AWS Solutions Architect Professional (SAP - C02) Exam Questions 2026 AWS Solutions Architect Professional (SAP - C02) Questions 2026 Contains 890+ exam questions to pass the exam in first attempt. SkillCertPro offers real exam questions for practice for all major IT certifications. • For a full set of 900 questions. Go to https://skillcertpro.com/product/aws - solutions - architect - professional - exam - questions/ • SkillCertPro offers detailed explanations to each question which helps to understand the concepts better. • It is recommended to score above 85% in SkillCertPro exams before attempting a real exam. • SkillCertPro updates exam questions every 2 weeks. • You will get life time access and life time free updates • SkillCertPro assures 100% pass guarantee in first attempt. Below are the free 10 sample questions. Question 1: In the context of CloudFormation, you are planning an update to your stack, which can potentially fail due to various reasons such as resource unavailability or template errors. What status, among the following, indicates a failure state during your CloudFormation stack update operation? A.ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS B.DELETE_IN_PROGRESS C.UPDATE_COMPLETE_CLEANUP_IN_PROGRESS D.REVIEW_IN_PROGRESS Answer: A Explanation: A. ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS (CORRECT) When an update to an existing CloudFormation stack fails (due to template errors, missing parameters, parameter mismatches, or resource provision failures), CloudFormation immediately triggers an automated rollback to revert all stack resources to their last known stable state. During this failure recovery process, the stack status changes to ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS (or UPDATE_ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS). This explicitly indicates that an operational failure has occurred during th e update phase and active mitigation/reversion is underway. Incorrect: B. DELETE_IN_PROGRESS This status indicates that a stack is currently in the process of being deleted (e.g., via a direct DeleteStack operation or during stack deletion workflows). It is an expected transition state for stack removal, not a failure status associated with an ongoing stack update. C. UPDATE_COMPLETE_CLEANUP_IN_PROGRESS This is a normal, successful intermediate state. During a stack update, CloudFormation creates new r esources before replacing or removing old ones to minimize downtime. UPDATE_COMPLETE_CLEANUP_IN_PROGRESS means the update succeeded and CloudFormation is actively deleting the old, replaced resources that are no longer needed. D. REVIEW_IN_PROGRESS This status indicates that a CloudFormation Change Set is being created or evaluated prior to execution. It is a pre - deployment preview step that allows you to assess the impact of changes (Add, Modify, or Remove) before applying them to the stack. It does not represent an execution failure state. Question 2: As a System Administrator, you are using AWS AutoScaling to manage the capacity of your infrastructure. If you want to manually scale out AWS resources using AutoScaling, which of the below parameters should you modify? A.Current capacity B.Desired capacity C.Preferred capacity D.Maximum capacity Answer: B Explanation: B. Desired capacity (CORRECT): AWS Auto Scaling adjusts the number of Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group (ASG) based on its Desired Capacity setting. When you want to manually scale out (add instances) or scale in (remove instances), you manually update the Desired Capacity value to your target number of instances. Auto Scaling then immediately launches or terminates instances to match this target number (provided it stays within the defined minimum and maximum bounds). Incorrect: A. Current capacity: "Current capacity" is a read - only metric representing the actual count of running or launching EC2 instances currently in the Auto Scaling group. It cannot be directly modified by a user; it automatically updates as Auto Scaling provisions or terminates instances to match the Desired Capacity. C. Preferred capacity: "Preferred capacity" is not a valid parameter or setting in AWS Auto Scaling. D. Maximum capacity: Modifying the Maximum capacity (Maximum size) only sets the upper boundary for ho w many instances the Auto Scaling group is allowed to scale out to. Changing this parameter alone does not immediately trigger a scale - out action unless the existing Desired Capacity is already blocked by a lower maximum threshold. Question 3 : You are creating a CloudFormation template to define resources. What are the key components you need to include for each resource declaration in the AWS CloudFormation template? A.a logical ID, a resource type, and resource properties B.a variable resource name and resource attributes C.an IP address and resource entities D.a physical ID, a resource file, and resource data Answer: C Explanation: Correct: C. a logical ID, a resource type, and resource properties Logical ID: Every resource declared in a CloudFormation template must have an alphanumeric unique identifier within the template (e.g., MyEC2Instance or S3BucketPolicy). Resource Type: Specifies the actual AWS resource being provisioned (e.g., AWS::EC2::Instance or AWS::S3::Bucket). Resource Properties: