The answer is that the policy does not grant permissions on additional resources required for RunInstances, such as images and network interfaces. This is the most likely cause of the IAM policy EC2 RunInstances access denied missing permissions error because the RunInstances API action implicitly requires access to supporting resources like an Amazon Machine Image (AMI), a security group, and a subnet—each of which must be explicitly allowed in the policy. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the principle that EC2 actions often depend on other services’ resources, and a common trap is focusing only on the primary action while overlooking the required dependent permissions. A helpful memory tip is “RunInstances is never alone—it brings AMIs, subnets, and security groups to the party.”
DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of configuration management and iac. 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 team is using this IAM policy to allow a CI/CD pipeline to launch EC2 instances and retrieve parameters. However, the pipeline is failing with an 'AccessDenied' error when trying to create an instance. The pipeline uses a role with this policy attached. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The policy does not grant permissions on additional resources required for RunInstances, such as images and network interfaces.
Option A is correct because the policy only allows RunInstances for instance resource, but creating an instance also requires permissions on other resources like images, security groups, etc. Option B is wrong because the condition is on instance type, not on resource level. Option C is wrong because ssm:GetParameter is allowed. Option D is wrong because the policy is valid syntax.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 condition StringEquals on InstanceType is incorrectly formatted.
Why it's wrong here
The condition is syntactically correct.
✗
The pipeline does not have permission to call ssm:GetParameter because the resource is not specified.
Why it's wrong here
The action is allowed on all resources.
✓
The policy does not grant permissions on additional resources required for RunInstances, such as images and network interfaces.
Why this is correct
RunInstances requires permissions on resources like images, security groups, etc., which are not allowed.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The policy must include a 'Resource' for the 'ec2:DescribeInstances' action to be valid.
Why it's wrong here
DescribeInstances can be allowed on all resources.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DOP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Configuration Management and IaC — This question tests Configuration Management and IaC — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The policy does not grant permissions on additional resources required for RunInstances, such as images and network interfaces. — Option A is correct because the policy only allows RunInstances for instance resource, but creating an instance also requires permissions on other resources like images, security groups, etc. Option B is wrong because the condition is on instance type, not on resource level. Option C is wrong because ssm:GetParameter is allowed. Option D is wrong because the policy is valid syntax.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DOP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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