305-300 LPIC-3: Virtualization and Containerization - Exam 305, version 3.0 Questions and Answers

 Container-based virtualization is a method of operating system-level virtualization that allows multiple isolated user spaces (containers) to run on the same host system1. Each container shares the same operating system kernel as the host, but has its own file system, libraries, and processes2. Therefore, the statements A and C are false, as containers do not run their own kernels or rely on hardware support from the CPU. The statement E is also false, as Linux does support container-based virtualization through various technologies, such as cgroups, namespaces, LXC, Docker, etc12. The statement B is true, as different containers may use different distributions of the same operating system, such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc., as long as they are compatible with the host kernel3. The statement D is also true, as all containers run within the operating system kernel of the host system, which provides isolation and resource management for them12. References:

• 1: Containerization (computing) - Wikipedia.
• 2: What are containers? | Google Cloud.
• 3: What is Container-Based Virtualization? - StackHowTo.

 The command virsh list is used to list all running domains (VMs) on the current host. The command virsh list --all can be used to list both active and inactive domains. The other options are not valid virsh commands. The command virsh list is a basic command that lists all running domains (VMs). You can also list all configured VMs by adding the --all option. This is useful if you want to see all VMs configured in the target hypervisor that you can use on subsequent commands1. References:

• 1: 8 Linux virsh subcommands for managing VMs on the command line | Enable Sysadmin.

Libvirt uses XML files to store configuration data for objects in the libvirt API, such as domains, networks, storage, etc. This allows for ease of extension in future releases and validation of documents prior to usage. Libvirt does not use any of the other file formats listed in the question. References:

• libvirt: XML Format
• LPIC-3 Virtualization and Containerization: Topic 305.1: Virtualization Concepts and Theory

Capabilities are a way of implementing fine-grained access control in Linux. They are a set of flags that define the privileges that a process can have. By default, a process inherits the capabilities of its parent, but some capabilities can be dropped or added by the process itself or by the kernel. In the context of container virtualization, capabilities are used to prevent processes from performing actions that might infringe the container, such as accessing the host’s devices, mounting filesystems, changing the system time, or killing other processes. Capabilities allow containers to run with a reduced set of privileges, enhancing the security and isolation of the container environment. For example, Docker uses a default set of capabilities that are granted to the processes running inside a container, and allows users to add or drop capabilities as needed12. References:

• Capabilities | Docker Documentation1
• Linux Capabilities: Making Them Work in Containers2

The correct way to share data between several virtual machines running on the same Linux-based host system is by using a network file system or file transfer protocol. A network file system (NFS) is a distributed file system protocol that allows a user on a client computer to access files over a network in a manner similar to how local storage is accessed1. A file transfer protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network2. Both methods allow data to be shared between virtual machines regardless of their underlying file systems or virtualization technologies. The other options are incorrect because they either do not work or are not feasible. Option A is wrong because each virtual machine has its own file system that is not directly accessible by other virtual machines. Option B is wrong because there is no such device as /dev/virt-disks/remote/ that can be used to mount other virtual machines’ file systems. Option C is wrong because a ramdisk is a volatile storage device that is not suitable for sharing data between virtual machines. Option E is wrong because attaching the same virtual hard disk to multiple virtual machines can cause data corruption and conflicts, and EXT4 does not have any sharing extensions that can prevent this. References:https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1012706

https://bing.com/search?q=data+sharing+between+virtual+machines

A hypervisor is a software that creates and runs virtual machines (VMs) by separating the operating system and resources from the physical hardware. One of the main tasks of a hypervisor is to map the resources of VMs to the resources of the host system, such as CPU, memory, disk, and network. This allows the hypervisor to allocate and manage the resources among multiple VMs and ensure that they run efficiently and independently123. Another important task of a hypervisor is to isolate the VMs and prevent unauthorized access to resources of other VMs. This ensures the security and privacy of the VMs and their data, as well as the stability and performance of the host system. The hypervisor can use various techniques to isolate the VMs, such as virtual LANs, firewalls, encryption, and access control145.

The other tasks listed are not part of a hypervisor’s responsibility, but rather of the guest operating system or the application running inside the VM. A hypervisor does not create filesystems during the installation of new VMs, as this is done by the installer of the guest operating system6. A hypervisor does not provide host-wide unique PIDs to the processes running inside the VMs, as this is done by the kernel of the guest operating system7. A hypervisor does not manage authentication to network services running inside a VM, as this is done by the network service itself or by a directory service such as LDAP or Active Directory8. References: 1 (search for “What is a hypervisor?”), 2 (search for “How does a hypervisor work?”), 3 (search for “The hypervisor gives each virtual machine the resources that have been allocated”), 4 (search for “Benefits ofhypervisors”), 5 (search for “Isolate the virtual machines and prevent unauthorized access”), 6 (search for “Create filesystems during the installation of new virtual machine quest operating systems”), 7 (search for “Provide host-wide unique PIDs to the processes running inside the virtual machines”), 8 (search for “Manage authentication to network services running inside a virtual machine”).

