SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 has a multi-account AWS environment and wants to enforce that all EC2 instances are launched with a specific AMI ID. The AMI ID is maintained by the security team in a central account. What is the MOST effective way to enforce this across all accounts?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies ec2:RunInstances if the ami parameter does not match the approved AMI ID
Option D is correct because an SCP can centrally deny the ec2:RunInstances action unless the request includes a specific AMI ID parameter, enforced across all accounts in the AWS Organization. This preventive control blocks non-compliant launches at the API level, ensuring no instance can be created with an unapproved AMI, regardless of account-level permissions.
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 an EC2 launch template with the approved AMI and share it with all accounts
Why it's wrong here
Users could still launch instances without using the template.
✗
Use AWS CloudTrail to monitor instance launches and trigger a Lambda function to terminate non-compliant instances
Why it's wrong here
Reactive approach; instances are launched before termination.
✗
Use AWS Config rules in each account to detect non-compliant instances and send alerts
Why it's wrong here
Detection without enforcement; instances can still be launched.
✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies ec2:RunInstances if the ami parameter does not match the approved AMI ID
Why this is correct
SCPs enforce at the API level across all accounts in the organization.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse detective controls (Config, CloudTrail/Lambda) with preventive controls (SCPs), assuming that alerting or terminating non-compliant instances is as effective as blocking the launch entirely.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs work by evaluating the ec2:RunInstances API call against the condition key ec2:ImageId; if the AMI ID does not match the approved value, the request is denied with an 'UnauthorizedOperation' error. This leverages the AWS Organizations policy evaluation model, where SCPs act as a boundary filter on all IAM policies in member accounts, making it a true preventive guardrail. A subtle behavior is that the SCP must use the full ARN of the AMI (e.g., ami-12345678) and cannot use wildcards for partial matching, requiring exact ID specification.
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.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies ec2:RunInstances if the ami parameter does not match the approved AMI ID — Option D is correct because an SCP can centrally deny the ec2:RunInstances action unless the request includes a specific AMI ID parameter, enforced across all accounts in the AWS Organization. This preventive control blocks non-compliant launches at the API level, ensuring no instance can be created with an unapproved AMI, regardless of account-level permissions.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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