- A
An Amazon SES identity to send emails.
Why wrong: SES is not required; SNS can send emails if subscribed.
- B
An AWS Lambda function to send approval emails.
Why wrong: Lambda is not required; SNS can send emails directly.
- C
An Amazon CloudWatch alarm to trigger the approval.
Why wrong: CloudWatch alarms are not used for manual approvals.
- D
An IAM role that allows CodePipeline to publish to the SNS topic.
The pipeline needs permission to publish to SNS.
- E
An Amazon SNS topic to notify the approver.
SNS is used to send approval notifications.
Question 1,125 of 1,616
DVA-C02 Deployment Practice Question
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 company uses AWS CodePipeline to deploy a web application. The pipeline has a Source stage (CodeCommit), a Build stage (CodeBuild), and a Deploy stage (CodeDeploy). The developer wants to add a manual approval step before the Deploy stage. Which TWO configurations are required?
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
✓
An IAM role that allows CodePipeline to publish to the SNS topic.
Option D is correct because CodePipeline requires an IAM role with permissions to publish to an SNS topic in order to send notifications for manual approval actions. This role is assumed by CodePipeline to invoke the SNS Publish API, which delivers the approval request message to the configured topic. Without this role, the pipeline cannot notify the approver, and the approval step will fail. Option E is correct because an SNS topic is the mechanism used to send the approval notification to the approver. The SNS topic is configured in the approval stage of the pipeline, and it publishes a message that is sent to the subscribed approvers (e.g., via email). Both the SNS topic and the IAM role allowing CodePipeline to publish to it are required for the manual approval action to function.
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.
- ✗
An Amazon SES identity to send emails.
Why it's wrong here
SES is not required; SNS can send emails if subscribed.
- ✗
An AWS Lambda function to send approval emails.
Why it's wrong here
Lambda is not required; SNS can send emails directly.
- ✗
An Amazon CloudWatch alarm to trigger the approval.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch alarms are not used for manual approvals.
- ✓
An IAM role that allows CodePipeline to publish to the SNS topic.
Why this is correct
The pipeline needs permission to publish to SNS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
An Amazon SNS topic to notify the approver.
Why this is correct
SNS is used to send approval notifications.
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 often think an email-sending service like SES or a custom Lambda function is required, but the exam expects you to know that CodePipeline natively integrates with SNS for approval notifications and only needs the correct IAM permissions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, when you add a manual approval action to a CodePipeline stage, the pipeline pauses execution and publishes a message to the specified SNS topic. The IAM role for CodePipeline must include an sns:Publish permission on that topic's ARN. The approver then reviews the pipeline execution details and either approves or rejects the action via the AWS Management Console, CLI, or API, which resumes or halts the pipeline. A real-world scenario where this matters is when deploying to production: the manual approval gate ensures that a human verifies build artifacts or test results before the Deploy stage runs, preventing accidental deployments of faulty code.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DVA-C02 question test?
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: An IAM role that allows CodePipeline to publish to the SNS topic. — Option D is correct because CodePipeline requires an IAM role with permissions to publish to an SNS topic in order to send notifications for manual approval actions. This role is assumed by CodePipeline to invoke the SNS Publish API, which delivers the approval request message to the configured topic. Without this role, the pipeline cannot notify the approver, and the approval step will fail. Option E is correct because an SNS topic is the mechanism used to send the approval notification to the approver. The SNS topic is configured in the approval stage of the pipeline, and it publishes a message that is sent to the subscribed approvers (e.g., via email). Both the SNS topic and the IAM role allowing CodePipeline to publish to it are required for the manual approval action to function.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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