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

The WORKDIR instruction sets the working directory for any subsequent RUN, CMD, ENTRYPOINT, COPY and ADD instructions that follow it in the Dockerfile1. The RUN instruction executes commands in a new layer on top of the current image and commits the results2. The RUN cd command does not change the working directory for the next RUN instruction, because each RUN command runs in a new shell and a new environment3. Therefore, the file test is created in the root directory (/) of the container image, not in the /tmp directory. References:

Dockerfile reference: WORKDIR

Dockerfile reference: RUN

difference between RUN cd and WORKDIR in Dockerfile

The virt-diff command-line tool can be used to list the differences between files in two virtual machines or disk images. The output shows the changes to a virtual machine’s disk images after it has been running. The command can also be used to show the difference between overlays1. To specify two guests, you have to use the -a or -d option for the first guest, and the -A or -D option for the second guest. For example: virt-diff -a old.img -A new.img1. Therefore, the correct command to list all differences between the disk images vm1-snap.img and vm1.img is: virt-diff -a vm1-snap.img -A vm1.img. The other commands are not related to finding differences between disk images. virt-delta is a tool to create delta disks from two disk images2. virt-cp-in is a tool to copy files and directories into a virtual machine disk image3. virt-cmp is a tool to compare two files or directories in a virtual machine disk image4. virt-history is a tool to show the history of a virtual machine disk image5. References:

21.13. virt-diff: Listing the Differences between Virtual Machine Files …

21.14. virt-delta: Creating Delta Disks from Two Disk Images …

21.6. virt-cp-in: Copying Files and Directories into a Virtual Machine Disk Image …

21.7. virt-cmp: Comparing Two Files or Directories in a Virtual Machine Disk Image …

21.8. virt-history: Showing the History of a Virtual Machine Disk Image …

The ENTRYPOINT instruction in a Dockerfile specifies the default command to run when a container is started from the image. The ENTRYPOINT instruction can be written in two forms: exec form and shell form. The exec form uses a JSON array to specify the command and its arguments, such as [ “executable”, “param1”, “param2” ]. The shell form uses a single string to specify the command and its arguments, such as “executable param1 param2”. The shell form is converted to the exec form by adding /bin/sh -c to the beginning of the command. Therefore, the following statements in a Dockerfile are equivalent and will lead to a container that outputs hello world:

ENTRYPOINT [ “echo hello world” ] ENTRYPOINT [ “/bin/sh”, “-c”, “echo hello world” ] ENTRYPOINT “echo hello world” ENTRYPOINT [ “echo”, “hello”, “world” ] ENTRYPOINT [ “/bin/sh”, “-c”, “echo”, “hello”, “world” ] ENTRYPOINT “echo hello world”

The other statements in the question are invalid or incorrect. The statement A. ENTRYPOINT “echo Hello World” is invalid because it uses double quotes to enclose the entire command, which is not allowed in the shell form. The statement D. ENTRYPOINT echo Hello World is incorrect because it does not use quotes to enclose the command, which is required in the shell form. The statement E. ENTRYPOINT “echo”, “Hello”, “World” is invalid because it uses double quotes to separate the command and its arguments, which is not allowed in the exec form. References:

Dockerfile reference | Docker Docs

Using the Dockerfile ENTRYPOINT and CMD Instructions - ATA Learning

Difference Between run, cmd and entrypoint in a Dockerfile

 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 correct way to start a new container that shares the /data volume with the datastore container is to use the --volumes-from flag. This flag mounts all the defined volumes from the referenced containers. In this case, the datastore container has a volume named /data, which is mounted in the service container at the same path. The other options are incorrect because they either use invalid flags, such as --share-with or --volume-backend, or they create new volumes instead of sharing the existing one, such as -v datastore:/data or -v /data. References:

Docker Docs - Volumes

Stack Overflow - How to map volume paths using Docker’s --volumes-from?

Docker Docs - docker run

Containerd is an industry-standard container runtime that uses Runc (a low-level container runtime) by default, but can be configured to use others as well1. Containerd manages the complete container lifecycle of its host system, from image transfer and storage to containerexecution and supervision1. It supports the standards established by the Open Container Initiative (OCI)1. Containerd does not require the Docker engine and Docker CLI to be installed, as it can be used independently or with other container platforms2. Containerd is not a text file format, nor does it run in each Docker container or provide DHCP client functionality. Containerd is not the initial process run at the start of any Docker container, as that is the role of the container runtime, such as Runc3. References: 1 (search for “containerd”), 2 (search for “Containerd is an open source”), 3 (search for “It uses rune to start containers”).

 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 output of xl list shows the state of the domains. The domain with ID 6, Ubuntu, has a state of “b—”. This means that the domain is blocked, which means it is idle or waiting for I/O.

https://xenbits.xen.org/docs/unstable/man/xl.1.html

In an IaaS cloud, the most common method for provisioning new computing instances is to use an image file that contains a pre-installed operating system and software. This image file is also known as a machine image, a virtual appliance, or a template. The image file can be customized for a specific purpose, such as a web server, a database server, or a development environment. The image file can be stored in a repository or a library that is accessible by the cloud provider or the user. When a new instance is requested, the cloud provider copies the image file to a virtual disk and attaches it to the instance. The instance then boots from the virtual disk and runs the operating system and software from the image file. This method is faster and more efficient than installing the operating system and software from scratch for each new instance. It also ensures consistency and reliability across multiple instances that use the same image file. References:

LPI Virtualization and Containerization Exam Objectives, Topic 305.1: Virtualization Concepts and Theory, Objective: Describe the concept of machine images and templates

LPI Virtualization and Containerization Study Guide, Chapter 1: Virtualization Concepts and Theory, Section: Machine Images and Templates

LPI LPIC-3 305 Certification Sample Questions and Practice Exam, Question 10: In an IaaS cloud, what is a common method for provisioning new computing instances with an operating system and software?

