> > Bash MCQs > Basic Bash MCQs

Basic Bash MCQ

1. Which variable contains the process ID (PID) of the script while it's running?

$ID

Answer

Correct Answer: $$

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

2. In Bash, what does a # at the end of the default prompt string indicate?

That the user is acting as root

That the current working directory is the root of the file system

That there are updates for the system available

That the user is unprivileged

Answer

Correct Answer: That the user is acting as root

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

3. Which statement will print all of the fully qualified .cvs files in the home directory or subdirectories while not displaying any errors?

find $USER_DIR -name "*.csv" 2>/dev/null

find $HOME -name "*.csv" 1>/dev/null

find $HOME -name "*.csv" 2>/dev/null

find HOME -name "*.csv" 1>/dev/null

Answer

Correct Answer: find $HOME -name "*.csv" 2>/dev/null

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

4. To assign the command ls -lah to the shortcut command lh, what command should you use?

Alias lh='ls -lah'

Link lh='ls -lah'

Alias 'ls -lah'=lh

Lh | ls -lah

Answer

Correct Answer: Alias lh='ls -lah'

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

5. How can you copy a directory to another system with compression?

Tar -ssh user@192.158.1.1 /bin/newfile

Tar cvzf - /wwwdata | ssh root@192.168.1.201

You can't compress the stream

Scp -r directory user@192.168.1.1:/tmp

Answer

Correct Answer: Tar cvzf - /wwwdata | ssh root@192.168.1.201

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

6. What are the results of the command with a user named jon? echo 'Hello, $(whoami)!'

Hello, $(jon)!

Hello, jon!

Hello, $(whoami)!

Hello, whoami!

Answer

Correct Answer: Hello, $(whoami)!

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

7. To run a group of commands without spawning a subshell, which syntax would you use?

Sh command1; command2

{ command1; command2; }

(( command1; command2 ))

Command1; command2 )

Answer

Correct Answer: Command1; command2 )

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

8. When comparing items with case, what statement indicates an end to the evaluation block?

Stop

Esac

Done

Exit

Answer

Correct Answer: Esac

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

9. Wich operator sends the output of ls to a file for later use?

Ls < filelist.txt

Ls ¦ filelist.txt

Ls > filelist.txt

Ls - filelist.txt

Answer

Correct Answer: Ls > filelist.txt

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

10. How can you create a shared terminal in a Bash shell?

Screen

Screen -X

Screen --shared

Terminal -shared

Answer

Correct Answer: Screen

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

11. To make a Bash script named script.sh executable, what should you run?

Exec script.sh

Chmod +x script.sh

Bash script.sh

Source script.sh

Answer

Correct Answer: Chmod +x script.sh

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

12. Which sed options should you use to change the second-to-last instance of variable to rock so it would read: A constant is a variable that is a rock that isn't variable var="A constant is a variable that is a variable that isn't variable" echo "$var" | sed _____

S/(.*)variable(.*variable)/\1rock\2/'

S/variable/rock/'

S/variable/rock/g'

S/(.*)variable(.*variable)/\1rock\2/'

Answer

Correct Answer: S/(.*)variable(.*variable)/\1rock\2/'

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

13. Which does the below command do? w

It doesn't display information about the users currently on the machine.

It displays information about the users currently on the machine.

It displays information about the users currently on the another machine.

None of these

Answer

Correct Answer: It displays information about the users currently on the machine.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

14. Which one is true?

SELinux policy rules are checked after DAC rules.

SELinux policy rules are checked before DAC rules

SELinux policy rules are never checked after DAC rules.

None of these

Answer

Correct Answer: SELinux policy rules are checked after DAC rules.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

15. What statement would you use to print this in the console? Shall we play a game? yes\no

echo "Shall we play a game? yes/\no"

echo "Shall we play a game\? yes\\no"

echo "Shall we play a game? yes\\no"

echo "Shall we play a game? yes\no"

Answer

Correct Answer: echo "Shall we play a game? yes\\no"

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

16. What is the output of this code? VAR="This old man came rolling" echo "${VAR//man/rolling}"

This old man came man

This old man came rolling

This old rolling came rolling

This old came

Answer

Correct Answer: This old rolling came rolling

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

17. What does this command sequence do? cat >notes -

It creates an empty file called

It accepts text from the standard input and places it in the

It appends text to an existing file called

It outputs the contents of the

Answer

Correct Answer: It accepts text from the standard input and places it in the

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

18. The shell looks at the contents of a particular variable to identify which programs it can run. What is the name of this variable?

$INCLUDE

$PATH

$PROGRAM

$PATHS

Answer

Correct Answer: $PATH

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

19. What is the output of: VAR="This old man came rolling" echo "\${VAR//man/rolling}"

This old rolling came rolling

This old man came man

This old man came rolling

This old came

Answer

Correct Answer: This old rolling came rolling

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

20. What does this command do? cat > notes -

Accepts text from standard input and places it in "notes"

Creates "notes" and exits

Outputs the content of notes and deletes it

Appends text to the existing "notes"

Answer

Correct Answer: Accepts text from standard input and places it in "notes"

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

21. In Bash, what does the comment below do? cd -

It moves you to the directory you were previously in.

