This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of configuration management and iac. 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.
Which TWO tools can be used to manage configuration drift detection for AWS resources? (Choose two.)
AWS Config
Monitors and evaluates resource configurations.
AWS Systems Manager Inventory
Why wrong: Collects software inventory, not configuration drift.
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: Provides optimization recommendations.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: Audits API calls, not configuration drift.
AWS CloudFormation Drift Detection
Detects drift from template.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Config
AWS Config continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations and can detect changes against desired baselines, enabling drift detection through rules and compliance checks. AWS CloudFormation Drift Detection directly compares the current state of a stack's resources with the expected template-defined state to identify configuration drift. Both tools provide native mechanisms to detect when resources deviate from their intended configuration.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS Config
Why this is correct
Monitors and evaluates resource configurations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Systems Manager Inventory
Why it's wrong here
Collects software inventory, not configuration drift.
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Provides optimization recommendations.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
Audits API calls, not configuration drift.
AWS CloudFormation Drift Detection
Why this is correct
Detects drift from template.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Systems Manager Inventory (which collects instance-level software inventory) with configuration drift detection, or they mistakenly think AWS CloudTrail's API logging is sufficient to detect drift, when in fact drift detection requires comparing current state to a desired baseline, not just recording changes.
Detailed technical explanation
AWS Config uses a configuration recorder to capture resource configuration snapshots and evaluates them against Config rules (managed or custom Lambda-backed) to flag noncompliant resources. CloudFormation Drift Detection performs a point-in-time comparison by calling the underlying service APIs (e.g., EC2 DescribeInstances) for each resource in the stack and comparing the returned properties with the template's expected values, reporting differences as drift. A subtle behavior: CloudFormation drift detection does not automatically remediate drift; it only reports the differences, requiring manual or automated remediation steps.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Configuration Management and IaC — This question tests Configuration Management and IaC — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Config — AWS Config continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations and can detect changes against desired baselines, enabling drift detection through rules and compliance checks. AWS CloudFormation Drift Detection directly compares the current state of a stack's resources with the expected template-defined state to identify configuration drift. Both tools provide native mechanisms to detect when resources deviate from their intended configuration.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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