220-1102 Operational Procedures Practice Question
A technician is scheduled to apply a critical security patch to a file server during a maintenance window. The technician has already tested the patch in a lab environment and has received approval from the change advisory board. During the deployment, a conflict arises with an existing application, causing the server to become unstable. According to change management best practices, what should the technician do NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose Option A (troubleshoot immediately) because they think resolving the conflict quickly is proactive, but CompTIA tests the strict adherence to change management escalation and backout procedures, not technical troubleshooting during a change window.
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
✓
Escalate the issue to the change advisory board and consider backout procedures
Change management best practices require that when a change causes instability, the technician must immediately escalate to the change advisory board (CAB) and follow the pre-approved backout plan. The CAB must assess the impact and authorize the rollback to restore stability, as the patch was already approved but the conflict was unforeseen. This aligns with the CompTIA A+ 220-1102 objective on change management processes, emphasizing that the technician should not deviate from the approved plan without CAB authorization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Attempt to troubleshoot and resolve the conflict immediately
Why it's wrong here
Attempting to troubleshoot the conflict on the spot bypasses the approved change plan and puts the production file server at risk of extended downtime. While diagnosis is needed eventually, the immediate duty under change management is to notify the CAB and execute the backout plan to return the server to a known-good state. Ad-hoc changes during the maintenance window can introduce unapproved variables, making root-cause analysis more difficult and potentially violating organizational change policies.
- ✗
Apply the patch to remaining servers and document the issue later
Why it's wrong here
Applying the same patch to the remaining servers would assume the faulty result is isolated, but a failed patch typically indicates a systemic incompatibility or defect. Propagating the change expands the blast radius and could make every file server unstable, far exceeding the original incident. Documenting the issue later does not solve the immediate disruption and ignores the approved change plan, which requires stopping the rollout and assessing the failure first.
- ✓
Escalate the issue to the change advisory board and consider backout procedures
Why this is correct
The correct response is to escalate the failure to the change advisory board and initiate the backout procedures that were documented in the approved change plan. Escalation gives the CAB visibility to authorize rollback, analyze the root cause, and decide whether to reschedule or modify the patch. Executing the backout plan returns the file server to its previous known configuration, preserving service while the conflict is investigated off the production path.
- ✗
Reboot the server and reapply the patch from a different source
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting the server may clear a temporary condition, but a security patch conflict is usually a persistent software or dependency issue that will return after the reboot. Reapplying the patch from a different source introduces unapproved software into the environment and undermines the change management process, since only the approved patch source should be used. The backout plan, not an improvised reboot, is the controlled way to restore service while keeping the organization compliant.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Change Management Procedures
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
Key term
Authorization
Authorization determines what an authenticated user is allowed to do within a system, such as accessing files, running programs, or changing settings.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1102 exam.