The answer is to grant the CodePipeline service role permission to publish to SNS and configure the manual approval action in the pipeline. A manual approval step in CodePipeline relies on an SNS topic to send notification emails to approvers, so the pipeline’s IAM role must include the sns:Publish permission for that topic. Without this, the notification fails and the approval step never triggers. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this tests your understanding of how CodePipeline integrates with SNS for human-in-the-loop approvals—a common trap is thinking you need Lambda or CloudWatch Logs, but the approval action itself is simply a stage-level configuration, not a separate service. Remember that the SNS topic is the messenger, and the IAM role is the key that unlocks it. Memory tip: “Publish to notify, approve to deploy.”
SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment, provisioning, and automation. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A SysOps administrator is designing an automated deployment pipeline using AWS CodePipeline. The pipeline must include a manual approval step before deploying to production. Which TWO actions are required to implement this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an Amazon SNS topic for approval notifications.
The correct answers are A and D. A is correct because a manual approval action requires an SNS topic to send notifications. D is correct because the IAM role used by CodePipeline needs permission to publish to SNS. B is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs is not for notifications. C is incorrect because Lambda is not required. E is incorrect because the approval action is configured in the pipeline, not as a separate stage.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 separate stage for approval in the pipeline.
Why it's wrong here
The approval action is added within a stage, not as a separate stage.
✓
Create an Amazon SNS topic for approval notifications.
Why this is correct
SNS is used to notify approvers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure an AWS Lambda function to approve automatically.
Why it's wrong here
Manual approval requires human intervention, not Lambda.
✓
Grant the CodePipeline service role permission to publish to SNS.
Why this is correct
The pipeline's role needs sns:Publish.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable CloudWatch Logs for the pipeline.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs is for logging, not notifications.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — This question tests Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an Amazon SNS topic for approval notifications. — The correct answers are A and D. A is correct because a manual approval action requires an SNS topic to send notifications. D is correct because the IAM role used by CodePipeline needs permission to publish to SNS. B is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs is not for notifications. C is incorrect because Lambda is not required. E is incorrect because the approval action is configured in the pipeline, not as a separate stage.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This SOA-C02 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 SOA-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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