The answer is to use AWS Config with the managed rule 's3-bucket-server-access-logging-enabled'. This is the correct choice because AWS Config provides continuous, automated compliance monitoring of your S3 buckets against the desired configuration, flagging any bucket created without server access logging as noncompliant and triggering an SNS notification for immediate awareness. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of managed versus custom rules and the most efficient approach to ongoing compliance, often contrasting Config with event-driven solutions like S3 Event Notifications or Lambda, which require custom code and lack persistent evaluation. A common trap is choosing a solution that only checks at creation time rather than continuously, or one that requires manual scripting. Memory tip: think "Config catches the gap"—it continuously audits all buckets, not just new ones, ensuring no bucket slips through without logging.
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 ensure that all S3 buckets in the account have server access logging enabled. The administrator wants to be notified if a bucket is created without logging. What is the most efficient solution?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS Config with a managed rule to evaluate S3 buckets for server access logging.
AWS Config with the managed rule 's3-bucket-server-access-logging-enabled' continuously evaluates all S3 buckets against the desired configuration. When a bucket is created without server access logging, AWS Config automatically flags it as noncompliant and can trigger an SNS notification. This is the most efficient solution because it provides ongoing, automated compliance monitoring without requiring custom scripts or event-driven remediation.
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.
✗
Periodically run a script to list all buckets and check logging configuration.
Why it's wrong here
Manual script is less efficient and not real-time.
✗
Enable S3 event notifications on the bucket creation event and trigger a Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
Event notifications are for object events, not bucket configuration changes.
✗
Use CloudWatch Events to detect CreateBucket API calls and trigger a Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
This only detects bucket creation, not ongoing compliance.
✓
Use AWS Config with a managed rule to evaluate S3 buckets for server access logging.
Why this is correct
AWS Config continuously evaluates resources against rules and can send notifications on non-compliant resources.
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 confuse event-driven detection (CloudWatch Events or S3 event notifications) with continuous compliance evaluation, mistakenly believing that a single trigger at creation time is sufficient to meet the requirement of being notified if a bucket is created without logging.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Config's managed rules use AWS Lambda behind the scenes to evaluate resource configurations against the rule logic. The 's3-bucket-server-access-logging-enabled' rule checks the 'logging' property of the S3 bucket resource, which is part of the bucket's configuration. AWS Config evaluates resources on a periodic basis (e.g., every hour) and on configuration changes, ensuring that even if logging is disabled after creation, the bucket is flagged as noncompliant. This is more robust than a one-time event trigger because it covers the entire lifecycle of the bucket.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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: Use AWS Config with a managed rule to evaluate S3 buckets for server access logging. — AWS Config with the managed rule 's3-bucket-server-access-logging-enabled' continuously evaluates all S3 buckets against the desired configuration. When a bucket is created without server access logging, AWS Config automatically flags it as noncompliant and can trigger an SNS notification. This is the most efficient solution because it provides ongoing, automated compliance monitoring without requiring custom scripts or event-driven remediation.
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 →
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 ensure that all S3 buckets in the account are configured with server access logging. Which AWS service can evaluate the buckets and automatically remediate non-compliant buckets?
easy
A.Amazon GuardDuty
B.AWS CloudTrail
✓ C.AWS Config
D.AWS Trusted Advisor
Why C: AWS Config is the correct service because it can continuously evaluate your S3 buckets against a managed rule (s3-bucket-server-access-logging-enabled) and automatically remediate non-compliant buckets using AWS Systems Manager Automation documents. This allows the SysOps administrator to enforce server access logging as a compliance requirement without manual intervention.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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.
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