Free LPIC-3 Virtualization and Containerization Exam 305 Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the LPIC-3 Virtualization and Containerization Exam 305 practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1What distinguishes a type-1 hypervisor such as Xen from a hosted hypervisor?

   1. A. It runs directly on the physical hardware.
   2. B. It runs as an application inside a host operating system.
   3. C. It shares the host kernel with every guest operating system.
   4. D. It translates every guest instruction into a different CPU architecture.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Xen documentation states that the hypervisor "runs directly on the hardware". This is the bare-metal architecture of a type-1 hypervisor; a hosted hypervisor runs above a host operating system.

   Reference: Xen Project Software Overview — Introduction to Xen Project Architecture

2. 2How do an ordinary Linux system container and a full VM differ in their kernel relationship to the host?

   1. A. Both boot separate guest kernels rather than using the host kernel.
   2. B. Both share the host's running kernel instead of booting a guest kernel.
   3. C. The container shares the host kernel; the VM can boot its own guest kernel.
   4. D. The container boots a guest kernel; the VM shares the host's running kernel.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The manual describes OS containers as "containers that share the host kernel but run a full init system of their own". Full VMs present virtual hardware and can run their own operating-system kernels; the other options reverse or erase that distinction.

   Reference: systemd-machined.service manual — Description — OS containers

3. 3Which public-cloud offering most directly represents Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)?

   1. A. A hosted email application managed entirely by its vendor
   2. B. An application deployment platform that manages the operating system
   3. C. A managed business application accessed through a browser
   4. D. Provisioned virtual servers, networking and storage under customer control

   Answer: D

   Explanation: AWS states that IaaS provides "access to networking features, computers (virtual or on dedicated hardware), and data storage space." Vendor-managed end-user applications represent SaaS; an application platform that abstracts operating-system management represents PaaS.

   Reference: AWS — Types of Cloud Computing — Cloud computing models — IaaS

4. 4An x86 host lacks CPU virtualization extensions. Which requirement makes a Xen PV guest possible on that host?

   1. A. The guest must emulate an Intel VT-capable processor.
   2. B. The guest must use a PV-enabled kernel and PV drivers.
   3. C. The guest must use unmodified firmware and only emulated drivers.
   4. D. The guest must share the control domain's running kernel.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The overview states, "PV does not require virtualization extensions from the host CPU" and "paravirtualized guests require a PV-enabled kernel and PV drivers". Guest cooperation enables this mode without CPU virtualization extensions.

   Reference: Xen Project Software Overview — PV (x86)

5. 5A container sees different network interfaces and routing tables from the host. Which Linux namespace isolates these resources?

   1. A. The UTS namespace
   2. B. The mount namespace
   3. C. The PID namespace
   4. D. The network namespace

   Answer: D

   Explanation: The nsenter manual says a network namespace has "independent IPv4 and IPv6 stacks, IP routing tables, firewall rules". UTS, mount and PID namespaces isolate different kinds of resources.

   Reference: nsenter(1) — Linux manual page — DESCRIPTION — network namespace

6. 6Which OpenStack project provisions compute instances such as virtual servers?

   1. A. Nova
   2. B. Glance
   3. C. Keystone
   4. D. Neutron

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The official documentation says, "Nova is the OpenStack project that provides a way to provision compute instances". Glance supplies the image repository, Keystone identity, and Neutron networking.

   Reference: OpenStack Compute (nova) — What is nova?

7. 7Which host CPU feature supplies the hardware virtualization support required for an x86 Xen HVM guest?

   1. A. AES cryptographic instruction extensions
   2. B. AVX vector instruction extensions
   3. C. Intel VT or AMD-V hardware extensions
   4. D. SSE vector instruction extensions

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The overview specifies, "HVM requires Intel VT or AMD-V hardware extensions." AES, AVX and SSE provide cryptographic or vector instructions, rather than the hardware virtualization facility required here.

   Reference: Xen Project Software Overview — HVM and its variants (x86)

8. 8Process 4200 uses a different network namespace from the caller. Given sufficient privileges, which command enters that target network namespace and runs ip addr there?

   1. A. nsenter -t 4200 -n ip addr
   2. B. nsenter -t 4200 -m ip addr
   3. C. nsenter -t 4200 -u ip addr
   4. D. nsenter -t 4200 -p ip addr

   Answer: A

   Explanation: For --net, the manual specifies, "If no argument is specified, enter the network namespace of the target process." The -t option selects that process; -m, -u and -p select mount, UTS and PID namespaces.

   Reference: nsenter(1) — Linux manual page — OPTIONS — -t, --target and -n, --net

9. 9What does it mean that Terraform configuration is declarative?

   1. A. It records only changes that have already been applied.
   2. B. It describes the desired end state rather than each provisioning step.
   3. C. It must specify the complete execution order of every API request.
   4. D. It replaces provider APIs with commands executed inside every guest.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: HashiCorp states, "Terraform configuration files are declarative, meaning that they describe the end state of your infrastructure." Terraform derives operations and dependencies from that configuration.

   Reference: HashiCorp — What is Terraform? — Why Terraform? — Automate changes

10. 10Why can consolidating lightly loaded physical servers into virtual machines reduce infrastructure costs?

    1. A. Every guest receives dedicated physical hardware that remains idle.
    2. B. Each guest automatically reduces the application's memory requirement.
    3. C. Virtualization eliminates contention for CPU and storage resources.
    4. D. Multiple workloads can share fewer, more fully utilized physical hosts.

    Answer: D

    Explanation: The manual explains that one can "pack many virtual machines onto a few powerful hosts". Consolidation improves utilization and can reduce hardware and electricity costs; it does not eliminate contention or change application memory requirements.

    Reference: Oracle VM VirtualBox User Manual — First Steps — 1.1 Why is Virtualization Useful? — Infrastructure consolidation