The command virsh pool-create-as vms dir --target /vms creates and starts a transient storage pool named vms of type dir with the target directory /vms12. This command resolves the issue of the storage pool not found error, as it makes the existing directory /vms visible to libvirt as a storage pool. The other commands are invalid because:

• dd if=/dev/zero of=/vms bs=1 count=0 flags=name:vms is not a valid command syntax. The dd command does not take a flags argument, and the output file /vms should be a regular file, not a directory3.
• libvirt-poolctl new --name=/vms --type=dir --path=/vms is not a valid command name. There is no such command as libvirt-poolctl in the libvirt package4.
• qemu-img pool vms:/vms is not a valid command syntax. The qemu-img command does not have a pool subcommand, and the vms:/vms argument is not a valid image specification5.
• touch /vms/.libvirtpool is not a valid command to create a storage pool. The touch command only creates an empty file, and the .libvirtpool file is not recognized by libvirt as a storage pool configuration file6.

References:

• 1: virsh - difference between pool-define-as and pool-create-as - Stack Overflow
• 2: dd(1) - Linux manual page - man7.org
• 3: 12.3.3. Creating a Directory-based Storage Pool with virsh - Red Hat Customer Portal
• 4: libvirt - Linux Man Pages (3)
• 5: qemu-img(1) - Linux manual page - man7.org
• 6: touch(1) - Linux manual page - man7.org

Cloud-init is a tool that allows users to customize the configuration and behavior of cloud instances during the boot process. Cloud-init can process different kinds of data that are passed to the instance via user-data, which is a mechanism provided by various cloud providers to inject data into the instance. Among the kinds of data that cloud-init can process directly from user-data are:

• Shell scripts to execute: Cloud-init can execute user-data that is formatted as a shell script, starting with the #!/bin/sh or #!/bin/bash shebang. The script can contain any commands that are valid in the shell environment of the instance. The script is executed as the root user during the boot process12.
• Lists of URLs to import: Cloud-init can import user-data that is formatted as a list of URLs, separated by newlines. The URLs can point to any valid data source that cloud-init supports, such as shell scripts, cloud-config files, or include files. The URLs are fetched and processed by cloud-init in the order they appear in the list13.
• cloud-config declarations in YAML: Cloud-init can process user-data that is formatted as a cloud-config file, which is a YAML document that contains declarations for various cloud-init modules. The cloud-config file can specify various aspects of the instance configuration, such as hostname, users, packages, commands, services, and more. The cloud-config file must start with the #cloud-config header14.

The other kinds of data listed in the question are not directly processed by cloud-init from user-data. They are either not supported, not recommended, or require additional steps to be processed. These kinds of data are:

• ISO images to boot from: Cloud-init does not support booting from ISO images that are passed as user-data. ISO images are typically used to install an operating system on a physical or virtual machine, not to customize an existing cloud instance. To boot from an ISO image, the user would need to attach it as a secondary disk to the instance and configure the boot order accordingly5.
• Base64-encoded binary files to execute: Cloud-init does not recommend passing binary files as user-data, as they may not be compatible with the instance’s architecture or operating system. Base64-encoding does not change this fact, as it only converts the binary data into ASCII characters. To execute a binary file, the user would need to decode it and make it executable on the instance6.

References:

• User-Data Formats — cloud-init 22.1 documentation
• User-Data Scripts
• Include File
• Cloud Config
• How to Boot From ISO Image File Directly in Windows
• How to run a binary file as a command in the terminal?.

The purpose of a .dockerignore file is to specify files that Docker does not submit to the Docker daemon when building a Docker image. A .dockerignore file is a text file that contains a list of files or directories that should be excluded from the build context, which is the set of files and folders that are available for use in a Dockerfile. By using a .dockerignore file, you can avoid sending files or directories that are large, contain sensitive information, or are irrelevant to the Docker image to the daemon, which can improve the efficiency and security of the build process. The other options are incorrect because they do not describe the function of a .dockerignore file. Option A is wrong because a .dockerignore file does not affect the files existing in a Docker image, but only the files sent to the daemon during the build. Option C is wrong because a .dockerignore file does not exist in the root file system of containers, but in the same directory as the Dockerfile. Option D is wrong because a .dockerignore file does not affect the volumes that Docker attaches to a container, but only the files included in the build context. Option E is wrong because a .dockerignore file does not affect the parts of a Dockerfile that are executed, but only the files available for use in a Dockerfile. References:

• What are .dockerignore files, and why you should use them?
• Dockerfile reference | Docker Docs
• How to use .dockerignore and its importance - Shisho Cloud

• The purpose of the packer inspect subcommand is to display an overview of the configuration contained in a Packer template1. A Packer template is a file that defines the various components a Packer build requires, such as variables, sources, provisioners, and post-processors2. The packer inspect subcommand can help you quickly learn about a template without having to dive into the HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) itself1. The subcommand will tell you things like what variables a template accepts, the sources it defines, the provisioners it defines and the order they’ll run, and more1.
• The other options are not correct because:

LXD supports the following network interface types in an LXD container configuration1:

• macvlan: Creates a virtual interface on the host with a unique MAC address and attaches it to an existing physical interface. This allows the container to have direct access to the physical network, but prevents communication with the host and other containers on the same host2.
• bridged: Connects the container to an existing bridge interface on the host. This allows the container to communicate with the host and other containers on the same bridge, as well as the external network if the bridge is connected to a physical interface3.
• physical: Passes an existing physical interface on the host to the container. This allows the container to have exclusive access to the physical network, but removes the interface from the host4.