It moves you to your home folder (whatever your current working directory happens to be).

It deletes the current directory

It moves you one directory above your current working directory.

Answer

Correct Answer: It moves you to the directory you were previously in.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

22. What does the + signify at the end of the 10-digit file permissions on data.txt? ls -l -rwx------+ 1 user1 u1 0 Oct 1 10:00 data.txt

There is an SELinux security context

The sticky bit is set and the file will stay in RAM for speed

There is an access control list

There is an extended attribute such as immutable set

Answer

Correct Answer: There is an access control list

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

23. When used from within a script, which variable contains the name of the script?

$# // number of positional parameters

$$ // pid of the current shell

$@ // array-like construct of all positional parameters

Answer

Correct Answer: $0

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

24. When executing a command and passing the output of that command to another command, which character allows you to chain these commands together?

Answer

Correct Answer: |

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

25. How would you find the last copy command run in your history?

History | find cp

History | grep cp

Grep cp history

Cp history

Answer

Correct Answer: History | grep cp

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

26. What will be the difference between the output on the screen and the contents of out.txt mysql < file.sql > out.txt

The output on the screen will be identical to out.txt

There will be no output on the screen as it's being redirected to out.txt.

The output on the screen will be identical to out.txt plus line numbers.

The out.txt file will hold STDERR and STDOUT will go to the screen.

Answer

Correct Answer: There will be no output on the screen as it's being redirected to out.txt.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

27. What will be in out.txt? ls nonexistentfile | grep "No such file" > out.txt

No such file

Ls: cannot access nonexistentfile: No such file or directory

Nothing, out.txt will be empty.

It will be the contents of nonexistentfile.

Answer

Correct Answer: Nothing, out.txt will be empty.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

28. What file would match the code below? ls Hello[[.vertical-line.]]World

Nothing, this is an invalid file glob.

Hello.vertical-line.World

Hello[[.vertical-line.]]World

Hello|World

Answer

Correct Answer: Hello|World

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

29. Which file allows you to save modifications to the shell environment across sessions?

/etc/bash.conf

~/.profile

/etc/bashprofile

~/profile

Answer

Correct Answer: ~/.profile

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

30. What is the difference between the $@ and $* variables?

$@ treats each quoted argument as a separate entity. $* treats the entire argument string as one entity.

$* treats each quoted argument as a separate entity. $@ treats the entire argument string as one entity.

$* is used to count the arguments passed to a script, $@ provides all arguments in one string.

$* is the wildcard that includes all arguments with word splitting, $@ holds the same data but in an array.

Answer

Correct Answer: $@ treats each quoted argument as a separate entity. $* treats the entire argument string as one entity.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

31. How can you gather history together for multiple terminals?

It just works by default.

History --shared

History --combined

Shopt -s histappend

Answer

Correct Answer: Shopt -s histappend

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

32. Which variable would you check to verify that the last command executed successfully?

Answer

Correct Answer: $?

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

33. What Bash script will correctly create these files?

Touch file{1+10}.txt

Touch file{1-10}.txt

Touch file{1..10}.txt

Touch file(1..10).txt

Answer

Correct Answer: Touch file{1..10}.txt

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

34. What do you use in a case statement to tell Bash that you're done with a specific test?

; ;

: :

Done

Answer

Correct Answer: ; ;

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

35. What does this bash statement do? (( $a == $b ); echo $?

It loops between the values of $a and $b.

It tests whether the values of variables $a and $b are equal.

It returns $b if it is larger than $a.

It returns $a if it is larger than $b.

Answer

Correct Answer: It tests whether the values of variables $a and $b are equal.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

36. How could you get a list of all .html files in your tree?

Find . -type html

Find . -name *.html

Find *.html

Find . -name \*.html -print

Answer

Correct Answer: Find . -name \*.html -print

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

37. Suppose your current working directory is your home directory. How could you run the script demo.sh that is located in your home directory? Find three correct answers. A. /home/demo.sh B. ./demo.sh C. ~/demo.sh D. bash /home/demo.sh E. bash demo.sh

B, C, E

A, B, C

C, D, E

B, D, E

Answer

Correct Answer: B, C, E

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

38. What line of Bash script probably produced the output shown below? The date is: Sun Mar 24 12:30:06 CST 2019!

echo "The date is: !"

echo "The date is: date!"

echo "The date is: (date)!"

echo "The date is: $(date)!"

Answer

Correct Answer: echo "The date is: $(date)!"

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

39. In order for a Bash script to be executed like an OS command, it should start with a shebang line. What does this look like?

