This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of resilient cloud solutions. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. An IAM policy is attached to an IAM role used by an EC2 instance. The instance is part of an Auto Scaling group. During a scale-in event, the instance fails to stop itself. 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 allow ec2:TerminateInstances.
The correct answer is C because during a scale-in event, the Auto Scaling group must terminate the EC2 instance. The IAM policy attached to the instance's role must include ec2:TerminateInstances permission for the instance to successfully stop itself. Without this permission, the instance cannot be terminated, causing the scale-in action to fail.
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 policy allows ec2:StopInstances but not ec2:StartInstances.
Why it's wrong here
StartInstances is not relevant for scale-in.
✗
The policy does not allow ec2:DescribeInstanceStatus.
Why it's wrong here
DescribeInstanceStatus is not needed for termination.
✓
The policy does not allow ec2:TerminateInstances.
Why this is correct
Auto Scaling uses TerminateInstances, not StopInstances.
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 does not allow ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute.
Why it's wrong here
Not required for termination.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the ec2:StopInstances action with termination, but Auto Scaling scale-in events require ec2:TerminateInstances, not ec2:StopInstances, and the instance must have explicit permission to terminate itself.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When an Auto Scaling group performs a scale-in, it sends a termination command to the EC2 instance. The instance must have an IAM role with a policy that grants ec2:TerminateInstances permission for the instance to execute the termination API call. Without this permission, the instance will fail to terminate, and the Auto Scaling group will mark the instance as unhealthy, potentially causing further scaling issues. This is a common misconfiguration in production environments where least-privilege policies inadvertently block necessary lifecycle actions.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Resilient Cloud Solutions — This question tests Resilient Cloud Solutions — 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 allow ec2:TerminateInstances. — The correct answer is C because during a scale-in event, the Auto Scaling group must terminate the EC2 instance. The IAM policy attached to the instance's role must include ec2:TerminateInstances permission for the instance to successfully stop itself. Without this permission, the instance cannot be terminated, causing the scale-in action to fail.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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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