The other network interface types, ipsec and wifi, are not valid in an LXD container configuration. Ipsec is a protocol for secure communication over IP networks, not a network interface type. Wifi is a wireless technology for connecting devices to a network, not a network interface type. References:

• About networking - Canonical LXD documentation
• Macvlan network - Canonical LXD documentation
• Bridge network - Canonical LXD documentation
• Physical network - Canonical LXD documentation

 Vagrant is a tool that allows users to create and configure lightweight, reproducible, and portable development environments. Vagrant supports multiple providers, which are the backends that Vagrant uses to create and manage the virtual machines. By default, VirtualBox is the default provider for Vagrant. VirtualBox is still the most accessible platform to use Vagrant: it is free, cross-platform, and has been supported by Vagrant for years. With VirtualBox as the default provider, it provides the lowest friction for new users to get started with Vagrant. However, users can also use other providers, such as VMware, Hyper-V, Docker, or LXC, depending on their preferences and needs. To use another provider, users must install it as a Vagrant plugin and specify it when running Vagrant commands. Users can also change the default provider by setting the VAGRANT_DEFAULT_PROVIDER environmental variable. References:

• Default Provider - Providers | Vagrant | HashiCorp Developer1
• Providers | Vagrant | HashiCorp Developer2
• How To Set Default Vagrant Provider to Virtualbox3

 A Pod in Kubernetes is a collection of one or more containers that share the same network and storage resources, and a specification for how to run the containers. A Pod is the smallest unit of workload Kubernetes can run, meaning that it cannot be divided into smaller units. Therefore, option C is correct. All containers of a Pod run on the same node, which is the smallest unit of computing hardware in Kubernetes. A node is a physical or virtual machine that hosts one or more Pods. Therefore, option A is also correct. Pods are not always created automatically and cannot be explicitly configured. Pods can be created manually using YAML or JSON files, or using commands like kubectl run or kubectl create. Pods can also be created automatically by higher-level controllers, such as Deployment, ReplicaSet, or StatefulSet. Therefore, option B is incorrect. When a Pod fails, Kubernetes does not restart the Pod on another node by default. Pods are ephemeral by nature, meaning that they can be terminated or deleted at any time. If a Pod is managed by a controller, the controller will create a new Pod to replace the failed one, but it may not be on the same node. Therefore, option D is incorrect. systemd is not used to manage individual Pods on the Kubernetes nodes. systemd is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems that can start and stop services, such as docker or kubelet. However, systemd does not interact with Podsdirectly. Pods are managed by the kubelet service, which is an agent that runs on each node and communicates with the Kubernetes control plane. Therefore, option E is incorrect. References:

• Pods | Kubernetes
• What is a Kubernetes pod? - Red Hat
• What’s the difference between a pod, a cluster, and a container?
• What are Kubernetes Pods? | VMware Glossary
• Kubernetes Node Vs. Pod Vs.Cluster: Key Differences - CloudZero

The purpose of the kubelet service in Kubernetes is to run containers on the worker nodes according to the Kubernetes configuration. The kubelet is an agent or program that runs on each node and communicates with the Kubernetes control plane. It receives a set of PodSpecs that describe the desired state of the pods that should be running on the node, and ensures that the containers described in those PodSpecs are running and healthy. The kubelet also reports the status of the node and the pods back to the control plane. The kubelet does not manage containers that were not created by Kubernetes. References:

• Kubernetes Docs - kubelet
• Learn Steps - What is kubelet and what it does: Basics on Kubernetes

The command that deletes all volumes which are not associated with a container is docker volume prune. This command removes all unused local volumes, which are those that are not referenced by any containers. By default, it only removes anonymous volumes, which are those that are not given a specific name when they are created. To remove both unused anonymous and named volumes, the --all or -a flag can be added to the command. The command will prompt for confirmation before deleting the volumes, unless the --force or -f flag is used to bypass the prompt. The command will also show the total reclaimed space after deleting the volumes12.

The other commands listed in the question are not valid or do not have the same functionality as docker volume prune. They are either made up, misspelled, or have a different purpose. These commands are:

• docker volume cleanup: This command does not exist in Docker. There is no cleanup subcommand for docker volume.
• docker volume orphan -d: This command does not exist in Docker. There is no orphan subcommand for docker volume, and the -d flag is not a valid option for any docker volume command.
• docker volume vacuum: This command does not exist in Docker. There is no vacuum subcommand for docker volume.
• docker volume garbage-collect: This command does not exist in Docker. There is no garbage-collect subcommand for docker volume.

References:

• docker volume prune | Docker Docs
• How to Remove all Docker Volumes - YallaLabs.