SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question
A SysOps administrator needs to automate the provisioning of AWS resources using infrastructure as code. The administrator wants to ensure that the code is version-controlled and that changes are reviewed before deployment. Which TWO AWS services should the administrator use together to achieve this? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that candidates pick AWS Config or Service Catalog because they sound like governance/automation services, but the question specifically requires version control and code review, which only CodeCommit provides among the options.
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
✓
AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation (B) is correct because it provides infrastructure as code, allowing the administrator to define and provision AWS resources declaratively through templates, which is exactly what is needed for automated provisioning. AWS CodeCommit (C) is correct because it is a fully managed Git-based version control service that stores the CloudFormation templates, enabling version control and supporting pull requests so changes can be reviewed before deployment. Together, CodeCommit holds and reviews the template code while CloudFormation deploys it, satisfying both the version-control and review requirements. AWS Config (A) is incorrect because it is used for assessing, auditing, and evaluating resource configurations for compliance, not for provisioning or version-controlling code. AWS Service Catalog (D) is incorrect because it lets organizations create and manage approved product portfolios for end users, but it does not itself provide version control or code review. AWS OpsWorks Stacks (E) is incorrect because it is a configuration management service using Chef/Puppet for managing application stacks, not a Git-based version control or review service.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config is a compliance and auditing service that continuously records resource configurations and evaluates them against rules, such as checking whether EBS volumes are encrypted. It operates in the post-provisioning phase only, detecting drift or noncompliant resources after they have already been created. Because it has no mechanism to create, update, or orchestrate cloud resources, it cannot automate infrastructure provisioning.
- ✓
AWS CloudFormation
Why this is correct
AWS CloudFormation is the correct service for infrastructure provisioning because it implements infrastructure as code through declarative JSON or YAML templates. It orchestrates the creation, update, and deletion of entire stacks, managing dependencies, rollbacks, and change sets so resources are provisioned in a predictable and repeatable way. This makes it the core engine for automating the deployment of AWS environments.
- ✓
AWS CodeCommit
Why this is correct
AWS CodeCommit is a fully managed Git repository service that provides version control for infrastructure as code, including CloudFormation templates, application code, and configuration files. While it does not provision resources itself, it is essential to automation because it enables teams to track changes, review pull requests, and trigger CI/CD pipelines that deploy the committed templates. In a provisioning workflow, CodeCommit acts as the source stage, feeding artifacts to services like CodePipeline and CloudFormation.
- ✗
AWS Service Catalog
Why it's wrong here
AWS Service Catalog is a governance service that lets organizations create and manage approved IT service products, typically by wrapping CloudFormation templates into curated portfolios for end users. It is not an infrastructure as code tool because it does not let administrators define or orchestrate resources from scratch; instead, it only exposes pre-approved templates for users to launch. Provisioning is actually delegated to CloudFormation, so Service Catalog alone cannot automate infrastructure deployment.
- ✗
AWS OpsWorks Stacks
Why it's wrong here
AWS OpsWorks Stacks is a configuration management service that uses Chef and Puppet to automate how software is configured and deployed on existing EC2 instances. It focuses on application-level lifecycle management, such as installing packages, managing recipes, and scaling instances, rather than on provisioning foundational infrastructure like VPCs, subnets, or storage volumes. As a result, it lacks the resource-oriented orchestration capabilities needed for full infrastructure provisioning and is not designed to replace CloudFormation.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SOA-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A SysOps administrator needs to automate the provisioning of AWS resources using infrastructure as code. The solution must track changes and allow rollbacks. Which AWS service should the administrator use?
easy- ✓ A.AWS CloudFormation
- B.AWS Config
- C.AWS Service Catalog
- D.AWS OpsWorks
Why A: AWS CloudFormation provides infrastructure as code with change tracking and rollback capabilities. Option B (AWS Config) is for compliance and auditing, not provisioning. Option C (AWS Service Catalog) is for managing approved products, not general IaC. Option D (AWS OpsWorks) is a configuration management service, not primarily IaC.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.