Quick Answer
The answer is Rolling, as this update policy is specifically designed to support an Elastic Beanstalk zero downtime instance type update by replacing instances in configurable batches while the remaining instances continue serving traffic. Rolling updates work by taking a portion of the environment’s EC2 instances out of service, terminating them, launching new instances with the updated instance type, and then bringing them back into the load balancer before moving to the next batch—ensuring the application remains available throughout the process. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of deployment policies and their impact on availability, often appearing as a trap where candidates confuse Rolling with Immutable updates, which actually cause a brief interruption during the DNS swap. A key memory tip is to think of Rolling as “rolling in batches” to keep the service rolling without a full stop.
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing solutions. 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.
A company uses AWS Elastic Beanstalk to deploy a web application. They want to update the environment's configuration to use a larger instance type without any downtime. Which update policy supports this?
All at once
Why wrong: Replaces all instances at once, causing downtime.
Blue/Green
Why wrong: Blue/Green is not a built-in Elastic Beanstalk update policy; it's a separate deployment strategy.
Immutable
Why wrong: Immutable launches new instances before swapping, but may cause brief downtime if DNS propagation is slow.
Rolling
Rolling updates replace instances in batches, ensuring availability.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Rolling
Option C is correct because Rolling update with batch size updates instances in batches, keeping the environment running. Option A is wrong because All at once replaces all instances simultaneously, causing downtime. Option B is wrong because Immutable update launches new instances in a separate ASG and then swaps, which also causes brief downtime? Actually, immutable updates swap the entire environment, but can cause a brief interruption. However, Rolling update is designed for zero downtime. Option D is wrong because Blue/Green deployment is not built into Elastic Beanstalk natively as an update policy; it's a manual approach.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
All at once
Why it's wrong here
Replaces all instances at once, causing downtime.
Blue/Green
Why it's wrong here
Blue/Green is not a built-in Elastic Beanstalk update policy; it's a separate deployment strategy.
Immutable
Why it's wrong here
Immutable launches new instances before swapping, but may cause brief downtime if DNS propagation is slow.
Rolling
Why this is correct
Rolling updates replace instances in batches, ensuring availability.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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. NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated. 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
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Rolling — Option C is correct because Rolling update with batch size updates instances in batches, keeping the environment running. Option A is wrong because All at once replaces all instances simultaneously, causing downtime. Option B is wrong because Immutable update launches new instances in a separate ASG and then swaps, which also causes brief downtime? Actually, immutable updates swap the entire environment, but can cause a brief interruption. However, Rolling update is designed for zero downtime. Option D is wrong because Blue/Green deployment is not built into Elastic Beanstalk natively as an update policy; it's a manual approach.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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