DVA-C02 Deployment 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.

• ✓

  Ensure the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure.

  Why this is correct

  AWS CodeBuild determines the success or failure of a build step based on the exit code of the executed command. A non-zero exit status, by convention in Unix-like systems, signals an error or failure. Therefore, configuring the test runner to return a non-zero exit code when tests fail will correctly propagate the test failure to CodeBuild, causing the entire build to fail and alert developers to issues. This mechanism is fundamental for automated CI/CD pipelines to accurately reflect the health of the codebase.

• ✗

  Run tests in the post_build phase.

  Why it's wrong here

  Running tests in the post_build phase, while a common practice for executing tests after the application has been built, does not inherently change how AWS CodeBuild processes command exit codes. Regardless of the phase (e.g., build, post_build), CodeBuild will still mark a step as failed and subsequently the entire build as failed if a command within that step exits with a non-zero status. The choice of phase primarily dictates the order of operations, not the error handling mechanism.

• ✗

  Set the command to always exit 0.

  Why it's wrong here

  Setting the test command to always exit with a status of 0 would prevent AWS CodeBuild from accurately identifying test failures. An exit code of 0 universally signifies successful execution, even if the tests themselves reported failures internally. This would cause CodeBuild to incorrectly mark the build as successful, masking critical issues and allowing faulty code to potentially proceed further in the deployment pipeline, undermining the purpose of automated testing.

• ✗

  Enable build badges.

  Why it's wrong here

  Enabling build badges in AWS CodeBuild provides a visual indicator of the latest build status, typically embedded in source code repositories' README files or external dashboards. While useful for quick status checks and transparency, build badges are purely a reporting and visualization feature. They have no impact whatsoever on the underlying logic that determines whether a CodeBuild project fails or succeeds based on command exit codes or other build specifications.

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