DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question
Network Topology
A DevOps engineer runs the command shown in the exhibit. The output shows the stack status as ROLLBACK_COMPLETE. Which statement best describes the current state of the stack?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse ROLLBACK_COMPLETE with a successful rollback that preserves resources, but for a creation failure, all resources are deleted, whereas for an update failure, the previous resources are restored.
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 stack creation failed and has been rolled back. No resources remain.
The ROLLBACK_COMPLETE status in AWS CloudFormation indicates that a stack creation or update operation failed and the stack has been fully rolled back. When a stack creation fails and rolls back, CloudFormation deletes all resources that were created during the failed creation attempt, leaving no resources remaining. This is the correct interpretation for a stack that was being created (not updated) and ended in ROLLBACK_COMPLETE.
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 stack was created successfully and is in a steady state.
Why it's wrong here
A status of ROLLBACK_COMPLETE is a terminal failure state in AWS CloudFormation, not a successful steady state. Successful creation ends with CREATE_COMPLETE, and a steady state would show status CREATE_COMPLETE with no rollback events present. Since the stack status is explicitly ROLLBACK_COMPLETE, the stack never reached a usable, operational state.
- ✗
The stack update failed and has been rolled back to the previous state.
Why it's wrong here
ROLLBACK_COMPLETE for a stack creation event cannot be the result of an update rollback. Update operations progress through UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS, UPDATE_COMPLETE, or UPDATE_ROLLBACK_* statuses, and the initial stack operation is recorded as the creation event with StackId and logical resource IDs. The exhibit shows a creation event culminating in ROLLBACK_COMPLETE, so interpreting it as an update failure is not consistent with CloudFormation's status semantics.
- ✗
The stack is currently in the process of rolling back after a failed creation.
Why it's wrong here
An in-progress rollback is indicated by the status ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS, during which CloudFormation is actively deleting or restoring resources. ROLLBACK_COMPLETE is a terminal state that means the rollback has already finished, so the stack is no longer in the process of rolling back. Therefore, this option incorrectly describes a completed rollback as if it were still underway.
- ✓
The stack creation failed and has been rolled back. No resources remain.
Why this is correct
The status ROLLBACK_COMPLETE after a stack creation failure means CloudFormation has finished cleaning up all resources that were created during the failed creation attempt. This terminal state indicates that the stack creation failed, the automatic rollback has completed, and no resources remain from that stack. The stack itself may still appear in the console with this status, but it is not active and holds no provisioned resources.
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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.