Free BSD Specialist exam Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the BSD Specialist exam practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1Which kernel provides the memory-resident environment used by the OpenBSD installer?

   1. A. bsd.mp
   2. B. bsd.rd
   3. C. bsd
   4. D. GENERIC

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The installation guide states: "The OpenBSD installer uses a special ramdisk kernel (bsd.rd)". This ramdisk supplies the installation environment; the other names identify ordinary or multiprocessor kernels or a kernel configuration.

   Reference: OpenBSD FAQ: Installation Guide — Overview of the Installation Procedure

2. 2On OpenBSD, which utility creates and edits MBR partition tables?

   1. A. newfs
   2. B. disklabel
   3. C. installboot
   4. D. fdisk

   Answer: D

   Explanation: The manual states: "fdisk creates and edits MBR and GPT partition tables." disklabel handles the BSD label, newfs creates a filesystem and installboot installs bootstrap code.

   Reference: OpenBSD fdisk(8) manual — DESCRIPTION

3. 3Which FreeBSD directory supplies the default configuration files copied into a new user's home directory by adduser?

   1. A. /etc/rc.d
   2. B. /var/mail
   3. C. /usr/share/skel
   4. D. /usr/local/etc

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The Handbook says adduser "copies in the default configuration files from /usr/share/skel". The other locations hold startup scripts, mailboxes or installed application configuration.

   Reference: FreeBSD Handbook: FreeBSD Basics — 3.3.2.1. Adding a user

4. 4Which dotted-decimal IPv4 netmask corresponds to a /26 prefix?

   1. A. 255.255.255.128
   2. B. 255.255.255.224
   3. C. 255.255.255.192
   4. D. 255.255.255.240

   Answer: C

   Explanation: RFC 1878 lists "/26 255.255.255.192". A /26 mask has 26 leading one bits, leaving six zero bits in the final octet.

   Reference: RFC 1878: Variable Length Subnet Table For IPv4 — Subnet table, page 2

5. 5In FreeBSD tcsh, which command sets EDITOR in the environment inherited by subsequently launched programs?

   1. A. export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vi
   2. B. set EDITOR=/usr/bin/vi
   3. C. setenv EDITOR /usr/bin/vi
   4. D. alias EDITOR /usr/bin/vi

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The Handbook states: "In tcsh(1) and csh(1), use setenv to set environment variables." export is Bourne-shell syntax; set creates a shell variable and alias defines a command shorthand.

   Reference: FreeBSD Handbook: FreeBSD Basics — 3.9. Shells

6. 6Which NetBSD program provides a menu-based interface for installing or upgrading the operating system?

   1. A. bsdinstall
   2. B. sysmerge
   3. C. sysinst
   4. D. freebsd-update

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The manual says: "sysinst is a menu-based program that may be used to install or upgrade a NetBSD system." bsdinstall and freebsd-update belong to FreeBSD; sysmerge merges configuration changes rather than providing the NetBSD installer.

   Reference: NetBSD sysinst(8) manual — DESCRIPTION

7. 7Which OpenBSD disklabel option opens its built-in command-driven label editor?

   1. A. Uppercase -E
   2. B. Lowercase -e
   3. C. Lowercase -d
   4. D. Lowercase -c

   Answer: A

   Explanation: For -E the manual says: "Use the built-in command-driven label editor described below." Lowercase -e invokes an external editor; -d selects a default label and -c refreshes the in-core copy.

   Reference: OpenBSD disklabel(8) manual — DESCRIPTION, -E

8. 8On FreeBSD, which command adds alice to the existing staff group while preserving its existing supplemental member list?

   1. A. pw groupmod staff -m alice (lowercase m)
   2. B. pw groupmod staff -M alice (uppercase M)
   3. C. pw groupmod alice -m staff (lowercase m)
   4. D. pw groupdel staff (delete group)

   Answer: A

   Explanation: For -m the Handbook explains: "these users are appended to the group and do not replace existing users in the group." Uppercase -M replaces the member list; reversing the names changes the wrong group.

   Reference: FreeBSD Handbook: FreeBSD Basics — 3.3.3. Managing Groups, Example 10

9. 9What is the IPv4 broadcast address of subnet 192.0.2.128/26?

   1. A. 192.0.2.191
   2. B. 192.0.2.129
   3. C. 192.0.2.190
   4. D. 192.0.2.255

   Answer: A

   Explanation: RFC 1878 gives the /26 row "N.N.N.128 N.N.N.129-190 N.N.N.191", representing network, usable host range and broadcast. Substituting 192.0.2 for N.N.N gives 192.0.2.191.

   Reference: RFC 1878: Variable Length Subnet Table For IPv4 — Table 1-2, 255.255.255.192 subnet rows

10. 10Which OpenBSD sh command enables noclobber protection against overwriting an existing file with the > redirection operator?

    1. A. set -C
    2. B. set -f
    3. C. set -n
    4. D. set -v

    Answer: A

    Explanation: The manual describes -C: "Noclobber. Do not permit the redirection operator" to overwrite existing files. -f disables pathname expansion, -n reads without executing, and -v echoes shell input.

    Reference: OpenBSD sh(1) manual — DESCRIPTION, -C