SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question
An organization uses AWS CloudFormation to manage its infrastructure. The SysOps administrator is implementing a change management process that requires all stack updates to be reviewed and approved before execution. The administrator wants to use CloudFormation change sets to preview changes. Which THREE steps are necessary to implement this process? (Choose THREE.)
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
✓
Review the change set in the CloudFormation console.
To implement a review-and-approval process using CloudFormation change sets, the necessary steps are: create a change set from the updated template (E), review the change set in the CloudFormation console (C), and execute the change set after approval (D). Option A is incorrect because the 'Detect Drift' feature is used to check if the actual stack resources have drifted from the template, not to preview changes. Option B is incorrect because updating the stack directly bypasses the review process, which defeats the purpose of change management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use the 'Detect Drift' feature to compare the stack with the new template.
Why it's wrong here
The 'Detect Drift' feature is used to compare the actual live state of existing resources against the template that is currently associated with the stack, not against a proposed new template. It is primarily for identifying manual configuration changes that have caused drift. It cannot tell you what resources would change if you updated the template, so it is not a substitute for a change set.
- ✗
Update the stack directly using the updated template.
Why it's wrong here
Directly updating the stack with the updated template bypasses the change set mechanism entirely, meaning you lose the ability to review the proposed changes before they are applied. This is dangerous in critical environments because any unintentional delete or replacement of a resource (such as an RDS instance or EC2 instance) happens immediately without an approval gate. In a governed change management process, this direct approach is not acceptable.
- ✓
Review the change set in the CloudFormation console.
Why this is correct
Reviewing the change set in the CloudFormation console provides a human-readable summary of each resource action (add, modify, or delete) and whether a resource will be replaced. This step allows the administrator to spot potential risks like data loss from deletion or replacement before approving the change set. It is the required review step in a change management workflow, and it directly informs the decision to execute or reject the change set.
- ✓
Execute the change set after approval.
Why this is correct
Executing the change set applies the proposed resource changes to the live stack, which is the final step in the change management workflow. It must only be done after the administrator has approved the change set, and once executed, the stack's resources are updated to match the new template. Without execution, the stack remains unchanged.
- ✓
Create a change set from the updated template.
Why this is correct
Creating a change set from the updated template generates a detailed preview of the modifications that would be made to the stack, without actually applying them. This is the first step because it allows the administrator to see the exact resource additions, removals, or modifications and their impact before any action is taken. The change set itself can be saved, reviewed, and then executed later.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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