← DOP-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 610 of 1,750

Monitoring and Logging →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

CloudWatch Logs Metric Filter for Error Count Alert

This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company is running a critical application on Amazon ECS with Fargate launch type. The application writes logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. The DevOps team needs to set up an alert when the application generates more than 100 error logs in any 5-minute window. Which configuration should be used?

A
Create a CloudWatch Logs Insights query that runs every 5 minutes and triggers an SNS notification
Why wrong: CloudWatch Logs Insights is not designed for real-time alerting.
B
Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches CloudWatch Logs events for the word 'ERROR' and triggers an alarm
Why wrong: EventBridge cannot directly parse log content; it works with CloudWatch Logs subscription filters.
C
Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for 'ERROR' and a CloudWatch alarm on the resulting metric with a period of 5 minutes
Metric filter extracts error count into a custom metric, and alarm triggers when threshold exceeded.
D
Enable AWS CloudTrail logging for the ECS task and create a metric filter on CloudTrail logs
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls, not application errors.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for 'ERROR' and a CloudWatch alarm on the resulting metric with a period of 5 minutes

The correct answer is C. A CloudWatch Logs metric filter can be configured to count occurrences of the word 'ERROR' in log streams. This filter creates a custom metric that can be monitored by a CloudWatch alarm with a period of 5 minutes. When the metric exceeds the threshold of 100, the alarm triggers an action such as an SNS notification. Option A is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs Insights is a query tool for interactive analysis, not for continuous real-time alerting. Option B is incorrect because EventBridge events are not generated from log content directly; you would need a metric filter or subscription filter to turn log data into events. Option D is incorrect because AWS CloudTrail logs API activities, not application error logs written to CloudWatch Logs.

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.

✗
Create a CloudWatch Logs Insights query that runs every 5 minutes and triggers an SNS notification
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs Insights is not designed for real-time alerting.
✗
Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches CloudWatch Logs events for the word 'ERROR' and triggers an alarm
Why it's wrong here
EventBridge cannot directly parse log content; it works with CloudWatch Logs subscription filters.
✓
Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for 'ERROR' and a CloudWatch alarm on the resulting metric with a period of 5 minutes
Why this is correct
Metric filter extracts error count into a custom metric, and alarm triggers when threshold exceeded.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable AWS CloudTrail logging for the ECS task and create a metric filter on CloudTrail logs
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not application errors.

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 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. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. 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

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.

Related DOP-C02 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

Configuration Management and IaC practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Configuration Management and IaC.

Resilient Cloud Solutions practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Resilient Cloud Solutions.

Monitoring and Logging practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Monitoring and Logging.

Incident and Event Response practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Incident and Event Response.

Security and Compliance practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Security and Compliance.

SDLC Automation practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to SDLC Automation.

DOP-C02 fundamentals practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 fundamentals.

DOP-C02 scenario practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 scenario.

DOP-C02 troubleshooting practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 troubleshooting.

Practice this exam

Start a free DOP-C02 practice session

Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.

10 questions 20 questions 30 questions 50 questions Timed 30

DOP-C02 practice-test guide →Study guide →Browse all practice tests

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DOP-C02 question test?

Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for 'ERROR' and a CloudWatch alarm on the resulting metric with a period of 5 minutes — The correct answer is C. A CloudWatch Logs metric filter can be configured to count occurrences of the word 'ERROR' in log streams. This filter creates a custom metric that can be monitored by a CloudWatch alarm with a period of 5 minutes. When the metric exceeds the threshold of 100, the alarm triggers an action such as an SNS notification. Option A is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs Insights is a query tool for interactive analysis, not for continuous real-time alerting. Option B is incorrect because EventBridge events are not generated from log content directly; you would need a metric filter or subscription filter to turn log data into events. Option D is incorrect because AWS CloudTrail logs API activities, not application error logs written to CloudWatch Logs.

What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

How Courseiva writes practice questions · Editorial policy

Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on DOP-C02

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A company runs a serverless application using AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, and Amazon DynamoDB. The application processes financial transactions. The DevOps team needs to monitor for duplicate transactions that could occur due to retries. The team wants to set up an alert when the number of duplicate transaction attempts exceeds 10 in a 5-minute window. The application logs each transaction attempt with a unique transaction ID to CloudWatch Logs. What is the most efficient way to achieve this?

medium

✓ A.Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter that counts log events containing 'DuplicateTransaction' and set an alarm on the metric with a threshold of 10.
B.Use DynamoDB Streams to trigger a Lambda function that counts duplicates and publishes metrics.
C.Stream the CloudWatch Logs to Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics and use SQL queries to detect duplicates.
D.Modify the Lambda function to publish a custom metric to CloudWatch for each duplicate transaction, then set an alarm.

Why A: Option A is correct because a CloudWatch Logs metric filter can parse log events for the pattern 'DuplicateTransaction' and create a custom metric, which can then trigger a CloudWatch alarm when the count exceeds 10 in a 5-minute window. This approach leverages existing logs without requiring code changes or additional services, making it the most efficient.

Keep practising

Question Discussion

Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.

Loading comments…

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.