Defines the specific configuration parameters required for that resource (e.g., InstanceType, ImageId, BucketName). Incorrect: B. a variable resource name and resource attributes "Variable resource name" is not standard CloudFormation terminology; CloudFormation uses Logical IDs in the template and generates Physical IDs upon deployment. While resources have attributes (retrieved via F n::GetAtt), attributes are outputs produced by the resource, not key input components required when declaring a resource. A. an IP address and resource entities IP addresses are specific property values for network - related resources (like VPCs, Subnets, or EC2 instances), not structural requirements for all CloudFormation resource declarations. "Resource entities" is invalid CloudFormation terminology. D. a physical ID, a resource file, and resource data A Physical ID (e.g., i - 0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8 or my - bu cket - 12345) is automatically assigned by AWS after the resource is created during stack deployment; you do not declare physical IDs in the template. "Resource file" and "resource data" are not valid declaration components in CloudFormation syntax. Question 4 : As an AWS Solutions Architect, you are explaining to a client the advantages of using Auto Scaling for their application. Which of the following would be a legitimate benefit that you would highlight? A.The application gains enhanced fault tolerance capabilities. B.The application solely focuses on optimizing logistics and operations. C.The application is guaranteed to meet latency requirements across all regions. D.The application gains more transparency about the prototypes used within. Answer: D Explanation: Correct: D. The application gains enhanced fault tolerance capabilities. Auto Scaling continuously monitors the health of your application instances. If an instance becomes unhealthy or fails, Auto Scaling can automatically terminate it and launch a repla cement instance without human intervention. Additionally, when combined with Multi - AZ deployments, Auto Scaling maintains target capacity across multiple Availability Zones, significantly enhancing fault tolerance and availability. Incorrect: B. The application solely focuses on optimizing logistics and operations. "Logistics and operations" in a business context is completely outside the scope of AWS Auto Scaling's technical features. Auto Scaling automates infrastructure resource allocation (such as EC 2 instances, ECS tasks, or DynamoDB capacity) based on demand, rather than managing business logistics. C. The application is guaranteed to meet latency requirements across all regions. Auto Scaling operates within designated Auto Scaling Groups (typically constrained to specific VPC subnets within a single Region). It does not provide global routing, multi - region data replication, or absolute latency SLA guarantees. Cross - region latency management requires separate architecture components such as Amazon CloudFront, AWS Global Accelerator, or Route 53 latency - based routing. A. The application gains more transparency about the prototypes used within. Prototype transparency is not a cloud infrastructure benefit or a feature of AWS Auto Scaling. Auto Scaling focuses on dynamic capacity management, cost optimization, and high availability, not internal software design or prototype visibility. Question 5 : A client, while utilizing the AWS Auto Scaling group, has suspended the scaling process. However, a scaling activity that was intended to increase the instance count was already in progress. What would be the impact of the suspension on the in - progress scaling activity? A.No impact. The scaling activity continues as planned. B.It pauses the instance launch, resuming only once Auto Scaling is reinstated. C.It terminates the ongoing instance. D.It temporarily halts the instance. Answer: A Explanation: Correct: A. No impact. The scaling activity continues as planned. When you suspend a process in an AWS Auto Scaling group (such as Launch or Terminate), AWS Auto Scaling stops initiating new scaling activities for that process type. However, any scaling activity that is already in progress when the process is suspended is allowed to complete fully without interruption. Incorrect: B. It pauses the instance launch, resuming only once Auto Scaling is reinstated. Auto Scaling does not support "pausing" or holding an in - flight API call or instance initialization state midway through. The active creation and bootstrapping process completes regardless of the suspension command. C. It terminates the ongoing instance. Suspending a scaling process does not roll back or terminate instances currently being launched. Termination would only occur if a separate scaling activity (like scaling in) or health check process explicitly requested it. D. It temporarily halts the instance. Halting or stopping an instance mi d - provisioning is not a behavior of Auto Scaling process suspension. The underlying EC2 instance launch workflow proceeds to completion. • For a full set of 900 questions. Go to https://skillcertpro.com/product/aws - solutions - architect - professional - exam - questions/ • SkillCertPro offers detailed explanations to each question which helps to understand the concepts better. • It is recommended to score