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 attaches the IAM policy shown to a user. The user attempts to upload an object to example-bucket using the AWS CLI with the command: `aws s3 cp file.txt s3://example-bucket/`. The upload fails. What is the MOST likely reason?
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.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The user did not specify server-side encryption in the request.
Option D is correct because the IAM policy shown (not provided in the question but implied by the context) likely includes a condition that requires server-side encryption (e.g., `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption: AES256`). The `aws s3 cp` command by default does not set the `--sse` flag, so the request lacks the required encryption header, causing S3 to deny the upload with an AccessDenied error.
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 user does not have permission to perform s3:PutObject on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The policy allows s3:PutObject on any object.
✗
The bucket policy overrides the IAM policy and denies the request.
Why it's wrong here
The bucket policy is not shown.
✗
The resource ARN does not include the bucket itself.
Why it's wrong here
The ARN includes all objects.
✓
The user did not specify server-side encryption in the request.
Why this is correct
The condition requires SSE with AES256.
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.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume an upload failure is due to missing `s3:PutObject` permission, overlooking that S3 condition keys (like encryption requirements) can silently deny requests even when the base action is allowed.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
The bucket policy is not shown.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 supports bucket policies and IAM policies that can enforce encryption via condition keys like `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` or `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id`. When a condition requires `AES256` and the request omits the `x-amz-server-side-encryption` header, S3 evaluates the condition as false and denies the request, even if the principal has the `s3:PutObject` action allowed. The AWS CLI `cp` command does not add encryption headers unless `--sse` or `--sse-kms-key-id` is specified.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
Storage Class
Min Duration
Retrieval
Use Case
S3 Standard
None
Immediate
Frequently accessed data
S3 Standard-IA
30 days
Immediate
Infrequent access, rapid retrieval
S3 One Zone-IA
30 days
Immediate
Non-critical infrequent data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
None
Immediate–hours
Unknown or changing access patterns
S3 Glacier Instant
90 days
Milliseconds
Archive with instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible
90 days
Minutes–hours
Archive, flexible retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
180 days
Hours
Long-term compliance archive
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.
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 user did not specify server-side encryption in the request. — Option D is correct because the IAM policy shown (not provided in the question but implied by the context) likely includes a condition that requires server-side encryption (e.g., `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption: AES256`). The `aws s3 cp` command by default does not set the `--sse` flag, so the request lacks the required encryption header, causing S3 to deny the upload with an AccessDenied error.
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.
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 attaches this IAM policy to a user. The user tries to upload an object to example-bucket without specifying encryption. What will happen?
medium
A.The upload succeeds only if the object is smaller than 5 GB.
B.The upload succeeds but the object is not encrypted.
C.The upload succeeds because S3 default encryption is applied.
✓ D.The upload fails with an access denied error.
Why D: The IAM policy denies any s3:PutObject request that does not include the x-amz-server-side-encryption header with a value of 'AES256'. Since the user attempts to upload without specifying encryption, the request lacks the required header, triggering the Deny effect in the policy. The explicit Deny overrides any Allow, resulting in an access denied error.
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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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