The answer is to create a new environment, deploy the new version, and then swap the environment URLs. This is correct because blue/green deployment in AWS Elastic Beanstalk relies on swapping the CNAME records between two separate environments, instantly routing all traffic from the old blue environment to the new green one with zero downtime. On the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of minimizing deployment risk and enabling instant rollback, often appearing as a distractor against rolling or immutable deployments. A common trap is confusing URL swapping with updating the existing environment’s configuration, which would cause downtime. Remember the key: blue/green is about swapping, not updating. A useful memory tip is “Swap to stop, swap to start”—the URL swap halts traffic to blue and starts it on green instantly.
DVA-C02 Deployment Practice Question
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 development team uses AWS Elastic Beanstalk to deploy a web application. They want to perform a blue/green deployment to minimize downtime. What should they do to implement this?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a new environment, deploy the new version, and then swap the environment URLs.
Option D is correct because blue/green deployment in Elastic Beanstalk is achieved by creating a separate environment (the green environment) with the new application version, then swapping the CNAME records (URLs) of the two environments. This instantly routes traffic from the old (blue) environment to the new (green) environment with zero downtime, and allows quick rollback by swapping back.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Create an Auto Scaling group and manually replace instances.
Why it's wrong here
This is not an automated blue/green deployment.
✗
Update the existing environment with the new version and set the deployment policy to 'Rolling'.
Why it's wrong here
This is a rolling update, not blue/green.
✗
Use AWS CodeDeploy to perform a blue/green deployment on the EC2 instances.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Beanstalk manages deployments internally; CodeDeploy is not required.
✓
Create a new environment, deploy the new version, and then swap the environment URLs.
Why this is correct
This is the standard blue/green deployment in Elastic Beanstalk.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the built-in Elastic Beanstalk blue/green deployment (environment swap) with the deployment policies (e.g., Rolling, Immutable) that operate within a single environment, or they incorrectly assume CodeDeploy is the only way to perform blue/green deployments.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Elastic Beanstalk uses Amazon Route 53 CNAME records for environment URLs; swapping these records is a DNS-level operation that propagates quickly (within seconds to minutes depending on TTL). A real-world scenario where this matters is when you need to validate the new version in a production-like environment before cutting over, and you can also use the swap to roll back instantly by swapping again.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Deployment — This question tests Deployment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a new environment, deploy the new version, and then swap the environment URLs. — Option D is correct because blue/green deployment in Elastic Beanstalk is achieved by creating a separate environment (the green environment) with the new application version, then swapping the CNAME records (URLs) of the two environments. This instantly routes traffic from the old (blue) environment to the new (green) environment with zero downtime, and allows quick rollback by swapping back.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A developer is using AWS Elastic Beanstalk to deploy a web application. The environment uses an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The developer wants to perform a blue/green deployment to minimize downtime. Which TWO steps should the developer take? (Choose two.)
easy
A.Terminate the old environment after the new environment is deployed.
B.Add more EC2 instances to the existing environment.
✓ C.Deploy the new version to a separate Elastic Beanstalk environment.
D.Update the existing environment with the new version.
✓ E.Swap the CNAME records of the two environments.
Why C: Option C is correct because blue/green deployment requires a separate, isolated environment running the new version. Elastic Beanstalk supports this by allowing you to create a second environment (green) alongside the existing one (blue), ensuring zero overlap and no risk to the live application during deployment.
Variation 2. A development team is using AWS Elastic Beanstalk to deploy a web application. The team wants to perform a blue/green deployment. Which THREE steps are required to complete the blue/green deployment?
easy
A.Update the existing environment with the new version.
✓ B.Swap the CNAMEs of the two environments.
✓ C.Terminate the old environment after verifying the new environment.
D.Update the Route 53 DNS record to point to the new environment.
✓ E.Deploy the new application version to a separate Elastic Beanstalk environment.
Why B: Options A, C, and D are correct. In a blue/green deployment with Elastic Beanstalk, you deploy the new version to a separate environment (A), then swap the CNAMEs (C), and finally terminate the old environment (D). Option B is wrong because you don't update the old environment; you create a new one. Option E is wrong because you swap CNAMEs, not update DNS records manually.
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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.
Question Discussion
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