PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
An SAP administrator needs to apply an OS security patch to all SAP application servers running on EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. The patch requires a reboot. What is the most efficient way to apply the patch with minimal downtime?
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 Systems Manager Patch Manager with a maintenance window
AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager can orchestrate patching across instances, and using a maintenance window with a reboot strategy minimizes downtime. Option A is wrong because manual patching is not efficient. Option B is wrong because creating a new AMI and updating the Auto Scaling group requires creating a new launch configuration or template and rolling out new instances, which is more effort and not the most efficient. Option C is wrong because AWS CloudFormation is for infrastructure provisioning, not for applying OS patches.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
SSH into each instance and apply the patch manually
Why it's wrong here
Manual process is inefficient and error-prone.
- ✗
Create a new AMI with the patch and update the Auto Scaling group
Why it's wrong here
This approach requires creating a new AMI and may cause downtime during replacement.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudFormation to update the instances
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation is not designed for OS patching.
- ✓
Use AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager with a maintenance window
Why this is correct
Patch Manager automates patching and reboots with minimal disruption.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PAS-C01 question from scratch — 1,616 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.