This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of incident and event response. 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 DevOps engineer receives a CloudWatch alarm that the 'StatusCheckFailed' metric for an EC2 instance is in ALARM state. The instance is part of an Auto Scaling group. What should the engineer do first to restore service?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Update the Auto Scaling group's launch configuration
Why wrong: Not an immediate action for a failed instance.
Wait for Auto Scaling to replace the instance
Auto Scaling will automatically terminate and launch a new instance.
Manually terminate the instance
Why wrong: Auto Scaling will handle it; manual termination may cause issues.
Reboot the instance
Why wrong: Rebooting may not resolve a hardware issue.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Wait for Auto Scaling to replace the instance
Option B is correct because the instance status check failure indicates a system issue; if the instance is unhealthy, Auto Scaling will terminate and replace it. Option A is wrong because rebooting may not fix underlying issues. Option C is wrong because terminating manually is not needed; Auto Scaling handles it. Option D is wrong because changing the AMI is not immediate.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Update the Auto Scaling group's launch configuration
Why it's wrong here
Not an immediate action for a failed instance.
Wait for Auto Scaling to replace the instance
Why this is correct
Auto Scaling will automatically terminate and launch a new instance.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Manually terminate the instance
Why it's wrong here
Auto Scaling will handle it; manual termination may cause issues.
Reboot the instance
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting may not resolve a hardware issue.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
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. NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated. 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
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related DOP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Incident and Event Response — This question tests Incident and Event Response — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Wait for Auto Scaling to replace the instance — Option B is correct because the instance status check failure indicates a system issue; if the instance is unhealthy, Auto Scaling will terminate and replace it. Option A is wrong because rebooting may not fix underlying issues. Option C is wrong because terminating manually is not needed; Auto Scaling handles it. Option D is wrong because changing the AMI is not immediate.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related DOP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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