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Operations and MaintenancehardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question

Network Topology
$ aws ec2 describe-instancesinstance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State'Refer to the exhibit."Code": 16,"Name": "running"

An operations engineer runs the AWS CLI command above to check the state of an EC2 instance. The output shows the instance is running. However, the SAP application cannot connect to the instance. The security group allows inbound traffic on port 443 from the application's IP. What is the most likely cause of the connectivity issue?

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

The network ACL for the subnet does not allow outbound traffic

The instance is running, so the issue is likely network configuration. A network ACL is stateless and must allow both inbound and outbound traffic. If the outbound rule denies traffic, responses are blocked. Security groups are stateful. The instance state is running, so it is not stopped or terminated. The command only checks state, not health checks.

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 network ACL for the subnet does not allow outbound traffic

    Why this is correct

    Network ACLs are stateless; if outbound rules are missing, return traffic is blocked.

  • The instance is in a stopped state

    Why it's wrong here

    The output shows the instance is running.

  • The instance is not passing its status checks

    Why it's wrong here

    Status checks affect instance health but not basic network connectivity.

  • The security group is not associated with the instance

    Why it's wrong here

    The engineer can verify association; if not associated, traffic would be blocked.

Visual reference

Source Router + ACL permit 10.0.0.0/8 deny any Server 10.0.0.5 ✓ 192.168.1.1 ✗ dropped ACLs evaluate top-down; first match wins — implicit deny all at end

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JA

Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

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