This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 developer uses AWS CodeBuild to run unit tests. The build succeeds but the tests fail. The developer wants to fail the build if tests fail. What should the developer do?
Ensure the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure.
CodeBuild fails build on non-zero exit.
Run tests in the post_build phase.
Why wrong: Phase does not affect exit code handling.
Set the command to always exit 0.
Why wrong: Would not fail build.
Enable build badges.
Why wrong: Badges are for readme status.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Ensure the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure.
In CodeBuild, the build phase succeeds or fails based on the exit code of the commands in the buildspec. By default, if a test command exits with a non-zero status, CodeBuild marks the build as FAILED. Therefore, ensuring the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure is the correct approach to fail the build when tests fail.
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.
Ensure the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure.
Why this is correct
CodeBuild fails build on non-zero exit.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Run tests in the post_build phase.
Why it's wrong here
Phase does not affect exit code handling.
Set the command to always exit 0.
Why it's wrong here
Would not fail build.
Enable build badges.
Why it's wrong here
Badges are for readme status.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may think moving tests to a different phase (post_build) or enabling badges will fix the issue, but the core mechanism is the exit code of the command, not the phase or visual indicators.
Detailed technical explanation
CodeBuild evaluates each command in the buildspec sequentially and stops on the first non-zero exit code unless the command is prefixed with '-' (ignore error). The test command's exit code is typically determined by the test framework (e.g., pytest returns 0 for success, 1 for failure). In a real-world scenario, if a developer uses a test runner that always exits 0 (e.g., some misconfigured Jest setups), the build will pass despite test failures, making it critical to verify the exit code behavior.
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: Ensure the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure. — In CodeBuild, the build phase succeeds or fails based on the exit code of the commands in the buildspec. By default, if a test command exits with a non-zero status, CodeBuild marks the build as FAILED. Therefore, ensuring the test command exits with a non-zero status on failure is the correct approach to fail the build when tests fail.
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 24, 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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