#!/usr/bin/env bash

~/usr/bin/env bash

'$!/usr/bin/env bash

#/usr/bin/env bash

Answer

Correct Answer: #!/usr/bin/env bash

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

40. If prompted for text at the standard input, you can tell the command you're done entering text with what key combination?

Ctrl + A (Windows) or Command + A (Mac)

Ctrl + E (Windows) or Command + E (Mac)

Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command + D (Mac)

Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Command + Z (Mac)

Answer

Correct Answer: Ctrl + D (Windows) or Command + D (Mac)

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

41. What is the output of this code? VAR="/var/www/html/website.com/html/"; echo "${VAR#*/html}"

/website.com/html/

/html/website.com/html/

/var/www/html/website.com/

Nothing will be echoed on the screen.

Answer

Correct Answer: /website.com/html/

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

42. How would you change your Bash shell prompt to the following? HAL>

SHELL="HAL\>"

SHELL="HAL>"

export PS1="HAL>"

PS1="HAL\>"

Answer

Correct Answer: export PS1="HAL>"

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

43. What is the result of this script? txt=Penguins [[ $txt =~ [a-z]{8} ]]; echo $?

0, representing 'true', because the variable

0, representing 'true', because everybody loves penguins!

1, representing 'false', because the variable "txt" is longer than eight characters

1, representing 'false', because the variable "txt" does not contain eight lowercase letters between a and z

Answer

Correct Answer: 1, representing 'false', because the variable "txt" does not contain eight lowercase letters between a and z

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

44. Which arithmetic expression will give the most precise answer?

Var=$( expr 10 / 8 )

(( var= 10 /8 ))

Var=$(( 10 / 8 ))

Var=$(echo 'scale=2; 10 / 8' | bc)

Answer

Correct Answer: Var=$(echo 'scale=2; 10 / 8' | bc)

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

45. What is the keyboard shortcut to call up the Bash history search as shown below? (reverse-i-search)`':

Esc + R

Ctrl + H

Ctrl + R

Alt + R

Answer

Correct Answer: Ctrl + R

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

46. In order to extract text from the first column of file called textfile, which command would you use?

Cat {$1,textfile}

Cat textfile | awk [print $1]

Cat textfile | awk '{print $1}'

Awk textfile {print $1}

Answer

Correct Answer: Cat textfile | awk '{print $1}'

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

47. How does the SUID or setuid affect executable commands?

When the command creates files, they will be owned by the group owner of the command.

The SUID bit allows anyone to execute the command no matter what other permissions are set.

When the command is executed, its running privileges elevate to the user owner of the command.

When the command is executed, its running privileges elevate to the group owner of the command.

Answer

Correct Answer: When the command is executed, its running privileges elevate to the user owner of the command.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

48. If file.sql holds SQL statements to be executed, what will be in file.txt? mysql < file.sql > file.txt

A copy of the contents of file.sql

An error indicating that this is invalid syntax

The error output of the MySQL command

The non-error output of the MySQL command

Answer

Correct Answer: The non-error output of the MySQL command

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

49. Assuming that user1 existed, what would be the result of this command string? awk -F: '/user1/{print $1 "-" $3 "-" $6}' /etc/passwd

It would show the username, UID, and home directory of user1 separated by colons.

It would print the UID, GID, and home directory of user1 separated by hyphens.

It would print the UID, comment, and home directory of user1 separated by hyphens.

It would show the username, UID, and home directory of user1 separated by hyphens.

Answer

Correct Answer: It would show the username, UID, and home directory of user1 separated by hyphens.

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

50. To permanently remove empty lines from a file called textfile, which command could you use?

Sed -i '/^$/d' textfile

Sed '/^$/d' textfile

Cat textfile | sed '/^$/d

Sed -i 's/^$//' textfile

Answer

Correct Answer: Sed -i '/^$/d' textfile

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

51. The command below will search the root filesystem for files named "finance.db". In this context, what information is being sent to /dev/null? find / -name "finance.db" 1>results.txt 2>/dev/null

The names of files that do not match finance.db

Information sent to the standard error-for example, errors that the find command displays as it runs

The names of files that match finance.db

Information sent to the standard output-that is, the path to files the find command has located

Answer

Correct Answer: Information sent to the standard error-for example, errors that the find command displays as it runs

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

52. Using "awk", what would the output of this command string be? echo "1 2 3" | awk '{for (i=1; i<=NF; i++) s=s+$i};END {print s}'

123

600

Answer

Correct Answer: 6

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

53. To run a copy command in a subshell, which syntax would you use?

( command )

Sh command

{ command; }

(( command ))

Answer

Correct Answer: ( command )

Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one

Bash MCQs | Topic-wise

MCQ on Basic Bash

General Bash MCQs

Bash Subjects

More Resources

Bash MCQ

Bash Skill Assessment

Bash PDF

Related MCQs

Bluetooth Technology MCQs

Bootstrap MCQs

Box MCQs

Browser Scripting MCQs

C Programming MCQs