← DVA-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 1,158 of 1,616

Development with AWS Services →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

ECS Rolling Update: Maximum Task Count Reached

This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. 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 is using AWS CodePipeline to deploy a microservices application to Amazon ECS using the 'Rolling update' deployment type. The pipeline includes a source stage (CodeCommit), build stage (CodeBuild), and deploy stage (CodeDeploy to ECS). After a recent commit, the build stage succeeds, but the deploy stage fails with 'The service has reached the maximum number of running tasks.' What is the MOST likely cause?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
The task definition is misconfigured and the task fails to start.
Why wrong: Task failures would show as stopped tasks, not a max task count error.
B
The ECS service is configured with auto scaling and has reached the maximum task count.
Auto scaling can set a maximum tasks; if already at max, a rolling update that tries to start new tasks before stopping old ones will fail.
C
The ECS service has reached the AWS account service quota for Fargate tasks.
Why wrong: Account quotas are higher and the error message specifically says 'service has reached the maximum number' referring to service-level settings.
D
The CodeDeploy deployment configuration uses a 'canary' instead of 'rolling' update.
Why wrong: Deployment type does not cause a max task error; canary would also start new tasks.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

The ECS service is configured with auto scaling and has reached the maximum task count.

The error message 'The service has reached the maximum number of running tasks' indicates that the ECS service's desired count or the maximum task count defined in its auto scaling configuration has been hit. Since the deployment type is 'Rolling update', CodeDeploy replaces old tasks with new ones, but if the service has an auto scaling policy with a maximum task count, and the current number of tasks plus the new ones exceed that limit, the deployment will fail. Option B correctly identifies that the ECS service's auto scaling maximum task count is the most likely cause.

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.

✗
The task definition is misconfigured and the task fails to start.
Why it's wrong here
Task failures would show as stopped tasks, not a max task count error.
✓
The ECS service is configured with auto scaling and has reached the maximum task count.
Why this is correct
Auto scaling can set a maximum tasks; if already at max, a rolling update that tries to start new tasks before stopping old ones will fail.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The ECS service has reached the AWS account service quota for Fargate tasks.
Why it's wrong here
Account quotas are higher and the error message specifically says 'service has reached the maximum number' referring to service-level settings.
✗
The CodeDeploy deployment configuration uses a 'canary' instead of 'rolling' update.
Why it's wrong here
Deployment type does not cause a max task error; canary would also start new tasks.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates confuse the ECS service-level maximum task count (from auto scaling) with the AWS account-level service quota for Fargate tasks, leading them to incorrectly choose Option C.

Trap categories for this question

Command / output trap
Task failures would show as stopped tasks, not a max task count error.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, when using a rolling update with CodeDeploy and ECS, the deployment controller creates new tasks before terminating old ones, which can temporarily double the task count. If the ECS service has an auto scaling policy with a maximum task count (e.g., set via Application Auto Scaling), the deployment will fail when the sum of old and new tasks exceeds that maximum. A real-world scenario is when developers set a low maximum task count for cost control but forget to adjust it during deployments, causing intermittent failures.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DVA-C02 question test?

Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The ECS service is configured with auto scaling and has reached the maximum task count. — The error message 'The service has reached the maximum number of running tasks' indicates that the ECS service's desired count or the maximum task count defined in its auto scaling configuration has been hit. Since the deployment type is 'Rolling update', CodeDeploy replaces old tasks with new ones, but if the service has an auto scaling policy with a maximum task count, and the current number of tasks plus the new ones exceed that limit, the deployment will fail. Option B correctly identifies that the ECS service's auto scaling maximum task count is the most likely cause.

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: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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