PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company runs a production web application on AWS using an Application Load Balancer (ALB) with a target group of EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. The application uses a custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) that includes the web server and application code. The Auto Scaling group has a launch template that references the AMI. The company updates the application code weekly and creates a new AMI version. The operations team manually updates the launch template to reference the new AMI and then initiates an instance refresh. Recently, a misconfiguration caused the launch template to point to an old AMI after an instance refresh, resulting in a rollback of the application code. The company wants to automate the deployment process to ensure that new AMIs are deployed consistently and safely. Which solution meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates choose a simpler automation option (like Option B) that updates the launch template but lacks the integrated AMI creation and testing pipeline, failing to address the root cause of deploying an untested or incorrect AMI.
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 EC2 Image Builder to create and test the new AMI, then use AWS CodePipeline to automatically update the launch template and perform a rolling instance refresh.
EC2 Image Builder automates the creation, testing, and validation of AMIs, ensuring only compliant images are produced. AWS CodePipeline can then automatically update the launch template with the new AMI ID and trigger a rolling instance refresh, eliminating manual steps and preventing misconfigurations like pointing to an old AMI.
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 EC2 Image Builder to create and test the new AMI, then use AWS CodePipeline to automatically update the launch template and perform a rolling instance refresh.
Why this is correct
EC2 Image Builder automates AMI creation and testing; CodePipeline orchestrates the deployment pipeline.
- ✗
Use AWS CodePipeline to run a script that updates the launch template with the new AMI ID and triggers an instance refresh.
Why it's wrong here
This approach still requires manual script maintenance and does not include automated testing of the AMI.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudFormation with a custom resource that validates the AMI and updates the Auto Scaling group.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation is not designed for continuous deployment of AMIs; it requires manual triggering.
- ✗
Use AWS CodeDeploy to deploy the application code directly to the existing instances, bypassing the AMI update.
Why it's wrong here
This does not use the AMI-based deployment strategy and may lead to configuration drift.
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JA
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.