Western Governors University (WGU) ITAS2140 D431 Digital Forensics in Cybersecurity Practice Exam

In the context of Unix and its derivatives like Linux, 'init' is a crucial system process that has the primary role of managing system daemons. When the operating system boots, 'init' is one of the first processes that is started by the kernel and it sets up the user space by launching services and managing processes. It acts as the parent process for all other processes on the system. Its responsibilities include starting system services (daemons), managing the boot process, and handling run levels, which determine the state of the machine such as whether it is in single-user mode, multi-user mode, or graphical mode.

Understanding the significance of 'init' in managing daemons is essential because these daemons are background processes that perform various tasks necessary for system operation, such as handling network requests, performing scheduled tasks, or managing hardware resources. This foundational role of 'init' is vital for the stability and functionality of the Unix system environment.