Technical Questions asked of UNIX Admins.

Some questions will have more than one answer. Some questions are written to reveal something about the admin's

style and are purposely vague. Because of the question wording it's possible for someone to

respond correctly, but not with the answer I sought. Therefore this list is intended as a guide, not as a standard.

=======================================================================1) what editor do you use? (hint: a wrong answer here will heavilyinfluence the interview... what is on ALL Unix systems? )

2) what shell do you use? (hint: a wrong answer here will affect your chances)

3) what is the best shell for root?

4) why is that the best shell for root?

5) list the operating systems you are familiar with and the versions.

6) how do you backup your system?

7) what commercial tools have you used for backup and archive?

8) what UID does root have across an NFS mount by default?

9) what file contains the mounted file systems in Solaris?

10) what file contains the mounted file systems in HP-UX?

11) what command identifies the NIS server you are bound to?

12) what is the name of the administrative tool for Sun?13) what is the name of the administrative tool for HP?14) what is the name of the administrative tool for IBM?

15) if you are going to modify CDE files, which directory should you edit: /usr/dt... or /etc/dt... ?

16) what differs between the NIS entry in the /etc/passwd file btwn HP and Sun?

17) in Solaris 2.5 what is the name of the file with the NFS exported files?18) in Solaris 2.6 what is the name of the file with the NFS exported files?

19) identify some differences btwn CDE in Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 2.7?

20) How can you tell what is attached to the SCSI chain on a Sun system?21) How can you tell what is attached to the SCSI chain on an HP system?

22) What command will tell you have much memory a system has in Solaris?23) What command will tell you have much memory a system has in HP-UX?

24) Where are system messages logged in Solaris?25) Where are system messages logged in HP-UX?

26) How would you "break" an NFS mount on a system that has users on it?

27) Explain how you could stop and start a process without rebooting?

28) What command will tell you how long a system has been running?

29) What is LVM?30) what is an HFS?31) what is fsck?32) what is Jxfs or Vxfs?

33) how do you get a Sun system to single user mode? 34) how do you get an HP system to single user mode?

35) What files control basic hostname and network information on a Sun? (hint: 3)36) What files control basic hostname and network information on an HP? (hint: 2)

37) What command will provide status of your filesystems on a Sun?38) What command will provide status of your filesystems on a HP?39) What command will provide status of your filesystems on a Linux system?

40) What file do you edit to permit non-console login of root on a Solaris system?41) What file (with path) contains the information that appears when you right click on the background of a CDE login?42) What command, with path, launches OpenWindows on a SunOs 4.1.3 system?43) What command provides information on the health and performance of NFS?44) What command provides information on your network connection?

45) What are some of the tags in HTML that do not require a closing tag?

46) What command can you use to find the path to an application?

47) What option can you use with FTP to automatically transfer using wildcards?

48) What character(s) show up in an ascii file created in MSDos or Windozewhen FTP'd in Binary mode?

49) What does the ioscan command do?

50) What does the lanscan command do?

51) What command in Solaris shows disk partitions?

52) What are the tar commands to display the contents of an archive?

53) What directory are programs like perl and netscape installed in?

54) What is the recommended ratio of swap to memory for X-windows?

55) What command tells you who is logged into a file system?

56) What is the command to shutdown and halt a Sun system?57) What is the command to shutdown and halt an HP system?

58) How do you mount a filesystem?

59) What command can you use to identify a hostname or ip address?

60) What character is used to launch an application and run it in the background?

61) What command lists the current running jobs?

62) How do you kill a running job?

63) Where are startup scripts for an HP-UX 10.20 system?64) Where are startup scripts for a Solaris 2.6 system?

65) What command is used to display NIS host information for an IP address?

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Other Unix admin questions

1. How do you list the files in an UNIX directory while also showing hidden files?2. How do you execute a UNIX command in the background?3. What UNIX command will control the default file permissions when files are

created?4. Explain the read, write, and execute permissions on a UNIX directory.5. What is the difference between a soft link and a hard link?6. Give the command to display space usage on the UNIX file system.7. Explain iostat, vmstat and netstat.8. How would you change all occurrences of a value using VI?9. Give two UNIX kernel parameters that effect an Oracle install10. Briefly, how do you install Oracle software on UNIX.