This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of sdlc automation. 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 CodePipeline with a multi-branch strategy. A new feature branch triggers a pipeline that runs unit tests and deploys to a test environment. The deployment step uses AWS CodeDeploy with a deployment group configured for in-place deployment to Amazon EC2 instances. The deployment fails intermittently with the error 'The overall deployment failed because too many individual instances failed deployment, too few healthy instances are available for deployment, or some instances in your deployment group are experiencing problems.' The instances are healthy and pass health checks. 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.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A previous deployment is still in progress or frozen in the CodeDeploy deployment group.
Option D is correct because CodeDeploy enforces a per-deployment-group concurrency limit of one deployment at a time. If a previous deployment is still in progress or in a 'frozen' state (e.g., due to a failed or stopped deployment that hasn't been explicitly rolled back or cleaned up), new deployments will fail with the 'too many individual instances failed' error even when instances are healthy. The error message is misleading because it reflects CodeDeploy's inability to proceed with the new deployment, not actual instance health issues.
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 pipeline has a failed execution that is blocking subsequent executions.
Why it's wrong here
CodePipeline allows concurrent executions unless specifically configured to block.
✗
The CodeDeploy agent on the instances is not running, causing the deployment to fail.
Why it's wrong here
If the agent were not running, instances would fail health checks and show specific errors.
✗
The pipeline is configured with a high frequency of changes, causing throttling from CodePipeline.
Why it's wrong here
CodePipeline throttles are rare and would produce a different error.
✓
A previous deployment is still in progress or frozen in the CodeDeploy deployment group.
Why this is correct
CodeDeploy limits concurrent deployments per deployment group; a frozen deployment prevents new ones.
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 misinterpret the generic 'too many instances failed' error as a sign of instance health issues or agent problems, when in reality it often indicates a concurrency or state conflict within the CodeDeploy deployment group.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
If the agent were not running, instances would fail health checks and show specific errors.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CodeDeploy deployment groups have a concurrency limit of one active deployment at a time by design. When a new deployment is initiated while another is still in progress (or in a 'Stopped' or 'Failed' state without being explicitly rolled back), CodeDeploy will reject the new deployment with the error described. This is a common issue in CI/CD pipelines where rapid commits trigger multiple pipeline runs, and the previous deployment hasn't completed or been cleaned up. The 'frozen' state can occur if a deployment is manually stopped or if the lifecycle hooks (e.g., BeforeInstall, AfterInstall) hang indefinitely, preventing the deployment from reaching a terminal state.
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.
SDLC Automation — This question tests SDLC Automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A previous deployment is still in progress or frozen in the CodeDeploy deployment group. — Option D is correct because CodeDeploy enforces a per-deployment-group concurrency limit of one deployment at a time. If a previous deployment is still in progress or in a 'frozen' state (e.g., due to a failed or stopped deployment that hasn't been explicitly rolled back or cleaned up), new deployments will fail with the 'too many individual instances failed' error even when instances are healthy. The error message is misleading because it reflects CodeDeploy's inability to proceed with the new deployment, not actual instance health issues.
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: "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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Question Discussion
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