Free LPI 102-500 Actual Exam Questions - Question 5 Discussion

Question No. 5
Where are user specific crontabs stored?
Select one option, then reveal solution.
US
JW
John W.
2026-02-21

Pretty sure it's B since user crontabs need to be separate and managed by the system, and /var/spool/cron fits that role. The other options don't usually store user-specific cron jobs. B

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JW
John W.
2026-02-19

B imo, user crontabs are definitely not in home directories or shared files. They’re stored individually in /var/spool/cron so the system can manage them per user.

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MI
Mason I.
2026-02-15

I agree it’s B; user crontabs aren’t kept in home directories, but system-wide cron files are elsewhere. B

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PO
Peter O.
2026-02-14

Option B is the one I’d go with too. Each user’s crontab gets saved as a separate file under /var/spool/cron, which is how cron keeps things organized. The other options either mention shared files or locations that don't match the usual system setup. The .crontab file in the home directory (D) isn’t standard for where cron stores these, it’s more of a temporary edit space when using crontab commands. So B fits best as the actual storage spot for user-specific crontabs.

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PO
Peter O.
2026-02-13

Not D, user crontabs aren’t usually stored directly in home directories. B makes more sense since /var/spool/cron holds per-user files managed by the system’s cron daemon.

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PO
Peter O.
2026-02-11

Maybe D, since users can edit their crontab with “crontab -e,” it might save a hidden .crontab file in their home directory. That could explain why it’s not always visible elsewhere.

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PO
Peter O.
2026-02-11

B/D? I know the standard location for user crontabs on most Linux distros is /var/spool/cron, which fits B. But some docs mention that users can edit their crontabs with “crontab -e” which doesn’t create a visible file named .crontab in their home directory, so D seems less likely. Also, the other options mentioning shared files don’t make much sense for user-specific setups. So I’d go with B as the more traditional and widely used location for individual user crontabs.

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JM
Jason M.
2026-01-29

B, since user crontabs are usually stored in /var/spool/cron on Linux systems.

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OG
Omar G.
2026-01-29

I’m sticking with B because user crontabs are typically stored under /var/spool/cron as separate files named after each user. This matches what I’ve seen on most standard Linux systems. Options like A and E mention shared files, which wouldn’t isolate user jobs properly. D sounds plausible but the .crontab file in home directories isn’t usually where cron reads from directly—it’s more for users editing their crontab with the command line tool. So B fits best for the usual setup.

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LH
Luke H.
2026-01-28

It’s B for me. User crontabs are stored as separate files in /var/spool/cron, each named after the user. That way, the system can manage them individually without mixing everything. Options like A and E mention shared files, which doesn’t fit the “user-specific” part. D sounds like a guess based on some configs but isn’t the default location. C doesn’t seem right either since /etc/cron.user.d isn’t a common standard directory for user crontabs. So, B makes the most sense across most Linux distros.

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PB
Peter B.
2026-01-27

Maybe D could be right, since some systems let users keep their crontab in their home directory as a hidden file. But thinking more, that’s not usually the default place for user crontabs. User-specific crontabs are often managed by the system, not just sitting in the home folder. The question probably means the standard setup where each user’s crontab is stored somewhere central but separated, so B still feels like the more solid choice overall.

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PB
Peter B.
2026-01-26

B, since system-wide files wouldn't be user-specific.

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SI
Shah I.
2026-01-25

B. The key here is "user-specific crontabs," and those are typically stored in separate files under /var/spool/cron, each named after the user. Options A and E talk about shared files, which doesn’t fit the "user-specific" part. C looks like a system-wide config directory, not for individual user crontabs. D is usually not correct since crontabs aren’t stored in users’ home directories but managed centrally.

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SH
Saad H.
2026-01-25

It’s B because /var/spool/cron holds user crontabs, not the others.

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RZ
Ryan Z.
2026-01-24

B/C? B makes sense for user-specific files, but C might be for system cron jobs per user or config snippets. Definitely not home dir or shared files.

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OD
Osama D.
2026-01-24

D imo, home directory crontabs aren't the norm on most Linux systems, and /var/spool/cron is the standard spot for user-specific crontabs. C sounds more like system-wide config snippets, not user files.

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NM
Noah M.
2026-01-22

B. User crontabs aren’t stored in home directories or shared single files, so A, D, and E don’t fit. C sounds like it could be a config drop-in directory rather than actual crontabs. The per-user files in /var/spool/cron is the standard spot on most Linux systems, so B makes the most sense here.

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CG
Carlos G.
2026-01-20

B, because user crontabs aren’t kept in home directories or shared files.

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IG
Irfan G.
2026-01-19

It’s B because user crontabs are stored separately, not in shared files or home directories.

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AQ
Ahmed Q.
2026-01-16

B/D? B makes sense because of the centralized storage per user, but some systems let users have .crontab files in their home directories. Not sure if that counts as official storage though.

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