above 85% in SkillCertPro exams before attempting a real exam. • SkillCertPro updates exam questions every 2 weeks. • You will get life time access and life time free updates • SkillCertPro assures 100% pass guarantee in first attempt. Question 6 : You are a Solutions Architect working on a cloud project that uses an Amazon EBS boot partition. In a situation where you need to retain the data on the boot partition but also want to free up the compute resources, which API would you call to achieve this? A.Terminate Instances API B.Ping Instance API C.AMI Instance API D.Stop Instances API Answer: D Explanation: Correct: D. Stop Instances API When an Amazon EC2 instance backed by an Amazon EBS root volume is stopped via StopInstances, the underlying compute resources (CPU, RAM) are released, so you stop incurring hourly compute charges. However, the EBS boot partition (and any attached EBS volumes) remains intact in Amazon EBS storage, preserving all stored data. When you start the instance again (StartInstances), it resumes from its preserved state. Incorrect: A. Terminate Instances API Calling TerminateInstan ces permanently deletes the EC2 compute instance. By default, the root EBS volume is configured with DeleteOnTermination = true, which would delete the boot partition and cause data loss unless specifically reconfigured. Even if DeleteOnTermination were set to false, termination is an irreversible action intended for permanent removal, not for temporarily freeing compute resources while keeping the instance state. B. Ping Instance API "Ping Instance" is not a valid AWS EC2 API action. Ping generally refe rs to network connectivity checks (ICMP), not an infrastructure management API call to modify instance states. C. AMI Instance API "AMI Instance API" is not a valid AWS API call. While you can create an AMI from an instance (using CreateImage), that API call creates a reusable image snapshot; it does not stop the running instance or free up the active compute resources by itself. Question 7 : As an AWS Solutions Architect, you‘re assigned to work with a paravirtual (PV) Amazon Machine Image (AMI) that requires custom kernel modifications. Which system does the AMI utilize during the boot process, and what would you need to alter to implement the required changes? A.The AMI uses the PV - BOOT system, and modifications must be applied to the kernel. B.The AMI uses the PV - AMI system, and modifications need to be made in the image‘s menu.lst file. C.The AMI uses the PV - WORM system, and the GRUB bootloader must be updated. D.The AMI uses the PV - GRUB system, and the kernel specified in the image‘s menu.lst file should be updated. Answer: D Explanation: Correct: D. The AMI uses the PV - GRUB system, and the kernel specified in the image‘s menu.lst file should be updated. PV - GRUB is an open - source bootloader that allows paravirtual (PV) Linux instances to boot using a kernel specified directly within the i mage's filesystem (specifically /boot/grub/menu.lst). To implement custom kernel modifications on a PV AMI, you configure PV - GRUB to point to your updated kernel by editing the menu.lst file inside the image, allowing the instance to boot your custom kernel instead of an AWS - provided default AKI (Amazon Kernel Image). Incorrect: A. The AMI uses the PV - BOOT system, and modifications must be applied to the kernel. "PV - BOOT" is not a valid AWS or virtualization system term. On legacy PV AMIs without PV - GRU B, kernels had to be managed via external Amazon Kernel Images (AKIs) selected via AWS APIs, not through a "PV - BOOT" system. B. The AMI uses the PV - AMI system, and modifications need to be made in the image‘s menu.lst file. "PV - AMI" refers generally to Paravirtual Amazon Machine Images as a class of AMIs, but it is not the name of the bootloader system itself. The bootloader system responsible for parsing menu.lst is specifically PV - GRUB. C. The AMI uses the PV - WORM system, and the GRUB bootloader must be updated. "PV - WORM" is a fabricated term (WORM usually stands for "Write Once, Read Many" in storage contexts, such as S3 Object Lock). It is not a bootloader or virtualization system used by AWS. Question 8 : As an AWS Solutions Architect, you are tasked with mapping an Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) to an Amazon EC2 instance using a CloudFormation template. Which approach should you use to achieve this? A.Reference the logical IDs to associate the block stores with the instance. B.Reference the physical IDs of the instance along with the resource type. C.Reference the instance IDs of the block store along with the resource properties. D.Reference the physical IDs of both the block stores and the instance. Answer: A Explanation: A. Reference the logical IDs to associate the block stores with the instance. In an AWS CloudFormation template, resources that are declared together are referenced using their Logical IDs via intrinsic functions like Ref or Fn::GetAtt. To attach an EBS v olume to an EC2 instance, you define an AWS::EC2::VolumeAttachment resource (or inline block device mapping) and reference the Logical ID of the instance (InstanceId: !Ref MyInstance) and the Logical ID of the EBS volume (VolumeId: !Ref MyEBSVolume). Incorrect: B. Reference the physical IDs of the instance along with the