CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-005) — Question 198

Due to performance issues on a server, a Linux administrator needs to terminate an unresponsive process. Which of the following commands should the administrator use to terminate the process immediately without waiting for a graceful shutdown?

Answer options

• A. kill -SIGKILL 5545
• B. kill -SIGTERM 5545
• C. kill -SIGHUP 5545
• D. kill -SIGINT 5545

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is A because the 'kill -SIGKILL' command sends a signal that immediately terminates a process without any cleanup. Options B, C, and D send different signals that either request a graceful shutdown or have other effects, but they do not force the process to terminate immediately.