DOP-C02 SDLC Automation Practice Question
A DevOps engineer is managing infrastructure as code using AWS CloudFormation. The engineer wants to automatically update a stack when changes are pushed to a Git repository. Which THREE services can be used together to achieve this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates think Amazon CloudWatch Events (EventBridge) alone can trigger stack updates, but it lacks the deployment orchestration and rollback capabilities that CodePipeline provides natively for CloudFormation.
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 CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation is the core service that manages the infrastructure as code stack. When combined with AWS CodeCommit as the Git repository and AWS CodePipeline as the CI/CD orchestrator, changes pushed to the repository trigger a pipeline that automatically updates the CloudFormation stack. CodePipeline can directly invoke CloudFormation actions (create, update, delete stacks) using its built-in deployment provider, eliminating the need for intermediate compute services.
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 CloudFormation
Why this is correct
AWS CloudFormation is the core service that declaratively provisions and updates the stack by processing the template. It manages the resource lifecycle, applies change sets, and handles rollbacks in a controlled manner, making it the essential target of the infrastructure-as-code pipeline.
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Amazon CloudWatch Events
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudWatch Events (now Amazon EventBridge) can be used to schedule or trigger a CodePipeline execution on a timer or in response to events, but it is not a required component for the described workflow. The pipeline can be triggered directly by source changes or manual approval, and CloudWatch Events does not itself update the CloudFormation stack, so it is optional and not part of the core service set.
- ✗
AWS CodeBuild
Why it's wrong here
AWS CodeBuild is often used to run linting or validate CloudFormation templates, but it is not needed to update a stack. CodePipeline's native CloudFormation deploy action directly creates or updates the stack, so adding CodeBuild is an optional enhancement rather than a required service for the pipeline to function.
- ✓
AWS CodeCommit
Why this is correct
AWS CodeCommit serves as the version-controlled Git repository that stores the CloudFormation templates and is used as a source provider in CodePipeline. When changes are pushed, CodePipeline detects the update and fetches the latest template, making CodeCommit a necessary service in the pipeline for maintaining the source of truth from which CloudFormation updates are deployed.
- ✓
AWS CodePipeline
Why this is correct
AWS CodePipeline is the orchestration service that connects the source stage (CodeCommit) to a deploy stage that uses the CloudFormation action to update the stack. It automates the release process, handles transitions, and provides visibility into execution status, making it the central service that triggers and coordinates the CloudFormation stack updates.
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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.