ACSP Data Management and Backups 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A user's Mac has a corrupted APFS volume. Which Terminal command can be used to verify and repair the file system?
- diskutil repairVolume /
- fsck -fy /dev/disk1s1 (Correct answer)
- diskutil resetFusion /
- hdiutil verify /dev/disk1
Correct answer: fsck -fy /dev/disk1s1
fsck (file system consistency check) with -fy flags forces a check and automatically repairs the APFS or HFS+ volume when run from Recovery Mode.
Question 2: When using Time Machine with a network share (SMB), what file format does macOS use to store the backup?
- Sparse bundle disk image (.sparsebundle) (Correct answer)
- DMG disk image (.dmg)
- Tar archive (.tar)
- Zip archive (.zip)
Correct answer: Sparse bundle disk image (.sparsebundle)
Time Machine stores network backups as a sparse bundle disk image (.sparsebundle), which allows efficient incremental updates over the network.
Question 3: A user accidentally deleted files from their Mac and emptied the Trash. Time Machine is not configured. Which macOS feature might still allow file recovery?
- iCloud Drive version history (Correct answer)
- APFS snapshots created by Time Machine during backups
- FileVault recovery key
- Spotlight index cache
Correct answer: iCloud Drive version history
iCloud Drive keeps version history and recently deleted files for up to 30 days, providing a recovery option when Time Machine is unavailable.
Question 4: What happens to APFS snapshots when a Time Machine backup is successfully completed on an APFS volume?
- Snapshots are converted to full backups
- The local snapshot is deleted after the backup completes (Correct answer)
- Snapshots are encrypted and stored in the backup
- Snapshots remain permanently until disk space runs low
Correct answer: The local snapshot is deleted after the backup completes
macOS creates a local APFS snapshot before backing up, and once the Time Machine backup to the external destination completes successfully, the local snapshot is removed.
Question 5: A company requires that all employee Mac backups be encrypted. When configuring Time Machine, at which point can encryption be enabled?
- Only after the first backup completes
- When initially selecting the backup disk in Time Machine settings (Correct answer)
- Encryption must be enabled via Terminal after setup
- Time Machine does not support backup encryption
Correct answer: When initially selecting the backup disk in Time Machine settings
Time Machine offers an option to encrypt the backup disk when you first select it as the backup destination in System Settings.
Question 6: Which utility in macOS Recovery can be used to restore an entire Mac from a Time Machine backup?
- Migration Assistant
- Restore from Time Machine Backup (Correct answer)
- Disk Utility
- Terminal with tmutil
Correct answer: Restore from Time Machine Backup
macOS Recovery includes a 'Restore from Time Machine Backup' option that allows full system restoration directly from a Time Machine backup.
Question 7: A user has an APFS volume with snapshots enabled. How can they browse and restore files from a local APFS snapshot without an external backup drive?
- Use Disk Utility to mount the snapshot
- Open Time Machine; it can browse local APFS snapshots (Correct answer)
- Use Migration Assistant to access snapshots
- Use the Get Info dialog in Finder
Correct answer: Open Time Machine; it can browse local APFS snapshots
The Time Machine interface can browse local APFS snapshots even without a connected external backup drive, allowing file-level restoration.
ACSP Data Management and Backups 4
A user's Mac has a corrupted APFS volume.
Which Terminal command can be used to verify and repair the file system?