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Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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 company has a production environment that includes an Amazon RDS for MySQL database. The SysOps administrator receives an alert that the database's CPU utilization has been above 90% for the past hour. The administrator checks the CloudWatch metrics and sees that the DatabaseConnections metric is also high. The application team reports that users are experiencing slow response times. The administrator wants to investigate which queries are causing the high CPU. The database is already configured to send logs to CloudWatch Logs. Which course of action should the administrator take to identify the problematic queries?

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

✓

Enable the slow query log in the RDS parameter group and publish it to CloudWatch Logs. Then use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the logs for slow queries.

Option C is correct because enabling the slow query log in the RDS parameter group and publishing it to CloudWatch Logs allows the administrator to use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query for queries that exceed a defined execution time threshold. Slow queries are a common cause of high CPU and database connection spikes, and this approach directly surfaces the problematic SQL statements without requiring additional infrastructure.

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.

  • ✗

    Use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the existing RDS log group for any SQL statements.

    Why it's wrong here

    The existing logs may not contain slow queries; slow query logging must be enabled.

  • ✗

    Enable AWS CloudTrail to capture database queries and send them to CloudWatch Logs.

    Why it's wrong here

    CloudTrail records API calls, not database queries.

  • ✓

    Enable the slow query log in the RDS parameter group and publish it to CloudWatch Logs. Then use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the logs for slow queries.

    Why this is correct

    Slow query logs directly show queries that take a long time.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    Enable Amazon RDS Performance Insights and use the dashboard to identify top SQL queries.

    Why it's wrong here

    Performance Insights shows top SQL queries but requires enabling; however, it may not show the exact query text.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may assume CloudWatch Logs Insights can automatically query any database SQL statements without first enabling the appropriate database log (slow query or general log), or they may confuse AWS CloudTrail's API logging with database-level query logging.

Trap categories for this question

  • Command / output trap

    Performance Insights shows top SQL queries but requires enabling; however, it may not show the exact query text.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

The slow query log in MySQL records queries that take longer than the value of `long_query_time` (default 10 seconds). By setting `slow_query_log=1` and `log_output=FILE` in the RDS parameter group, and then enabling the 'Publish logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs' option for the slow query log in the RDS console, the log entries are streamed to CloudWatch Logs. CloudWatch Logs Insights uses a query language (e.g., `fields @timestamp, @message | filter @message like /SELECT/ | sort @timestamp desc`) to analyze these logs, making it straightforward to identify slow queries contributing to CPU saturation.

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 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. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. 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.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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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: Enable the slow query log in the RDS parameter group and publish it to CloudWatch Logs. Then use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the logs for slow queries. — Option C is correct because enabling the slow query log in the RDS parameter group and publishing it to CloudWatch Logs allows the administrator to use CloudWatch Logs Insights to query for queries that exceed a defined execution time threshold. Slow queries are a common cause of high CPU and database connection spikes, and this approach directly surfaces the problematic SQL statements without requiring additional infrastructure.

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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026

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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.