An administrator notices that a web service that was running properly until recently has suddenly become unreachable from the network. The server is up and running with no recent changes to the firewall. Running systemctl status shows that the service is active (running). What should be the administrator's NEXT step in troubleshooting this issue?
Check the /etc/hosts file for any incorrect entries that might be causing name resolution issues for the service.
Inspect the /etc/passwd file for any user account discrepancies that might be impacting the web service.
Use netstat or ss to check if the server is listening on the correct port.
Restart the entire server to ensure that all services are loaded properly.
Checking the server's listening ports using netstat or ss is the correct next step because it will help to confirm if the web service is correctly bound to the appropriate port and is listening for incoming connections. If the service is not listening on the expected port, it could be due to misconfiguration, which needs to be investigated further. The other options, checking the /etc/hosts file or restarting the server, may not immediately contribute to solving the issue, where the primary concern is the service's ability to accept connections. Looking into /etc/passwd would be irrelevant as it is used for user account information and not service networking issues.
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What are netstat and ss used for in troubleshooting network issues?
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