LFCS Question #115: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is B: export VARIABLE. The export command makes a shell variable visible and accessible to subshells or child processes.

Submitted by fatema_kw· Apr 18, 2026Essential Commands

Question

Which command makes the shell variable named VARIABLE visible to subshells?

The export command makes a shell variable visible and accessible to subshells or child processes.

Common mistakes.

A. export $VARIABLE is syntactically incorrect for exporting a variable; it attempts to use the value of the variable as the name of the variable to be exported, which will fail or produce an unintended result.
C. set $VARIABLE sets the shell's positional parameters to the words contained in the variable's value and does not export variables to subshells.
D. set VARIABLE simply displays shell variables or sets shell options, it does not export variables to subshells.
E. env VARIABLE (if VARIABLE is a value) or env -i VARIABLE=VALUE command runs a command with a modified environment or displays environment variables, but it does not export the variable from the current shell for general subshell inheritance.

Concept tested. Shell variable export (export)

Reference. https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/bash.1.html

#shell variables#environment variables#export command#subshells

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