DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
A company is using AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The developer wants to update a stack and needs to know what changes will be made before executing the update. Which AWS CLI command should the developer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse `aws cloudformation update-stack` with a preview command, but it directly applies changes, whereas `create-change-set` is the correct command for reviewing changes before execution.
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
✓
aws cloudformation create-change-set
The `aws cloudformation create-change-set` command creates a change set, which is a summary of proposed changes to a CloudFormation stack. This allows the developer to review what resources will be added, modified, or deleted before executing the update, without making any actual changes. The change set can then be executed with `aws cloudformation execute-change-set` to apply the changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
aws cloudformation deploy
Why it's wrong here
The aws cloudformation deploy command is a high-level AWS CLI command designed to simplify the deployment of CloudFormation stacks, often used in CI/CD pipelines. While it handles both stack creation and updates, it directly executes the changes specified in the template without generating a change set for review. This command prioritizes immediate deployment over a detailed preview of resource modifications, making it inappropriate for a preview-first workflow.
- ✓
aws cloudformation create-change-set
Why this is correct
Correct. The aws cloudformation create-change-set command creates a change set, which is a summary of proposed changes to a CloudFormation stack. This allows the developer to review what resources will be added, modified, or deleted before executing the update, without making any actual changes.
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aws cloudformation validate-template
Why it's wrong here
The aws cloudformation validate-template command performs a syntax check on a CloudFormation template, ensuring it adheres to the JSON or YAML format and uses valid CloudFormation intrinsic functions and resource types. This command does not interact with any existing stack or evaluate the potential impact of the template on deployed resources. Its sole purpose is to verify the template's structural correctness before it is used for stack operations, not to preview changes.
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aws cloudformation update-stack
Why it's wrong here
The aws cloudformation update-stack command directly applies changes defined in a new template to an existing CloudFormation stack. It immediately initiates the update process, modifying or replacing resources without an intermediate review step. This command is suitable when a developer is confident in the changes and does not require a prior preview of the proposed modifications, making it unsuitable for scenarios requiring a pre-execution review.
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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.