SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. 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 needs to monitor the disk space usage on an EC2 instance running Windows Server. Which actions are required to collect this metric? (Select TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an IAM role with permissions to publish custom metrics and attach it to the instance.
Option D is correct because the CloudWatch agent requires permissions to publish custom metrics to CloudWatch. An IAM role with the appropriate policy (e.g., CloudWatchAgentServerPolicy) must be attached to the EC2 instance to allow the agent to send disk space metrics. Option E is correct because the CloudWatch agent must be installed and configured with a JSON configuration file that includes the "disk" section to collect disk space utilization metrics, which are not available by default from EC2.
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.
✗
Install the CloudWatch Logs agent to monitor disk usage logs.
Why it's wrong here
The CloudWatch Logs agent collects logs, not metrics.
✗
Enable EC2 status checks to monitor disk health.
Why it's wrong here
Status checks check instance health, not disk space.
✗
Use Windows Performance Monitor to track disk space and send to CloudWatch.
Why it's wrong here
Performance Monitor does not natively send to CloudWatch.
✓
Create an IAM role with permissions to publish custom metrics and attach it to the instance.
Why this is correct
The instance needs IAM permissions to publish metrics.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Install the CloudWatch agent on the instance and configure it to collect disk metrics.
Why this is correct
The CloudWatch agent can collect disk space metrics.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the CloudWatch Logs agent with the CloudWatch agent, or assume that EC2 status checks or Performance Monitor can directly send disk metrics to CloudWatch without additional configuration.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The CloudWatch agent uses the "procstat" and "disk" plugins to collect disk metrics such as "LogicalDisk % Free Space" and "PhysicalDisk % Disk Time" on Windows. The agent communicates with the CloudWatch API over HTTPS (port 443) and requires the IAM role to have the "cloudwatch:PutMetricData" permission. The disk metrics are published under the CWAgent namespace, and the agent can be configured to collect metrics at intervals as low as 1 second.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — This question tests Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an IAM role with permissions to publish custom metrics and attach it to the instance. — Option D is correct because the CloudWatch agent requires permissions to publish custom metrics to CloudWatch. An IAM role with the appropriate policy (e.g., CloudWatchAgentServerPolicy) must be attached to the EC2 instance to allow the agent to send disk space metrics. Option E is correct because the CloudWatch agent must be installed and configured with a JSON configuration file that includes the "disk" section to collect disk space utilization metrics, which are not available by default from EC2.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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