- A
Terminate all existing instances and replace them with new ones.
Why wrong: Terminating all instances causes downtime.
- B
Create a new Elastic Beanstalk environment with the new application version, then swap the environment URLs.
Blue/green deployment with URL swap provides zero downtime.
- C
Set the load balancer's health check interval to 300 seconds to allow more time for the new instances to become healthy.
Why wrong: Increasing the interval may cause delayed detection of health issues.
- D
Set the Elastic Beanstalk environment's health check grace period to a sufficient time to allow new instances to warm up.
Grace period prevents instances from being marked unhealthy during startup.
- E
Perform a rolling update with a batch size of 1 and set the deployment policy to 'Rolling based on Health' with a pause time.
Rolling update with batch size 1 ensures only one instance is updated at a time, minimizing impact.
Quick Answer
The answer is to perform a rolling update with a batch size of 1, set the deployment policy to 'Rolling based on Health' with a pause time, and optionally use a blue/green deployment by creating a new environment and swapping URLs. These steps achieve zero downtime by ensuring only one instance is replaced at a time, allowing the application to remain fully available during the update, while the health check pause prevents premature traffic routing to unhealthy instances. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of deployment policies and their impact on availability—a common trap is choosing options that terminate instances or increase health check intervals, which cause downtime or delayed recovery. Remember the mnemonic "One at a time, swap the URL" to recall that batch size 1 and environment URL swapping are the keys to zero downtime.
SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment, provisioning, and automation. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 company is using AWS Elastic Beanstalk to manage a web application. The SysOps administrator needs to update the application to a new version with zero downtime. Which THREE steps should the administrator take to achieve this? (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
Create a new Elastic Beanstalk environment with the new application version, then swap the environment URLs.
To achieve zero downtime with Elastic Beanstalk, the administrator should use a blue/green deployment or rolling update with a batch size of 1 and pause. Option A is correct because creating a new environment and swapping URLs is blue/green, which provides zero downtime. Option C is correct because rolling updates with a batch size of 1 ensure only one instance is replaced at a time, minimizing impact. Option E is correct because setting a health check grace period prevents premature termination. Option B is wrong because terminating instances causes downtime. Option D is wrong because increasing the load balancer's health check interval to 300 seconds would cause longer delays in detecting healthy instances, potentially causing issues.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Terminate all existing instances and replace them with new ones.
Why it's wrong here
Terminating all instances causes downtime.
- ✓
Create a new Elastic Beanstalk environment with the new application version, then swap the environment URLs.
Why this is correct
Blue/green deployment with URL swap provides zero downtime.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- ✗
Set the load balancer's health check interval to 300 seconds to allow more time for the new instances to become healthy.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing the interval may cause delayed detection of health issues.
- ✓
Set the Elastic Beanstalk environment's health check grace period to a sufficient time to allow new instances to warm up.
Why this is correct
Grace period prevents instances from being marked unhealthy during startup.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- ✓
Perform a rolling update with a batch size of 1 and set the deployment policy to 'Rolling based on Health' with a pause time.
Why this is correct
Rolling update with batch size 1 ensures only one instance is updated at a time, minimizing impact.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SOA-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — This question tests Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a new Elastic Beanstalk environment with the new application version, then swap the environment URLs. — To achieve zero downtime with Elastic Beanstalk, the administrator should use a blue/green deployment or rolling update with a batch size of 1 and pause. Option A is correct because creating a new environment and swapping URLs is blue/green, which provides zero downtime. Option C is correct because rolling updates with a batch size of 1 ensure only one instance is replaced at a time, minimizing impact. Option E is correct because setting a health check grace period prevents premature termination. Option B is wrong because terminating instances causes downtime. Option D is wrong because increasing the load balancer's health check interval to 300 seconds would cause longer delays in detecting healthy instances, potentially causing issues.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SOA-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 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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