Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company runs a large fleet of Amazon EC2 instances across multiple environments (development, test, production). The security team requires a centralized, automated solution to apply operating system security patches on a regular schedule (e.g., every Tuesday at 2 AM). The solution must generate compliance reports showing which instances are patched and which are missing patches. The company wants a managed AWS service that works without requiring SSH or RDP access to the instances and does not require installing any custom agents. Which AWS service should the company use to meet these requirements?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager
Correct. AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager automates the process of patching managed nodes with both security-related and other types of updates. It uses the SSM Agent, which is preinstalled on many EC2 AMIs, to run patch scans and installations according to a schedule you define. Compliance reports are available directly in the AWS Systems Manager console.
B
Distractor review
AWS Config
Incorrect. AWS Config is a service that evaluates your AWS resource configurations against desired policies and tracks configuration changes over time. It does not have the ability to install patches or manage patching schedules. It can only report on whether an EC2 instance is compliant with a rule that checks, for example, whether patches are installed, but it cannot perform the patching itself.
C
Distractor review
Amazon Inspector
Incorrect. Amazon Inspector is an automated vulnerability management service that scans workloads for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure. It discovers vulnerabilities but does not apply patches. It provides a report of findings and recommendations, but the actual remediation (patching) must be done by another service or manually.
D
Distractor review
AWS OpsWorks
Incorrect. AWS OpsWorks is a configuration management service that uses Chef or Puppet to manage configurations on EC2 instances. While it can be used to apply patches as part of a cookbook or module, it is not specifically designed for automated patching on a schedule with built-in compliance reporting. It requires more custom scripting and setup compared to Patch Manager. Also, OpsWorks typically requires the Chef or Puppet agent, which is not preinstalled on standard AMIs.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer needs to launch a test server for a new application prototype. The developer logs into the AWS Management Console, selects an Amazon EC2 instance type, configures the security group, and starts the instance. The instance is running within two minutes, and the developer did not need to submit a formal request to the company's IT procurement team or wait for approval from a cloud administrator. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best demonstrate?
Question 2
A solutions architect is planning a new web application on AWS. The workload will include 3 Amazon EC2 instances (t3.medium) running 24/7, an Application Load Balancer, and an Amazon RDS for MySQL db.t3.small database. The architect needs to estimate the monthly cost for the first year, considering different purchasing options (On-Demand, 1-year All Upfront Reserved Instance, and Compute Savings Plan). Which AWS tool should the architect use to create this estimate?
Question 3
A company's development team frequently needs temporary test environments. A developer can log into the AWS Management Console, select an Amazon EC2 instance type, configure storage, and launch the instance within minutes without any interaction with the IT infrastructure team. This capability is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?
Question 4
A company's finance team needs to analyze AWS spending in detail. They require a report that includes hourly cost data for each AWS service, each individual resource (e.g., a specific EC2 instance), and any cost allocation tags applied. The team plans to export this data to an Amazon S3 bucket and then import it into a custom business intelligence (BI) analytics dashboard. Which AWS tool should the finance team use to generate this level of detailed cost data?
Question 5
A company uses AWS for its development environment. The finance team wants to set a monthly budget of $10,000. They want to receive an email notification when the actual costs reach 80% of the budget ($8,000) and again when costs exceed the budget. The team needs a managed AWS service that can automatically send these alerts without requiring custom code or third-party tools. Which AWS service should the team use?
Question 6
A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce a policy that restricts SSH access (port 22) from the internet (0.0.0.0/0) in all VPCs across all accounts. The team wants to centrally define the allowed rules and automatically apply them to newly created VPCs and security groups, while also automatically remediating any existing non-compliant security groups. Which AWS service should the team use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager — AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager is the correct service for automating OS patching across EC2 instances. It allows you to define patch baselines, schedule patching operations, and generate compliance reports without needing SSH/RDP access or installing extra software on the instances (it uses the SSM Agent, which is preinstalled on many Amazon Machine Images). AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes and compliance rules but does not manage patching. Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability assessment service that identifies software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure, but it does not apply patches. AWS OpsWorks is a configuration management service that uses Chef and Puppet, but it requires additional setup and does not natively focus on patch scheduling and reporting as Patch Manager does.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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