This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A CloudFormation update may replace an RDS database. The developer wants to preview replacement risk before executing. What should be created?
A stack policy only
Why wrong: This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
A change set
Correct for the stated requirement.
A nested stack output
Why wrong: This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
A CloudWatch dashboard
Why wrong: This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
Answer choices
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.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
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
This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
A change set
Why this is correct
Correct for the stated requirement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
A nested stack output
Why it's wrong here
This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
A CloudWatch dashboard
Why it's wrong here
This does not meet the stated requirement as directly as the correct option.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates 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.
Detailed technical explanation
When you create a change set, CloudFormation compares the current stack template with the proposed template and generates a list of resource changes, each with a 'Replacement' field set to 'True' or 'False'. For an RDS DB instance, replacement typically occurs when you modify immutable properties like the DB engine, DB instance class, or storage type, causing a new physical resource to be created and the old one deleted. You can execute the change set to apply the changes only after reviewing the preview.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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FAQ
Deployment — This question tests Deployment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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