Which command shows the overall SMART health status for a drive?

• A. sudo smartctl -A /dev/sdX
• B. sudo smartctl -i /dev/sdX
• C. sudo smartctl -l physical /dev/sdX
• D. sudo smartctl -H /dev/sdX

Answer: (D)

Querying SMART health status: the -H option asks smartctl to report the SMART overall-health self-assessment status for the drive. The output is a concise line that indicates whether the drive PASSED or FAILED the self-test, giving you a quick health verdict suitable for monitoring and alerts.

Other options provide different details: -A shows all SMART attributes and their values, which is useful for in-depth troubleshooting but not a simple health check. -i displays general device information (like SMART support, model, and serial). -l physical prints physical/log configuration details, not the overall health result.