PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
An SAP system administrator needs to apply an operating system patch to an Amazon EC2 instance running SAP NetWeaver. The instance is part of an Auto Scaling group. What is the BEST approach to minimize downtime?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose Option A (detach and reattach) thinking it gives manual control, but they overlook that Auto Scaling's instance refresh is the designed, automated method for applying updates with minimal downtime, and detaching breaks the group's lifecycle management.
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 a rolling update by updating the launch configuration and performing an instance refresh.
An instance refresh in an Auto Scaling group allows you to apply a new launch configuration (which includes the patched AMI or user data) to all instances in a rolling, controlled manner. This minimizes downtime by replacing instances one at a time or in batches, ensuring the SAP NetWeaver application remains available throughout the process. Detaching, stopping, or terminating individual instances would cause unnecessary disruption or require manual reattachment, which is not optimal for high-availability SAP landscapes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Detach the instance from the Auto Scaling group, apply the patch, and reattach.
Why it's wrong here
Unnecessary complexity; rolling update is better.
- ✗
Stop the instance, apply the patch, and start it.
Why it's wrong here
This causes downtime during the stop.
- ✓
Use a rolling update by updating the launch configuration and performing an instance refresh.
Why this is correct
Minimizes downtime by replacing instances gradually.
- ✗
Terminate the instance and let Auto Scaling launch a new one with the patch.
Why it's wrong here
Termination may cause data loss.
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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.