SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing solutions. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A company uses this IAM policy to allow an automation script to manage Amazon EBS snapshots. The script runs on an EC2 instance with this attached IAM role. The script is failing when trying to create a snapshot from a volume and tag it. The error message indicates an authorization failure. What is the root cause?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The policy does not grant permission to call ec2:CreateSnapshot on the volume resource.
The error occurs because the IAM policy grants `ec2:CreateSnapshot` only on the `arn:aws:ec2:*::snapshot/*` resource, but the API call to create a snapshot also requires permission on the source volume resource (`arn:aws:ec2:*:*:volume/*`). Without that volume-level permission, the request fails with an authorization error, even though the snapshot-level permission is present.
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.
✗
The policy does not grant permission to call ec2:DescribeSnapshots, which is required before creating a snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
DescribeSnapshots is not a prerequisite for CreateSnapshot.
✗
The policy lacks a condition key to restrict the snapshot creation to specific volumes.
Why it's wrong here
Condition keys are optional; the issue is missing resource permissions for the volume.
✓
The policy does not grant permission to call ec2:CreateSnapshot on the volume resource.
Why this is correct
CreateSnapshot requires permission on the volume (e.g., arn:aws:ec2:region:account:volume/*) and optionally on the snapshot.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The policy does not include ec2:CreateTags for the volume, only for snapshots.
Why it's wrong here
The script tags the snapshot, not the volume; the policy allows CreateTags on snapshots.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume only the target snapshot resource needs permission, but AWS requires explicit authorization on the source volume resource for the `ec2:CreateSnapshot` action.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When calling `ec2:CreateSnapshot`, the IAM policy must authorize the action on both the source volume and the resulting snapshot as separate resource ARNs. The volume ARN format is `arn:aws:ec2:region:account-id:volume/vol-xxx`, and the snapshot ARN is `arn:aws:ec2:region:account-id:snapshot/snap-xxx`. In resource-based policies, you must explicitly list both resources or use a wildcard; omitting the volume resource causes an implicit deny. This is a common misconfiguration when automating snapshot workflows.
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.
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The policy does not grant permission to call ec2:CreateSnapshot on the volume resource. — The error occurs because the IAM policy grants `ec2:CreateSnapshot` only on the `arn:aws:ec2:*::snapshot/*` resource, but the API call to create a snapshot also requires permission on the source volume resource (`arn:aws:ec2:*:*:volume/*`). Without that volume-level permission, the request fails with an authorization error, even though the snapshot-level permission is present.
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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