 and 7 are Sunday, or a three-letter abbreviation, such as SUN or MON. The month field can be either a number from 1 to 12, or a three-letter abbreviation, such as JAN or FEB.

In this case, the crontab entry D. 30 0-23 * * 0 myscript means:

30: Execute the command at the 30th minute of every hour.

0-23: Execute the command for every hour from 0 (midnight) to 23 (11 PM).

*: Execute the command for every day of the month, regardless of the month.

*: Execute the command for every month, regardless of the year.

0: Execute the command only on Sundays.

The other options are either incorrect or do not match the requirement. For example, option A. 0 * * * 30 myscript means:

0: Execute the command at the 0th minute of every hour.

*: Execute the command for every hour of the day.

*: Execute the command for every day of the month, regardless of the month.

*: Execute the command for every month, regardless of the year.

30: Execute the command only on the 30th day of the week, which is invalid.

References:

Crontab Explained in Linux [With Examples]

‘crontab’ in Linux with Examples - GeeksforGeeks

Crontab Syntax on Linux + Useful Examples - Hostinger

The command ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime will create a symbolic link from the file /etc/localtime to the file /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC, which contains the binary time zone data for the UTC timezone. This will set the system’s timezone to UTC, which is the Coordinated Universal Time, the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time1. The /etc/localtime file is used by various system programs and libraries to determine the local time according to the configured timezone2. The /usr/share/zoneinfo directory contains the time zone information files for different regions and cities around the world3. The other commands are either invalid or will not change the system’s timezone permanently. The command cat UTC > /etc/timezone will overwrite the /etc/timezone file with the string “UTC”, which is not a valid timezone identifier. The /etc/timezone file is a plain text file that contains the name of the timezone, such as “America/New_York” or "Europe/Paris"4. The command date --timezone=UTC will display the current date and time in UTC, but will not change the system’s timezone setting. The command mv /usr/timezone/UTC /etc will move the file /usr/timezone/UTC to the /etc directory, but this file does not exist by default and has no effect on the system’s timezone configuration. References: 1: Coordinated Universal Time - Wikipedia 2: localtime(5) - Linux manual page 3: tz database - Wikipedia 4: How to Change or Set System Locales in Linux - Tecmint : date(1) - Linux manual page : How do I change my timezone to UTC/GMT? - Ask Ubuntu

The chage command can change the following parameters related to user password expiry and aging:

The last password change date (-d or --lastday option)

The password expiry date (-E or --expiredate option)

The minimum number of days between password changes (-m or --mindays option)

The maximum number of days during which a password is valid (-M or --maxdays option)

The number of days of warning before password expires (-W or --warndays option)

The chage command cannot change the number of days of inactivity after a password has expired before the account is locked. This parameter is controlled by the -I or --inactive option of the usermod command, which modifies the user account information. The chage command only displays the current value of this parameter, but does not allow changing it. References:

chage command in Linux with examples - GeeksforGeeks

10 chage command examples in Linux [Cheat Sheet] - GoLinuxCloud

How to Use the Chage Command in Linux – TecAdmin

How to Manage User Password Expiration and Aging in Linux - Tecmint

 The batch command is similar to the at command, except that it executes commands when the system load levels permit; in other words, when the load average drops below 1.5, or the value specified in the invocation of atd1. The at command allows us to schedule jobs using any of two commands: at and batch. While at runs commands at our specified time, batch runs commands when our system’s load average is below 0.82. Both commands read commands from standard input or a specified file, and both commands send the output of the commands to the user by mail1. Therefore, the main difference between them is the time of execution: at runs at a fixed time, while batch runs when the system is idle. References: 1: Linux At, Batch, Atq, Atrm Command Help and Examples - Computer Hope 2: The “at” Command in Linux | Baeldung on Linux

The chage command can be used to change the expiration date of a user account. By setting the expiration date to a past date, the user account will be disabled and the user will not be able to login interactively. This is a temporary method, as the expiration date can be changed back to a future date or removed to re-enable the user account. The other options are either permanent, insecure, or ineffective. Option A is insecure, as it allows anyone to login as the user without a password. Option C is permanent, as it changes the user’s password without saving the original one. Option D is ineffective, as it only affects the user’s .login file, which is used by the csh and tcsh shells, and not by other shells such as bash or zsh. Therefore, option B is the best method to temporarily suspend a user’s ability to interactively login. References: https://linuxconfig.org/disabling-user-logins-to-linux-system

https://askubuntu.com/questions/282806/how-to-enable-or-disable-a-user