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Question 1,218 of 1,740

Configuration Management and IaC →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is that the parent stack’s update policy defaults to CONTINUE, so CloudFormation keeps updating other resources even after a nested stack failure. This happens because, by default, CloudFormation treats nested stack failures as non-fatal during updates, allowing the parent stack to proceed with deploying or modifying remaining resources. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of stack update behavior and rollback policies—specifically that the OnFailure parameter only applies during stack creation, not updates. A common trap is assuming OnFailure works the same for updates, but you must instead set the stack update options to ROLLBACK explicitly. To prevent this, always configure the parent stack’s update policy to ROLLBACK, which forces a full rollback if any nested stack fails. Memory tip: “Updates don’t fail by default—set ROLLBACK to halt the whole stack.”

DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question

This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of configuration management and iac. 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 CloudFormation to deploy a multi-tier web application. The template includes a nested stack for the database layer. When updating the stack, the database stack fails with a 'CREATE_FAILED' status, but the parent stack continues updating other resources. What is the most likely cause and best practice to prevent this?

Clue words in this question

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

Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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.

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Full question →

A
The parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE' by default. To prevent this, set 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options.
Setting 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' during update ensures the entire stack rolls back if any resource fails, maintaining consistency.
B
The parent stack was created without the '--capabilities' parameter, so it cannot roll back.
Why wrong: The capabilities parameter is for IAM resources, not related to rollback behavior.
C
The nested stack failure automatically triggers a rollback of the parent stack, but the rollback also failed.
Why wrong: By default, CloudFormation does not roll back the parent stack when a nested stack fails; it continues.
D
The parent stack is configured with 'OnFailure' set to 'DO_NOTHING'. Change it to 'DELETE'.
Why wrong: 'DO_NOTHING' is not a valid value; default is 'ROLLBACK' for stack creation but 'CONTINUE' for updates. This is incorrect.

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 parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE' by default. To prevent this, set 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options.

Option A is correct because, by default, when a CloudFormation stack update encounters a failure in a nested stack, the parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE', meaning it will proceed with updating other resources despite the failure. To prevent this, you should set the 'OnFailure' parameter to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options, which instructs CloudFormation to roll back the entire parent stack if any resource (including nested stacks) fails to update, ensuring consistency across the deployment.

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 parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE' by default. To prevent this, set 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options.
Why this is correct
Setting 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' during update ensures the entire stack rolls back if any resource fails, maintaining consistency.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "best", "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The parent stack was created without the '--capabilities' parameter, so it cannot roll back.
Why it's wrong here
The capabilities parameter is for IAM resources, not related to rollback behavior.
✗
The nested stack failure automatically triggers a rollback of the parent stack, but the rollback also failed.
Why it's wrong here
By default, CloudFormation does not roll back the parent stack when a nested stack fails; it continues.
✗
The parent stack is configured with 'OnFailure' set to 'DO_NOTHING'. Change it to 'DELETE'.
Why it's wrong here
'DO_NOTHING' is not a valid value; default is 'ROLLBACK' for stack creation but 'CONTINUE' for updates. This is incorrect.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates confuse the 'OnFailure' parameter (which only applies to stack creation) with update behavior, and mistakenly think that nested stack failures always trigger an automatic rollback of the parent stack, when in fact the default update policy is to continue.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, CloudFormation's stack update behavior is governed by the 'OnFailure' parameter only during stack creation; for updates, the equivalent control is the '--disable-rollback' flag (CLI) or the 'DisableRollback' property (API). When a nested stack fails during an update, CloudFormation marks that resource as 'UPDATE_FAILED' and, by default, continues updating other resources unless you explicitly set 'DisableRollback' to false (which is the default, but the behavior differs: if a resource fails, the stack enters 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS' only if rollback is enabled). In practice, this means that without explicit rollback configuration, a failed nested stack can leave the parent stack in a partially updated state, leading to inconsistent infrastructure.

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.

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 DOP-C02 question test?

Configuration Management and IaC — This question tests Configuration Management and IaC — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE' by default. To prevent this, set 'OnFailure' to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options. — Option A is correct because, by default, when a CloudFormation stack update encounters a failure in a nested stack, the parent stack's update policy is set to 'CONTINUE', meaning it will proceed with updating other resources despite the failure. To prevent this, you should set the 'OnFailure' parameter to 'ROLLBACK' in the stack update options, which instructs CloudFormation to roll back the entire parent stack if any resource (including nested stacks) fails to update, ensuring consistency across the deployment.

What should I do if I get this DOP-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: "best", "most likely". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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This DOP-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 DOP-C02 exam.