DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Set the MAVEN_OPTS environment variable to use a custom repository path.

  Why it's wrong here

  Setting MAVEN_OPTS to a custom repository path only changes where Maven writes its local dependencies on the build machine; it does not tell CodeBuild to cache those files across runs. CodeBuild's dependency caching is a separate feature configured in the project or buildspec, and without that configuration, the custom path would be discarded when the build environment is torn down. Environment variables alone cannot persist state.

• ✗

  Configure the buildspec to upload the Maven repository as a build artifact.

  Why it's wrong here

  Uploading the Maven repository as a build artifact packages it as build output, which is stored after the build and downloaded only when you explicitly retrieve it. Artifacts are not automatically restored to the build environment at the start of a subsequent build, nor do they feed a dependency cache that speeds up resolution. Build artifacts serve a different purpose, such as deployable files, and using them for caching would also pollute the artifact namespace.

• ✗

  Enable 'Local cache' mode in the CodeBuild project.

  Why it's wrong here

  The 'Local cache' option in a CodeBuild project controls disk-level caching on the build host, primarily for Docker layers, and in general does not persist across separate build runs unless the same build host is reused. It is not designed to cache arbitrary Maven repository content such as ~/.m2, and it does not provide the durable, centralized cache backed by S3 that CodeBuild uses for dependency caching. Relying on the 'Local cache' toggle would not satisfy the requirement to cache the Maven repository.

• ✓

  Add a 'cache' section in the buildspec file specifying the paths to cache.

  Why this is correct

  Adding a 'cache' section to the buildspec is the correct way to declare which paths CodeBuild should cache. You specify relative or absolute paths, such as /root/.m2, and CodeBuild saves the contents to a configurable S3 cache bucket after the build. On subsequent builds, CodeBuild restores those paths before the build starts, so dependency resolution skips re-downloading artifacts. This is the official mechanism for Maven dependency caching in CodeBuild.

• ✓

  Create an S3 bucket to store the cache.

  Why this is correct

  Creating an S3 bucket is required because CodeBuild stores the cache in a user-specified S3 bucket, which acts as the durable backing store for cached files. The bucket must be configured in the project's 'Cache' settings, and the cache is stored using a cache key that lets CodeBuild retrieve the correct snapshot for each build. Without the S3 bucket, there is nowhere for CodeBuild to persist the cached Maven repository across builds, so this step is an essential part of the correct solution.

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