- A
Install the CloudWatch agent on the EC2 instance
The CloudWatch agent can collect memory and other system-level metrics from the EC2 instance and publish them to CloudWatch custom metrics.
- B
Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance
Why wrong: Enabling detailed monitoring on an EC2 instance provides one-minute metric granularity for CPU, network, and disk metrics, but not memory.
- C
Use an AWS Lambda function to query the EC2 instance for memory metrics
Why wrong: AWS Lambda does not have native access to EC2 instance metrics without installing a telemetry agent, which is not a built-in capability.
- D
Use Amazon Inspector to collect memory metrics
Why wrong: Amazon Inspector is for vulnerability assessments and does not collect performance metrics like memory utilization.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to install the CloudWatch agent on the EC2 instance. This is because standard EC2 monitoring only captures hypervisor-level metrics like CPU, network, and disk I/O, but memory utilization is an in-guest metric that requires the CloudWatch agent to read the operating system’s memory counters and publish them as custom metrics to CloudWatch. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the distinction between default and custom metrics, often appearing in questions about monitoring gaps or troubleshooting performance. A common trap is assuming that enabling detailed monitoring or using the older SSM agent alone will collect memory data—neither does; only the CloudWatch agent with the proper configuration can collect EC2 memory metrics. Remember the mnemonic: “Default is hypervisor, memory needs a visitor”—the CloudWatch agent is the visitor inside the guest OS.
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 memory utilization on an Amazon EC2 instance. Memory metrics are not available by default in Amazon CloudWatch for EC2 instances. Which action should the administrator take to collect memory utilization metrics?
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
Install the CloudWatch agent on the EC2 instance
The CloudWatch agent is the correct solution because it can collect custom metrics, including memory utilization, from EC2 instances. Unlike the default hypervisor-level metrics (CPU, network, disk), memory metrics require an in-guest agent to read the operating system's memory counters and publish them to CloudWatch.
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 agent on the EC2 instance
Why this is correct
The CloudWatch agent can collect memory and other system-level metrics from the EC2 instance and publish them to CloudWatch custom metrics.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance
Why it's wrong here
Enabling detailed monitoring on an EC2 instance provides one-minute metric granularity for CPU, network, and disk metrics, but not memory.
- ✗
Use an AWS Lambda function to query the EC2 instance for memory metrics
Why it's wrong here
AWS Lambda does not have native access to EC2 instance metrics without installing a telemetry agent, which is not a built-in capability.
- ✗
Use Amazon Inspector to collect memory metrics
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Inspector is for vulnerability assessments and does not collect performance metrics like memory utilization.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'detailed monitoring' (which increases metric frequency) with the ability to collect new metric types, assuming it will magically include memory metrics when it only affects existing hypervisor-level metrics.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The CloudWatch agent uses the collectd protocol or its own procstat plugin to gather memory metrics from /proc/meminfo on Linux or Performance Counters on Windows. It then publishes these as custom metrics (e.g., CWAgent:MemoryUtilization) to CloudWatch, where they can be used for alarms and dashboards. A real-world scenario is monitoring memory pressure on a memory-optimized instance to trigger a scale-out event before OOM kills occur.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
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.
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Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
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: Install the CloudWatch agent on the EC2 instance — The CloudWatch agent is the correct solution because it can collect custom metrics, including memory utilization, from EC2 instances. Unlike the default hypervisor-level metrics (CPU, network, disk), memory metrics require an in-guest agent to read the operating system's memory counters and publish them to CloudWatch.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways 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 monitor memory utilization of an Amazon EC2 instance. The default Amazon CloudWatch metrics for EC2 do not include memory utilization. Which solution should the administrator implement to collect memory metrics and set alarms?
medium- ✓ A.Install the CloudWatch agent on the instance and configure it to collect memory metrics
- B.Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance
- C.Use AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager to report memory usage
- D.Use AWS CloudTrail to log memory events
Why A: The CloudWatch agent is specifically designed to collect custom metrics, such as memory utilization, from EC2 instances and on-premises servers. Unlike the default EC2 metrics, which only capture hypervisor-level metrics (e.g., CPU, disk I/O, network), memory utilization requires OS-level access. The CloudWatch agent uses the `mem` plugin to gather memory data and can publish it to CloudWatch as custom metrics, enabling alarm configuration.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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