The default path to the Docker daemon configuration file on Linux is /etc/docker/daemon.json. This file is a JSON file that contains the settings and options for the Docker daemon, which is the service that runs on the host operating system and manages the containers, images, networks, and other Docker resources. The /etc/docker/daemon.json file does not exist by default, but it can be created by the user to customize the Docker daemon behavior. The file can also be specified by using the --config-file flag when starting the Docker daemon. The file must be a valid JSON object and follow the syntax and structure of the dockerd reference docs12. References:

Docker daemon configuration file - Medium3

Docker daemon configuration overview | Docker Docs4

docker daemon | Docker Docs5

The subcommand of virsh that opens the XML configuration of a virtual network in an editor in order to make changes to that configuration is net-edit1. This subcommand takes the name or UUID of the network as a parameter and opens the network XML file in the default editor, which is specified by the $EDITOR shell variable1. The changes made to the network configuration are applied immediately after saving and exiting the editor1.

References:

1: net-edit - libvirt.

 LXC and Docker are both container technologies that use Linux kernel features to create isolated environments for running applications. The main mechanisms that they use are:

Linux Capabilities: These are a set of privileges that can be assigned to processes to limit their access to certain system resources or operations. For example, a process with the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability can perform network administration tasks, such as creating or deleting network interfaces. Linux capabilities allow containers to run with reduced privileges, enhancing their security and isolation.

Kernel Namespaces: These are a way of creating separate views of the system resources for different processes. For example, a process in a mount namespace can have a different file system layout than the host or other namespaces. Kernel namespaces allow containers to have their own network interfaces, process IDs, user IDs, and other resources, without interfering with the host or other containers.

Control Groups: These are a way of grouping processes and applying resource limits and accounting to them. For example, a control group can limit the amount of CPU, memory, disk I/O, or network bandwidth that a process or a group of processes can use. Control groups allow containers to have a fair share of the system resources and prevent them from exhausting the host resources.

POSIX ACLs and file system permissions are not mechanisms used by LXC and Docker to create containers. They are methods of controlling the access to files and directories on a file system, which can be applied to any process, not just containers.

References:

LXC vs Docker: Which Container Platform Is Right for You?

LXC vs Docker: Why Docker is Better in 2023 | UpGuard

What is the Difference Between LXC, LXD and Docker Containers

lxc - Which container implementation docker is using - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange

The command lxc-checkpoint is used to checkpoint and restore containers. Checkpointing a container means saving the state of the container, including its memory, processes, file descriptors, and network connections, to a file or a directory. Restoring a container means resuming the container from the saved state, as if it was never stopped. Checkpointing and restoring containers can be useful for various purposes, such as live migration, backup, debugging, or snapshotting. The command lxc-checkpoint has the following syntax:

lxc-checkpoint {-n name} {-D path} [-r] [-s] [-v] [-d] [-F]

The options are:

-n name: Specify the name of the container to checkpoint or restore.

-D path: Specify the path to the file or directory where the checkpoint data is dumped or restored.

-r, --restore: Restore the checkpoint for the container, instead of dumping it. This option is incompatible with -s.

-s, --stop: Optionally stop the container after dumping. This option is incompatible with -r.

-v, --verbose: Enable verbose criu logging. Only available when providing -r.

-d, --daemon: Restore the container in the background (this is the default). Only available when providing -r.

-F, --foreground: Restore the container in the foreground. Only available when providing -r.

The command lxc-checkpoint uses the CRIU (Checkpoint/Restore In Userspace) tool to perform the checkpoint and restore operations. CRIU is a software that can freeze a running application (or part of it) and checkpoint it to a hard drive as a collection of files. It can then use the files to restore and run the application from the point it was frozen at1.

The other statements about the command lxc-checkpoint are not correct. It does not create a clone or an image of a container, nor does it double the memory consumptionof the container. It can work on both running and stopped containers, depending on the options provided. References:

Linux Containers - LXC - Manpages - lxc-checkpoint.12

lxc-checkpoint(1) - Linux manual page - man7.org3

CRIU4

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”).

 Libvirt is a toolkit that provides a common API for managing different virtualization technologies, such as KVM, Xen, LXC, and others. Libvirt allows users to configure and control various aspects of a virtual machine (also called a domain), such as its CPU, memory, disk, network, and other resources. Among the resources that can be limited by libvirt for a KVM domain are:

Amount of CPU time: Libvirt allows users to specify the number of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) that a domain can use, as well as the CPU mode, model, topology, and tuning parameters. Users can also set the CPU shares, quota, and period to control the relative or absolute amount of CPU time that a domain can consume. Additionally, users can pin vCPUs to physical CPUs or NUMA nodes to improve performance and isolation. These settings can be configured in the domain XML file under the  and  elements12.

Size of available memory: Libvirt allows users to specify the amount of memory that a domain can use, as well as the memory backing, tuning, and NUMA node parameters. Users can also set the memory hard and soft limits, swap hard limit, and minimum guarantee to control the memory allocation and reclaim policies for a domain. These settings can be configured in the domain XML file under the , , and  elements13.

The other resources listed in the question are not directly limited by libvirt for a KVM domain. File systems allowed in the domain are determined by the disk and filesystem devices that are attached to the domain, which can be configured in the domain XML file under the  and  elements14. Number of running processes and number of available files are determined by the operating system and the file system of the domain, which are not controlled by libvirt.

References:

libvirt: Domain XML format

CPU Allocation

Memory Allocation

Hard drives, floppy disks, CDROMs