1. How to change file permissions using chmod (symbolic & octal)?

 Symbolic: chmod u+x file.txt → Adds execute permission to the user.

 Octal: chmod 755 file.txt → User gets all permissions (7), group and others get read and
execute (5).

2. How to change directories using cd (rela ve & absolute)?

 Rela ve path: cd foldername → Changes to a folder inside the current directory.

 Absolute path: cd /home/user/folder → Goes directly to the full path from root.

3. Example of using grep to search a pa ern?

 grep "pa ern" file.txt → Finds all lines containing 'pa ern' in file.txt.

 grep -r "main" . → Searches 'main' recursively in all files from the current directory.

4. Internal vs External commands?

 Internal commands are built into the shell (e.g., cd, echo).

 External commands are separate programs stored on disk (e.g., ls, cat).

5. Linux File System Hierarchy?

 / (root) is the top.

 /bin has basic commands,

 /home has user folders,

 /etc has configura on files.

6. File systems in Windows & Linux?

 Windows: NTFS, FAT32.

 Linux: ext3, ext4, XFS, Btrfs.

7. What does ls -l do?

 Lists files in long format showing permissions, owner, size, and modified date.

8. How to delete a directory with files?

 Use rm -r directoryname to delete folder and contents.

 rm -rf force deletes without asking.

9. Redirect input and output in a shell script?

 command > output.txt → Saves output to file.

 command < input.txt → Uses file content as input.

10. Read user input in shell script?

Use read variable.

bash

read name

echo "Hello $name"

11. Operators in shell scrip ng?

 Arithme c: + - * /

 Comparison: -eq, -ne, -gt

 Logical: && (and), || (or)

12. Variables in shell scrip ng?

 Declared as name=value (no spaces). Use with $name. Example: name="Arjun"; echo $name

13. Common shells in Unix/Linux?

 Bash, Sh, Zsh, Csh, Ksh are common shells.

14. Purpose of open system call?

 Opens a file and returns a file descriptor to perform read/write opera ons.

15. Parameters of read system call?

 read(fd, buffer, count) → Reads count bytes from file descriptor fd into buffer.

16. Purpose of close system call?

 Closes the file descriptor and releases the resources.

17. Parameters of lseek system call?

 lseek(fd, offset, whence) → Changes file offset based on whence (start, current, end).

18. Use of lseek system call?

 To move the file pointer to read/write from a specific posi on.

19. mkdir in C?

 mkdir("foldername", 0777) → Creates a directory with specified permissions.

20. Purpose of rmdir?

 Removes an empty directory.

21. opendir in C?

 DIR *opendir("/path") → Opens a directory for reading.

22. chdir system call?

 Changes the current working directory. Example: chdir("/home/user")

 d_name: file name, d_type: file type, d_ino: inode number.

24. What is fork()?

 Creates a new child process. Both parent and child con nue execu ng.

25. fork return values?

 0 in child, >0 (child PID) in parent, -1 if fork fails.

26. Purpose of wait()?

 Makes parent wait un l child finishes execu on.

27. getpid and getppid?

 getpid(): returns current process ID, getppid(): returns parent process ID.

28. How many processes with 3 forks?

 2^3 = 8 total processes including parent.

29. Steps to create thread using pthread?

 Include <pthread.h>, define func on, declare pthread_t, call pthread_create().

30. Parameters of pthread_create?

 pthread_create(& d, NULL, func on, arg) → d: thread ID, func on: code to run.

31. pthread_join usage?

 Waits for the thread to finish execu on, helps in synchroniza on.

32. Thread vs Process?

 Threads share memory and are lightweight. Processes have separate memory and more
overhead.

33. When to use mul threading?

 Useful in web servers (handling clients) or games (graphics/input simultaneously).

34. What is a semaphore?

 A semaphore is a variable used for process/thread synchroniza on to control access to

35. sem_init, sem_wait, sem_post?

 sem_init: ini alize semaphore, sem_wait: decrement and block if 0, sem_post: increment
and signal.

36. Mutex vs Semaphore?

 Mutex: Only one owner, used for locking.

37. pthread_mutex_init, lock, unlock?

 Init: ini alize mutex, Lock: acquire lock, Unlock: release lock.

38. When to prefer mutex?

 Use mutex when only one thread should access a cri cal sec on, e.g., upda ng a shared
variable.

1. Name 5 system calls

 fork(): Creates a new process.

 exec(): Runs a new program in a process.

 wait(): Parent waits for child to finish.

 open(): Opens a file.

 read(): Reads data from a file.

2. System calls related to directories

 mkdir(): Makes a new directory.

 rmdir(): Removes an empty directory.

 opendir(): Opens a directory to read its files.

 readdir(): Reads a file name in the directory.

 closedir(): Closes the directory.

3. What is a zombie process?

 A process that finished but s ll exists in the system because the parent hasn’t read its status.

4. What is an orphan process?

 A running process whose parent has exited. The system adopts it.

5. Parameters to system calls

 fork(): No parameters.

 exec(): Program name and arguments.

 open(): File name, flags (e.g., read, write).

 read(): File descriptor, buffer, number of bytes.

6. What each system call returns

 fork():

o 0 for child, child’s PID for parent, -1 if error.

 exec(): Returns -1 if failed.

 wait(): Child’s PID or -1 if error.

 open(): File descriptor or -1 if error.

 read(): Number of bytes read or -1 if error.

7. Producer and Consumer (Problem)

 Producer: Adds items to a shared buffer.

 Consumer: Takes items from the buffer.

 Use semaphores to manage:

o Full: Tracks items in buffer.

o Empty: Tracks free space.

o Mutex: Ensures no conflicts.

Revise More VIVA Q&A from workbook Backside