Free Linux Professional Institute DevOps Tools Engineer exam Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Linux Professional Institute DevOps Tools Engineer exam practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1Users change their priorities after trying an early release. Which response follows Agile's approach to requirements?

   1. A. Freeze the backlog until the entire original plan is delivered.
   2. B. Use feedback to adjust the next small increment of working software.
   3. C. Delay user demonstrations until every planned feature is complete.
   4. D. Replace working increments with a final specification approval phase.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: LPI states: "Agile encourages iterative development, where teams deliver software in small, consumable increments, allowing for frequent feedback and rapid adaptation." Adjusting the next increment uses that feedback rather than postponing it.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 701.1 Lesson 1 — What is Agile?

2. 2What does running Podman in rootless mode allow an ordinary host user to do?

   1. A. Run containers without gaining administrative privileges on the host.
   2. B. Give every container process unrestricted root privileges on the host.
   3. C. Run containers without using the host operating-system kernel.
   4. D. Bypass the host's filesystem permissions for all mounted directories.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: LPI states: "Podman also lets non-root users run containers, a feature known as rootless mode." Rootless execution avoids requiring host administration; it does not remove kernel dependence or bypass host access controls.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 702.1 Lesson 1 — Podman Architecture — Rootless containers

3. 3Which Kubernetes component exposes the HTTP API used by kubectl to interact with cluster resources?

   1. A. kube-scheduler
   2. B. kube-apiserver
   3. C. kube-proxy
   4. D. kubelet

   Answer: B

   Explanation: Kubernetes describes kube-apiserver as "The core component server that exposes the Kubernetes HTTP API." Scheduler assigns Pods, kube-proxy handles Service networking, and kubelet manages Pods on nodes.

   Reference: Kubernetes Components — Core Components — Control Plane Components — kube-apiserver

4. 4An application currently concatenates user input into SQL statements. Which change directly separates input data from executable SQL syntax?

   1. A. Base64-encode the input before concatenating the statement.
   2. B. Truncate the input and continue concatenating it into SQL.
   3. C. Use parameterized queries with values bound as parameters.
   4. D. Display database errors only after the concatenated statement executes.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: LPI recommends "parameterized queries or prepared statements, which separate SQL code from user input." Binding parameters establishes that separation; encoding, truncation, or hiding errors does not replace it.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 704.1 Lesson 1 — SQL Injection: Manipulating Databases

5. 5A team adopts test-driven development for a new function. What should it do before implementing the function's behavior?

   1. A. Refactor the completed implementation without running tests.
   2. B. Deploy the implementation and derive a test from production failures.
   3. C. Write a test that initially fails because the behavior is absent.
   4. D. Write the implementation and then record its output as the expected result.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: LPI explains: "TDD is a software development approach where tests are written before the actual code." The failing test specifies missing behavior before implementation; testing only afterward reverses this order.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 701.1 Lesson 2 — Test-Driven Development (TDD)

6. 6A Docker container named api is running and includes /bin/sh. Which command opens a new shell inside that existing container?

   1. A. docker run -it api /bin/sh
   2. B. docker exec -it api /bin/sh
   3. C. docker logs -f api
   4. D. docker start api

   Answer: B

   Explanation: LPI states: "The exec command allows the execution of a new process inside an active container without restarting it". Run creates a new container from an image; logs reads output, and start starts an existing stopped container.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 702.1 Lesson 1 — Accessing a Running Container

7. 7Which Kubernetes component stores persistent API server data as a consistent key-value store?

   1. A. kube-proxy
   2. B. kubelet
   3. C. kube-scheduler
   4. D. etcd

   Answer: D

   Explanation: Kubernetes describes etcd as a "Consistent and highly-available key value store for all API server data." The other listed components execute node, networking, or scheduling duties rather than provide this store.

   Reference: Kubernetes Components — Core Components — Control Plane Components — etcd

8. 8Untrusted comments containing characters such as < and & must be inserted between ordinary HTML tags and displayed as readable original text. Which output handling prevents markup interpretation while preserving that display?

   1. A. HTML-entity-encode the comment for the HTML text context.
   2. B. Percent-encode the comment and display the encoded string as HTML text.
   3. C. Base64-encode the comment and display the encoded string as HTML text.
   4. D. Serialize the comment as JSON and insert that serialization as raw HTML.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: OWASP states: "In order to add a variable to a HTML context safely to a web template, use HTML entity encoding for that variable." The browser displays entity-encoded characters as text. Displaying percent or Base64 encodings changes the visible comment; JSON serialization is not HTML-context encoding and can retain markup characters.

   Reference: Cross Site Scripting Prevention Cheat Sheet — OWASP — Output Encoding; Output Encoding for HTML Contexts

9. 9A service uses immutable servers. How should a tested operating-system update be introduced?

   1. A. Patch each running instance interactively and keep its current image.
   2. B. Apply the update only after each instance has accumulated local changes.
   3. C. Copy the patched filesystem from a live instance to its running peers.
   4. D. Build a versioned image containing the update and replace the instances.

   Answer: D

   Explanation: LPI says: "Instead of updating an existing server, a new instance is created from a tested and versioned image." Replacing instances preserves the immutable deployment model; changing running instances does not.

   Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 701.1 Lesson 2 — Immutable Servers

10. 10An operator wants to prepare a new Docker container and inspect its configuration before its application starts. Which command separates creation from execution?

    1. A. docker start
    2. B. docker restart
    3. C. docker run
    4. D. docker create

    Answer: D

    Explanation: LPI states: "The create command in both Docker and Podman creates a new container but does not start it automatically." Run combines creation and startup; start and restart operate on containers that already exist.

    Reference: LPI Learning Materials — 702.1 Lesson 1 — Creating a Container