DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is troubleshooting a failed AWS Glue Crawler. The crawler logs show 'Insufficient permissions to access S3 bucket'. What should the engineer do to resolve this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse the crawler's execution context with an IAM user, leading them to choose Option A, but AWS Glue Crawlers always run under an IAM role, not a user.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Update the IAM role used by the crawler to include S3 read permissions
The AWS Glue Crawler uses an IAM role to access data sources. The error 'Insufficient permissions to access S3 bucket' indicates that the IAM role attached to the crawler lacks the necessary S3 read permissions (e.g., s3:GetObject, s3:ListBucket). Updating the IAM role's policy to include these permissions resolves the issue, as the crawler operates under that role, not under a specific IAM user.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Grant the crawler's IAM user access to the bucket
Why it's wrong here
Granting the crawler's IAM user access is unnecessary: Glue crawlers assume an IAM role, not a user, so attaching S3 permissions to a user leaves the crawler still unauthorised. It is tempting because identity permissions are the usual fix, but the role's policy is what must be amended.
- ✗
Attach a VPC endpoint to the S3 bucket
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoints provide private network routing to S3; they grant no IAM permissions, so the crawler's role still lacks s3:GetObject and the failure persists. Endpoints are tempting because they solve private-subnet connectivity to S3 without NAT, which would be the right fix if the error were a timeout rather than an authorisation denial.
- ✗
Enable S3 default encryption on the bucket
Why it's wrong here
S3 default encryption governs data at rest and does not grant the crawler's role permission to list or read objects. It is tempting because bucket-level settings often cause access failures, but the logged error is an IAM authorisation problem, not an encryption configuration one.
- ✓
Update the IAM role used by the crawler to include S3 read permissions
Why this is correct
The crawler assumes an IAM role to read S3 data; its current role lacks the required s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket permissions. Attaching an S3 read policy to that role directly resolves the logged authorisation failure, satisfying the crawler's need to access the source bucket.
Visual reference
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DEA-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DEA-C01 exam.