CompTIA Linux+ XK0-006 (V8) Practice Question

The task requires cpio's copy-pass (-p or --pass-through) mode, which reads a list of pathnames on standard input and writes them directly to the specified destination directory. This method is efficient because it eliminates the need to create an intermediate archive file.

The correct command is find /etc/myapp -print0 | cpio --null -pdmv /var/lib/myapp/backups.

• -p: Engages pass-through mode.
• --null: Used with find -print0, this ensures that filenames containing spaces or other special characters are handled safely.
• -d: Creates any missing destination directories as needed.
• -m: Preserves the original file modification times.
• -v: Provides verbose output, listing the files as they are processed.

When cpio is run by the root user, it automatically preserves file ownership and permissions. In pass-through mode, it also correctly preserves hard links.

The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

• The command using cpio -ov is incorrect because the -o (copy-out) option creates an archive file instead of copying the files directly to the destination directory.
• The command using cpio -id is incorrect because the -i (copy-in) option extracts files from an existing archive, which does not exist in this scenario.
• The command using tar would also accomplish the file copy, but this question is focused on the usage of the cpio utility, as indicated by the other options and the tool's inclusion in the exam objectives for archiving.