1. What is the function of the /etc/hosts file? Which services can you use in place of or to supplement the hosts file?

This file holds the hostname and IP address of the local system. It also holds a special entry for localhost. This entry supports the loopback service, which allows the local system to talk to itself. The IP address of the loopback serviceis always 127.0.0.1, while 127.0.1.1 names the local system.

2. What does the /etc/resolv.conf file do? What do the nameserver lines in this file do?

The /etc/resolv.conf file is the resolver configuration file. It provides access to DNS for Internet address resolution. The nameserver line indicates which systems the local system should query to resolve hostnames into IP addresses and vice versa.

3. What is an inode? What happens to the inode when you move a file within a filesystem?

An inode is a data structure, stored on disk, that defines a file’s existence and is identified by an inode number. An inode contains critical information about a file, such as the UID of the owner, where it is physically located on the disk, and how many hard links point to it. In addition, SELinux stores extended information about files in inodes. An inode that describes a directory file maps each of the filenames in the directory to the inode that describes that file. This setup allows an inode to be associated with more than one filename and to be pointed to from more than one directory.

4. What does the .. entry in a directory point to? What does this entry point to in the root (/) directory?

The .. entry is a link to the parent directory. In the case of the root directory, there is no parent, and the .. entry is a link to the root directory itself.

5. What is a device file? Where are device files located?

Device special files (also called device files and special files) represent Linux