DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question
A DevOps engineer is designing a configuration management solution for a fleet of EC2 instances. The instances are ephemeral and frequently replaced by an Auto Scaling group. The engineer needs to ensure that newly launched instances are automatically configured with the latest software packages and settings. Which AWS service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse AWS Systems Manager State Manager with AWS CodeDeploy or AWS CloudFormation, mistakenly thinking that deployment or provisioning tools also handle ongoing configuration management, but State Manager is specifically designed for maintaining desired state on running instances.
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
✓
AWS Systems Manager State Manager
AWS Systems Manager State Manager is the correct choice because it provides a configuration management solution that ensures EC2 instances maintain a desired state. It uses associations to define the software packages, settings, and policies that should be applied to instances, and it automatically applies these configurations to newly launched instances, including those in an Auto Scaling group, without requiring custom scripts or manual intervention.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS CodeDeploy
Why it's wrong here
AWS CodeDeploy is an application deployment service that automates the release of code to running instances, but it does not manage system configuration. It executes deployment lifecycle hooks like BeforeInstall and AfterInstall, yet these are scoped to a specific application release, not to maintaining a persistent desired state across the fleet. Configuration management involves enforcing packages, services, and files on an ongoing basis, which CodeDeploy is not designed to do.
- ✗
AWS OpsWorks Stacks
Why it's wrong here
AWS OpsWorks Stacks does provide configuration management via Chef or Puppet, but it is architected around long-lived, persistent instances with a full application stack lifecycle. It requires authoring and maintaining cookbooks, managing layers, and running a Chef or Puppet server, which adds significant operational overhead for a simple configuration baseline. State Manager provides a more lightweight, native way to define associations directly on managed instances without the need for a separate configuration management platform.
- ✗
AWS CloudFormation
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudFormation is an infrastructure-as-code service that provisions resources like EC2 instances, VPCs, and security groups, but it is not a configuration management tool. It can call cfn-init to bootstrap software at launch, but it does not continuously monitor or enforce system state after the stack is created. If a config file is later modified or a service stops, CloudFormation will not automatically remediate it, whereas a configuration management service will.
- ✓
AWS Systems Manager State Manager
Why this is correct
AWS Systems Manager State Manager is the correct choice because it enforces desired configuration on managed instances through associations. An association defines a set of actions, such as running a custom SSM document or a Chef recipe, and State Manager executes it according to a schedule to ensure the instance remains compliant. If an instance drifts from the desired state, the next scheduled execution brings it back, providing continuous configuration management for both EC2 and hybrid instances.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.