DOP-C02 SDLC Automation Practice Question
Which TWO options are valid ways to trigger an AWS CodePipeline execution automatically? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse pipeline stage actions (like manual approval or deployment completion) with external event sources that automatically start the pipeline; candidates often think any pipeline activity can trigger itself, but only source changes from CodeCommit, S3, or third-party sources like GitHub (via webhooks) are valid automatic triggers.
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
✓
Changes to a CodeCommit repository.
AWS CodePipeline can automatically start a pipeline execution when a change is detected in a CodeCommit repository. This is achieved through CloudWatch Events that monitor the repository for specific events like push to a branch, and then trigger the pipeline. This integration allows for continuous delivery by automatically building and deploying code changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A scheduled CloudWatch Logs metric filter.
Why it's wrong here
A CloudWatch Logs metric filter is a daemon-like mechanism that scans log events and extracts metrics based on a pattern; it has no concept of scheduling or emitting pipeline-start events. To trigger CodePipeline on a schedule you would need a CloudWatch Events/EventBridge rule with a cron expression that targets the pipeline, not a metric filter, which only populates a metric and cannot invoke AWS resources
- ✗
Completion of a CodeDeploy deployment.
Why it's wrong here
CodeDeploy is a deployment service that runs as an action provider inside a CodePipeline deployment stage; its completion indicates that a stage finished, but it cannot start a new pipeline execution. CodePipeline requires a source stage trigger from an event source like CodeCommit, ECR, or S3, and a CodeDeploy lifecycle event lacks the event pattern or integration to serve as an initial trigger
- ✓
Changes to a CodeCommit repository.
Why this is correct
CodePipeline can be configured to automatically start an execution when a push occurs to a branch (or tag) in a CodeCommit repository. The console sets up a CloudWatch Events rule that matches actions like reference creation or update, and the pipeline's source stage polls for that event; this is a built-in, first-class trigger mechanism for Git-based sources
- ✗
Manual approval action in the pipeline.
Why it's wrong here
A manual approval action is a gate that pauses an already-running pipeline execution while a human reviews input and decides to approve or reject it. It cannot initiate a pipeline because it exists only within a stage that follows the source action; without an initial execution, there is no pipeline state for the approval action to act upon, so it is never invoked on its own
- ✓
Upload of a new object to an S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
Uploading a new object to an S3 bucket can trigger CodePipeline when S3 is set as the source provider and a CloudWatch Events rule captures Amazon S3 PutObject events. The rule activates the pipeline with a new execution for the updated object version, giving you an event-driven start for artifact-based deployments; note that the bucket must be versioned and the event pattern must specify the relevant bucket and optional key prefix
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DOP-C02 question is part of Courseiva's 1,298-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.