DVA-C02 Deployment Practice Question
A CloudFormation update may replace an RDS database. The developer wants to preview replacement risk before executing. What should be created?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse a stack policy (which controls update permissions) with a change set (which provides a preview of changes), or they think monitoring tools like CloudWatch can predict infrastructure changes.
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
✓
A change set
A change set in AWS CloudFormation allows you to preview how proposed changes to a stack will be executed, including whether any resources will be replaced (e.g., an RDS database). By reviewing the change set, you can see if the update will cause replacement (indicated by 'Replacement: True') before you actually apply the changes, enabling risk assessment without modification.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A stack policy only
Why it's wrong here
A stack policy is specifically designed to protect designated stack resources from unintended updates or deletions during a CloudFormation stack update operation. While it can prevent an RDS database from being replaced by setting appropriate rules, its function is purely preventative and protective. It does not provide any mechanism to preview or determine *if* an update *will* replace the database before the update is executed.
- ✓
A change set
Why this is correct
A CloudFormation change set provides a comprehensive preview of the proposed modifications that CloudFormation will make to your stack's resources before you execute an update. It explicitly lists which resources will be added, modified, or replaced, including critical resources like an RDS database. This allows you to review the exact impact, such as a potential database replacement, and confirm it aligns with your intentions before applying the update to your infrastructure.
- ✗
A nested stack output
Why it's wrong here
A nested stack output is utilized to export specific resource attributes or values from a child stack so they can be referenced by its parent stack or other related stacks. While essential for modularizing templates and facilitating data flow between different layers of your infrastructure, it does not offer any functionality to preview or determine if an RDS database within a stack will be replaced during an update operation. Its primary purpose is data exposure, not change prediction.
- ✗
A CloudWatch dashboard
Why it's wrong here
A CloudWatch dashboard is a customizable interface used for monitoring the operational health, performance metrics, and logs of your AWS resources in real-time. While invaluable for observing an RDS database's status, performance, and availability *after* deployment, it offers no functionality to preview or predict the structural changes, such as a replacement, that a CloudFormation stack update operation might perform on that database. Its role is post-deployment observation, not pre-deployment analysis.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.