- A
Use an S3 bucket policy to allow access from the EC2 instance's public IP
Why wrong: Bucket policies control access from IPs, but do not provide credentials; also, IPs can change.
- B
Create an IAM user and store the credentials in the EC2 instance user data
Why wrong: IAM user credentials are long-term and should not be stored on instances; they are not temporary.
- C
Store AWS access keys in the application code
Why wrong: Storing access keys in code is insecure and not a best practice; they can be exposed.
- D
Create an IAM role with the necessary permissions and attach it to the EC2 instance
An IAM role provides temporary credentials that are automatically rotated, which is secure and best practice.
Question 887 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. 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 wants to provide temporary, limited-privilege credentials to its application running on an EC2 instance so that the application can access an S3 bucket. What is the BEST practice for achieving this?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
✓
Create an IAM role with the necessary permissions and attach it to the EC2 instance
The best practice is to use an IAM role, which provides temporary security credentials via the EC2 instance metadata service (IMDS). The application automatically retrieves these credentials without hardcoding secrets, and the credentials are rotated automatically by AWS. This approach follows the principle of least privilege and eliminates the security risks of long-term access keys.
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.
- ✗
Use an S3 bucket policy to allow access from the EC2 instance's public IP
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies control access from IPs, but do not provide credentials; also, IPs can change.
- ✗
Create an IAM user and store the credentials in the EC2 instance user data
Why it's wrong here
IAM user credentials are long-term and should not be stored on instances; they are not temporary.
- ✗
Store AWS access keys in the application code
Why it's wrong here
Storing access keys in code is insecure and not a best practice; they can be exposed.
- ✓
Create an IAM role with the necessary permissions and attach it to the EC2 instance
Why this is correct
An IAM role provides temporary credentials that are automatically rotated, which is secure and best practice.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
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 may think storing credentials in user data or code is acceptable for automation, but AWS explicitly prohibits this in favor of IAM roles for EC2 to avoid long-term credential exposure.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When an IAM role is attached to an EC2 instance, the AWS STS service issues temporary credentials that are made available via the instance metadata service at http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/. The AWS SDKs automatically refresh these credentials before they expire (default 6 hours), ensuring continuous access without manual intervention. This mechanism also supports fine-grained permissions through trust policies that restrict which instances can assume the role.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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.
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Design for New Solutions — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an IAM role with the necessary permissions and attach it to the EC2 instance — The best practice is to use an IAM role, which provides temporary security credentials via the EC2 instance metadata service (IMDS). The application automatically retrieves these credentials without hardcoding secrets, and the credentials are rotated automatically by AWS. This approach follows the principle of least privilege and eliminates the security risks of long-term access keys.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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