The answer is that the application uses too much memory, causing the instance to become unhealthy during deployment. This is the most likely cause because a t2.micro instance has only 1 GB of RAM, and if the application consumes excessive memory during the deployment process—such as during application startup or while running hooks—it can trigger out-of-memory errors, which cause the instance to fail health checks and drop below the minimum of one healthy host required by the deployment configuration. On the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how resource constraints on small instance types directly impact CodeDeploy’s deployment failure logic, especially when the error message mentions “too few healthy instances” rather than agent timeouts or permission issues. A common trap is to assume IAM roles or disk space are the problem, but the exam emphasizes that memory pressure on burstable instances is a frequent real-world cause. Memory tip: “T2 Micro, memory low—healthy hosts will go.”
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 is using AWS CodeDeploy to deploy a web application to an Auto Scaling group. The deployment fails with the error: 'The overall deployment failed because too many individual instances failed deployment, too few healthy instances are available, or some instances in your deployment group are experiencing problems.' The application is deployed to a t2.micro instance with 1 GB of RAM. The deployment uses an in-place update with a deployment configuration that has a minimum of 1 healthy host. What is the most likely cause of the failure?
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.
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
✓
The application uses too much memory, causing the instance to become unhealthy during deployment.
Option B is correct because the t2.micro instance has limited memory, and the application may cause out-of-memory errors during deployment. Option A is wrong because CodeDeploy agent timeout is typically 30 minutes, but the error mentions 'too few healthy instances', not timeout. Option C is wrong because IAM role permissions would cause a different error. Option D is wrong because insufficient disk space is less likely given the instance type has 8 GB EBS.
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 application uses too much memory, causing the instance to become unhealthy during deployment.
Why this is correct
t2.micro has only 1 GB RAM; high memory usage can cause health checks to fail.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "most likely", "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The instance does not have enough disk space to download the application revision.
Why it's wrong here
t2.micro typically has 8 GB EBS, which is usually sufficient for small applications.
✗
The CodeDeploy agent timed out because the deployment took longer than 30 minutes.
Why it's wrong here
The error does not indicate a timeout; it indicates health check failures.
✗
The IAM role for the CodeDeploy agent does not have sufficient permissions to deploy the application.
Why it's wrong here
This would result in a permission error, not a health check failure.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Identify which DVA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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: The application uses too much memory, causing the instance to become unhealthy during deployment. — Option B is correct because the t2.micro instance has limited memory, and the application may cause out-of-memory errors during deployment. Option A is wrong because CodeDeploy agent timeout is typically 30 minutes, but the error mentions 'too few healthy instances', not timeout. Option C is wrong because IAM role permissions would cause a different error. Option D is wrong because insufficient disk space is less likely given the instance type has 8 GB EBS.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DVA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely", "minimum / minimize". 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
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 company is using AWS CodeDeploy to deploy a web application to an Auto Scaling group of EC2 instances. The deployment fails with the error 'The overall deployment failed because too many individual instances failed deployment.' What is the most likely cause?
medium
A.The application specification file (appspec) is missing required hooks.
B.The IAM role for CodeDeploy does not have sufficient permissions to call EC2 APIs.
C.The Auto Scaling group does not have enough instances to meet the minimum healthy count.
✓ D.The number of instances that failed deployment exceeded the configured failure threshold.
Why D: Option C is correct because CodeDeploy has a failure threshold that, when exceeded, fails the entire deployment. Option A is wrong because insufficient capacity would cause a different error. Option B is wrong because IAM permissions would cause access denied errors. Option D is wrong because missing tags would cause a different error.
Variation 2. A developer is using AWS CodeDeploy to deploy an application to an Auto Scaling group. The deployment fails during the 'BeforeInstall' lifecycle event. Which file should the developer check to debug the failure?
medium
A.index.js
✓ B.appspec.yml
C.taskdef.json
D.buildspec.yml
Why B: Option C is correct because the appspec.yml defines lifecycle hooks like BeforeInstall, and the scripts referenced in those hooks are executed. If the hook fails, the developer should check the scripts specified in appspec.yml. Option A is incorrect because buildspec.yml is for CodeBuild. Option B is incorrect because taskdef.json is for ECS. Option D is incorrect because the application code is not the direct cause.
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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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