The answer is that the CloudFormation stack was created without specifying the SNS topic ARN in the 'NotificationARNs' parameter. This is correct because CloudFormation only publishes stack event notifications—including failure alerts—to an SNS topic that is explicitly listed in the stack's 'NotificationARNs' configuration; simply creating a topic and subscribing to it does not automatically link it to the stack. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of CloudFormation’s notification delivery mechanism, which is a common trap where candidates assume that any existing SNS topic will receive events by default. A key memory tip is to think of the 'NotificationARNs' parameter as a mandatory address book entry—without it, CloudFormation has no destination for its failure notifications, no matter how many topics you create.
DOP-C02 Monitoring and Logging Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. 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 CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The DevOps team wants to receive notifications when stack operations fail. They create an Amazon SNS topic and subscribe the team's email. Then they configure CloudFormation to send notifications to the SNS topic. However, no notifications are received when a stack creation 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 CloudFormation stack was created without specifying the SNS topic ARN in the 'NotificationARNs' parameter.
Option D is correct. CloudFormation sends notifications to the SNS topic only if the topic ARN is specified in the stack's 'NotificationARNs' parameter. Option A is incorrect because CloudFormation can send notifications to any SNS topic. Option B is incorrect because email subscriptions must be confirmed, but that is done when subscribing. Option C is incorrect because SNS does not require IAM roles for CloudFormation to publish.
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 SNS topic does not have an IAM policy allowing CloudFormation to publish.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation does not need a resource-based policy to publish to SNS.
✗
The email subscription to the SNS topic has not been confirmed.
Why it's wrong here
If the subscription was confirmed, that is not the issue.
✗
The SNS topic is in a different AWS Region.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation can send to SNS topics in the same account regardless of region.
✓
The CloudFormation stack was created without specifying the SNS topic ARN in the 'NotificationARNs' parameter.
Why this is correct
The topic ARN must be specified in the stack's parameters.
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
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 DOP-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.
Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The CloudFormation stack was created without specifying the SNS topic ARN in the 'NotificationARNs' parameter. — Option D is correct. CloudFormation sends notifications to the SNS topic only if the topic ARN is specified in the stack's 'NotificationARNs' parameter. Option A is incorrect because CloudFormation can send notifications to any SNS topic. Option B is incorrect because email subscriptions must be confirmed, but that is done when subscribing. Option C is incorrect because SNS does not require IAM roles for CloudFormation to publish.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DOP-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". 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 uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The DevOps team needs to receive notifications when stack creation fails. Which approach should be used to automate this monitoring?
medium
✓ A.Create a CloudWatch Events rule that matches CloudFormation 'CREATE_FAILED' stack events and targets an SNS topic.
B.Use AWS Config rules to detect failed stack creations.
C.Enable CloudTrail and create a metric filter for 'CreateStack' API calls.
D.Stream CloudFormation logs to CloudWatch Logs and create a metric filter for 'CREATE_FAILED'.
Why A: Option C is correct because CloudFormation stack events are sent to CloudWatch Events, which can be used to trigger a notification via SNS. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail logs CloudFormation API calls, not stack events specifically. Option B is wrong because CloudWatch Logs does not automatically receive CloudFormation events; they must be sent via CloudWatch Events. Option D is wrong because AWS Config does not monitor CloudFormation stack events.
Variation 2. A company uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The DevOps team wants to receive notifications when a stack fails to create or update. What is the MOST efficient way to achieve this?
easy
✓ A.Configure an SNS topic in the stack's notification options.
B.Create a custom resource in the stack that publishes to Amazon SNS.
C.Create a CloudWatch alarm on the StackStatus metric.
D.Use Amazon EventBridge to capture CloudFormation events and publish to SNS.
Why A: Option A is correct because AWS CloudFormation natively supports specifying Amazon SNS topic ARNs in the stack's notification options. When a stack operation (create, update, or delete) fails, CloudFormation automatically publishes a notification to the configured SNS topic without requiring any custom code, additional resources, or external event processing. This is the most efficient approach as it leverages built-in functionality with zero maintenance overhead.
Variation 3. A company uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The DevOps team wants to monitor the CloudFormation stack events to detect when stack creation or updates fail, and automatically send notifications to a Slack channel. The team has set up an Amazon SNS topic that sends messages to a Slack webhook via a Lambda function. Which solution should the team implement to trigger the SNS topic when a CloudFormation stack fails?
medium
A.Use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query CloudFormation logs and set up a scheduled query to send results to SNS.
✓ B.Configure the CloudFormation stack to send events to an SNS topic by specifying the topic ARN in the stack's notification options.
C.Enable AWS CloudTrail to log CloudFormation API calls and create a CloudWatch metric filter that detects failure messages, then trigger an alarm to SNS.
D.Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches CloudFormation API calls for CreateStack and UpdateStack with a status of CREATE_FAILED or UPDATE_FAILED, and set the target to the SNS topic.
Why B: Option D is correct because CloudFormation publishes stack events to an SNS topic when specified as a notification ARN in the stack. The team can create an SNS topic and subscribe the Slack webhook Lambda function to it, then specify that topic as the notification ARN when creating or updating the stack. This will send events directly to SNS. Option A is wrong because CloudFormation does not send events to EventBridge by default; you would need to create a rule. Option B is wrong because CloudTrail logs API calls, but you would need additional setup. Option C is wrong because CloudWatch Logs Insights is for querying logs, not real-time events.
Variation 4. A company uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. The DevOps team wants to receive notifications when a stack creation fails due to a resource limit exceeded error. Which approach should be used?
medium
A.Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches CloudFormation resource limit exceeded events and sends to SQS.
✓ B.Configure an SNS topic as a notification option in the CloudFormation stack, and subscribe an email endpoint.
C.Use AWS Config to detect when a stack is in a failed state.
D.Enable CloudTrail and create a CloudWatch alarm on the CreateStack API call.
Why B: Option B is correct because CloudFormation natively supports sending stack events (including creation failures) to an SNS topic. By configuring an SNS topic as a notification option in the stack creation request, the DevOps team can subscribe an email endpoint to receive real-time notifications when a resource limit exceeded error occurs, without needing additional services or custom logic.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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