PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
An SAP administrator notices that the sapstartsrv process on an EC2 instance is failing to start after a system reboot. The instance is running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications. Which of the following log files should be examined FIRST to diagnose the 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
✓
/usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/sapstartsrv.log
The sapstartsrv process log is stored in /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/sapstartsrv.log (Option B). This log contains startup and error messages specific to the sapstartsrv process, making it the first place to check for failures after a reboot. Option A (/var/log/messages) is a general system log that may contain kernel or hardware messages but not SAP-specific process details. Option C (SAP HANA studio trace files) is used for database issues, not the sapstartsrv process. Option D (Amazon CloudWatch logs) requires prior configuration to capture local boot logs and would not be the first choice for a local SAP process failure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
/var/log/messages
Why it's wrong here
This file contains system messages but not SAP-specific startup logs.
- ✓
/usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/sapstartsrv.log
Why this is correct
The sapstartsrv log file contains detailed information about the startup process of the SAP start service.
- ✗
SAP HANA studio trace files
Why it's wrong here
HANA studio traces are for database operations, not the start service.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch logs for the instance
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch logs would only contain logs if specifically configured to capture the relevant log files.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,616 original PAS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. 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.