Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator Exam: Maximum Niceness Value for Regular Users

Maximum Niceness Value for Regular Users

Question

What is the maximum niceness value that a regular user can assign to a process with the nice command when executing a new process?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

B

The 'nice' command is a Linux utility that allows users to adjust the scheduling priority of a process. It is used to prioritize the CPU usage of a process, allowing the user to assign a niceness value between -20 (highest priority) and +19 (lowest priority). The lower the niceness value, the higher the priority of the process.

When executing a new process, a regular user can assign a maximum niceness value of 19. This means that a regular user can only lower the priority of a process to the lowest possible priority.

The reason for this limit is to prevent regular users from interfering with critical system processes that need to run at a higher priority to ensure smooth system performance. The root user, on the other hand, has no such limit and can assign any niceness value to a process.

In summary, the maximum niceness value that a regular user can assign to a process with the nice command when executing a new process is 19.