PAS-C01 Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a critical application to AWS using a phased approach. The application uses a custom Linux distribution that is not supported by AWS Application Migration Service. Which THREE steps should the company take to migrate the application? (Choose THREE)
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse AWS DMS as a general-purpose migration tool for servers, when in fact it is strictly for database migrations, leading them to incorrectly select Option D instead of recognizing that server migration requires a dedicated replication service like SMS or a custom AMI approach.
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
✓
Use AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) to replicate the on-premises server to AWS.
AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) is the correct choice because it is an agentless service that can replicate on-premises servers running custom Linux distributions as long as they are supported by the underlying hypervisor. SMS uses incremental replication to create Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) from the source server, enabling a lift-and-shift migration without requiring the application to be converted to a different OS. This approach directly addresses the scenario where AWS Application Migration Service does not support the custom Linux distribution.
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 AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) to replicate the on-premises server to AWS.
Why this is correct
SMS can replicate servers even if the OS is not officially supported by AWS MGN.
- ✗
Convert the application to run on Amazon Linux 2 to simplify future management.
Why it's wrong here
Converting to Amazon Linux would require significant rework and testing, not a simple migration step.
- ✓
Perform a test migration to a non-production environment to validate the application.
Why this is correct
Testing ensures the migrated application works correctly before cutting over production traffic.
- ✗
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate the application server.
Why it's wrong here
DMS is for databases, not for migrating entire servers or applications.
- ✓
Create a custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with the required Linux distribution and dependencies.
Why this is correct
A custom AMI ensures the target environment matches the source OS.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 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 PAS-C01 exam.