SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Add a CloudFormation change set action before the deployment.

  Why it's wrong here

  A CloudFormation change set action executes AWS CloudFormation's CreateChangeSet and optionally ExecuteChangeSet operations; it is meant to preview or apply stack changes, not to suspend the pipeline. While you can use a change set to review intended modifications in the console, the pipeline action itself completes and the execution proceeds to the next stage automatically. There is no built-in wait state or approval mechanism associated with the change set action unless you also insert a separate manual approval step before it, so this alone cannot require confirmation.

• ✗

  Configure an Amazon SNS topic to send a notification and require a confirmation.

  Why it's wrong here

  An SNS topic configured to send a notification and require a confirmation simply publishes a message to subscribers and tracks delivery status; it does not have any integration with CodePipeline's execution engine to pause or gate the run. Without an associated Approval action, the pipeline continues immediately after the notification action completes, never waiting for a human response. Even if subscribers confirm receipt, that confirmation is not routed back to CodePipeline as an approve/reject decision, so it cannot block the CloudFormation deployment.

• ✓

  Add a manual approval action in the pipeline before the CloudFormation deployment stage.

  Why this is correct

  In CodePipeline, a manual approval action is a stage action with category Approval that pauses the pipeline execution at that point. Once the action is reached, the pipeline enters a Wait state and notifies designated approvers via SNS; deployment to CloudFormation proceeds only after an authorized IAM user or role approves the change. This is the native mechanism designed to block progression until human sign-off, making it the correct way to require confirmation before deployment.

• ✗

  Use an AWS Lambda function to send an email and wait for a response.

  Why it's wrong here

  Incorrect. An AWS Lambda function can send notifications but cannot pause the pipeline. It would need to be used in conjunction with a custom workflow, and the pipeline would not wait for its response without an approval action.

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