SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is using AWS CodePipeline to automate deployments. They want to add a manual approval step before deploying to production. How should they configure this?
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
✓
Add a manual approval action in the pipeline stage with an SNS topic for notification.
AWS CodePipeline provides a built-in manual approval action that can be added to a pipeline stage, which sends an SNS notification to approvers. Option B is incorrect because CloudWatch Events is used for event-driven automation, not for manual approvals. Option C is incorrect because AWS CodeDeploy is a deployment service, not for approval steps. Option D is incorrect because while a Lambda function could be used, CodePipeline has a native approval action that is simpler and more appropriate.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Add a manual approval action in the pipeline stage with an SNS topic for notification.
Why this is correct
Correct. CodePipeline includes a native manual approval action that integrates with SNS for notifications.
- ✗
Use Amazon CloudWatch Events to trigger an SNS topic for approval.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. CloudWatch Events is used for triggering actions based on events, not for manual approval workflows.
- ✗
Create a custom action using AWS CodeDeploy.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. CodeDeploy is a deployment service and does not provide a manual approval action.
- ✗
Add a Lambda function that sends an email and pauses the pipeline until a token is provided.
Why it's wrong here
A Lambda function sending an email and pausing for a token lacks the native approval workflow integration that CodePipeline provides through its built-in manual approval action. The pipeline would require custom logic to resume, whereas CodePipeline’s own approval action automatically pauses and resumes upon manual confirmation in the AWS console. This option is tempting because Lambda can trigger notifications and manage state, making it a valid pattern for custom approval flows outside CodePipeline, such as in a Step Functions workflow where no native approval gate exists.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,660 original SAP-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-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 SAP-C02 exam.