CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Step 1: Create target group, Step 2: Register targets, Step 3: Create Application Load Balancer, Step 4: Configure listeners and forward to target group

  Why this is correct

  The target group must exist first because it defines the routing protocol, port, VPC, and health check settings that determine how the ALB evaluates instance health. Registering targets next associates the EC2 instances with that group using the target group's Amazon Resource Name. Only after the target group and targets are ready should you create the ALB, since its listener rules need a valid target group ARN to forward traffic to. Finally, configuring the listener completes the path from client request to healthy backend target.

• ✗

  Step 1: Create Application Load Balancer, Step 2: Create target group, Step 3: Register targets, Step 4: Configure listeners

  Why it's wrong here

  This is incorrect because creating the ALB first is possible, but the listener cannot be configured to forward traffic to a target group that hasn't been created yet. Typically, you create the target group first.

• ✗

  Step 1: Register targets, Step 2: Create target group, Step 3: Create Application Load Balancer, Step 4: Configure listeners

  Why it's wrong here

  Registering targets is an API operation that requires an existing target group's ARN, because the target group specifies the target type (instance or IP) and the port/protocol used for health checks. Without a target group, there is no destination for the registration call, and the health check configuration that validates targets has not been defined. This sequence is invalid because it attempts to attach instances to a non-existent resource, whereas the correct workflow creates the target group before any targets are added.

• ✗

  Step 1: Configure listeners, Step 2: Create target group, Step 3: Register targets, Step 4: Create Application Load Balancer

  Why it's wrong here

  Listeners are child resources of an Application Load Balancer and cannot be created or configured until the ALB itself exists, since a listener is bound to the ALB's network interfaces and security group. Additionally, a listener rule's forward action requires a target group ARN to route to, but in this order neither the ALB nor the target group has been created yet. This sequence is fundamentally impossible because listener configuration depends on both the load balancer identity and the target group it forwards to.

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