117-101 · Question #214
Which of the following commands will print the inode usage on each mounted filesystem?
The correct answer is B. df -i. See the full explanation below for the reasoning.
Question
Options
- Adu -i
- Bdf -i
- Clsfs -i
- Dprintfs -i
How the community answered
(47 responses)- A4% (2)
- B74% (35)
- C15% (7)
- D6% (3)
Community Discussion
7
Thiago A.Jan 23, 2026df -i is the right call here. The df command reports filesystem disk space usage, and the -i flag switches the output to show inode information instead of block usage, so you see the total inodes, used inodes, free inodes, and percent used per mounted filesystem. du -i is a trap, du measures directory and file sizes and its -i flag shows inode numbers for individual files, not a per-filesystem inode summary. lsfs and printfs are not standard Linux utilities you will find on any LPIC target system, man 1 df confirms the -i behavior and is worth a quick read before exam day.
Bao N.Jan 11, 2026Kept clicking A thinking du handled inodes, but df -i is the one that reports filesystem inode usage.
Dervla O.Jan 30, 2026The stem is asking specifically about filesystem-level reporting, not directory-level disk usage, and that distinction alone eliminates option A right away. Think about what each tool's primary job is: one of these commands is built to report on mounted filesystems as a whole, and it has a flag that switches its output from block usage to inode usage. Two of the options are not real utilities you will find on a standard Linux system, so if you are blanking on the answer, elimination gets you to a 50/50 in seconds. My question for you: do you know the difference between what inodes actually represent versus what blocks represent on a filesystem, and why a command that reports per-directory consumption would give you the wrong unit of measurement here?
Prof. SaraFeb 9, 2026Hit this cold on my exam, df -i, disk Free, done.
Thiago A.Feb 10, 2026df reports inode usage, not disk free when passed -i, so the mnemonic trips you up the moment you need to explain the output to a junior or write it into an answer blank.
Devraj B.Jan 15, 2026I am going with D on this one and I feel pretty solid about it. The "print" prefix in printfs tells you exactly what the command is designed to do, which is print filesystem information, and the -i flag naturally extends that to inode data specifically. It follows the same logical naming convention you see across other print-style utilities in Linux, so it fits the pattern perfectly. None of the other options have that explicit "print" semantic built right into the command name, and on an exam that tests whether you know what a command actually does, the name itself is usually your biggest clue.
Bao N.Jan 17, 2026Appreciate the logic but the answer is B, stat -c with the right format string is the standard way to pull specific inode info from a file. The printf naming argument is a stretch here, printfs is not a real standalone inode utility you would find on a typical Linux system.