resource type. Physical IDs (such as i - 0123456789abcdef0) are generated by AWS only after stack deployment. When writing a CloudFormation template to create new resources, Physical IDs do not exist yet and cannot be hardcoded or referenced to establish relationships between template - declared resources. C. Reference the instance IDs of the block store along with the resource properties. Block stores (EBS volumes) do not have "instance IDs"; instance IDs belong to EC2 compute instances. Additionally, CloudFormation resource associations rely on logical references inside the template structures, not on misattributed identifiers. D. Reference the physical IDs of both the block stores and the instance. Neither the EBS volume nor the EC2 instance has a Physical ID prior to deployment. Referencing Physical IDs within a template for new resources is invalid CloudFormation syntax; logical IDs must be used so CloudFormation can resolve dependencies and provision resources in the correct sequence. Question 9 : A tech startup company has a collaborative culture where developers constantly iterate on an app hosted on EC2 instances. A cybersecurity audit recommends enhancing security for these EC2 instances. Which of the following security enhancements would be the least effective? A.Enforcing key - based logins and disabling password - based logins for all users. B.Instituting an IAM policy that only allows IAM users to connect to the EC2 instances with their own SSH keys. C.Establishing a protocol to revoke access rights when a user no longer needs to configure the EC2 instance. D.Continually updating the OS with the latest patches. Answer: B Explanation: B. Instituting an IAM policy that only allows IAM users to connect to the EC2 instances with their own SSH keys. Standard AWS IAM policies govern control - plane API access to AWS services, but they do not manage or enforce OS - level SSH authentication mecha nisms on standard EC2 instances. Operating system user accounts and their associated SSH public keys (~/.ssh/authorized_keys) exist within the OS instance memory and file system, completely separate from IAM policy enforcement. Therefore, trying to construct an IAM policy to validate individual SSH keys at the OS login layer is ineffective without additional tools (like EC2 Instance Connect or Systems Manager Session Manager). Incorrect: A. Enforcing key - based logins and disabling password - based logins for all users. Disabling password authentication in sshd_config (PasswordAuthentication no) and relying exclusively on public/private key pairs is a standard security hardening practice. It protects instances against automated brute - force attacks and dictionary attacks targeting OS user accounts, making it a highly effective enhancement. C. Establishing a protocol to revoke access rights when a user no longer needs to configure the EC2 instance. Revoking OS access rights and SSH keys for offboarded team members or developers who changed roles enforces the principle of least privilege. It prevents unauthorized access via stale credentials, which is a key operational security control. D. Continually updating the OS with the latest patches. Regularly applying OS updates and security patches (e.g., using AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager) mitigates known zero - day exploits and software vulnerabilities (CVEs) in Linux packages and kernels, forming a critical defense layer. Question 10 : Your company uses an EC2 instance for critical operations and it needs to be accessed via SSH port only from IP 10.20.30.40/32. What is the most secure configuration for allowing this access? A.Modify the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40 B.Adjust the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.0 C.Change the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40/32 D.Update the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40/0 Answer: C Explanation: C. Change the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40/32 AWS Security Groups require inbound CIDR notation to define IP addresses or IP ranges. Specifying /32 denotes a single specific IPv4 address (10.20.30.40/32). Restricting inbound access to port 22 (SSH) strictly from this single host enforces the security principle of least privilege, ensuring no other IP addresses in the subnet can access the EC2 instance. Incorrect: A. Modify the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40 AWS Se curity Group inbound rules do not accept bare IPv4 addresses without valid CIDR notation. Attempting to enter 10.20.30.40 without the /32 suffix will result in a validation error in the AWS Management Console or AWS CLI. B. Adjust the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.0 Entering 10.20.30.0 without a prefix length (like /24) is invalid syntax. Moreover, if intended as a subnet range like 10.20.30.0/24, it would grant SSH access to 256 IP addresses rather than restricting it solely to the requ ired single host (10.20.30.40), violating least privilege. D. Update the security group to open port 22 for IP 10.20.30.40/0 The /0 CIDR notation is invalid when paired with a non - zero host address (10.20.30.40). The only valid /0 CIDR block in IPv4 is 0.0.0.0/0, which opens access to the entire public internet and represents a severe security vulnerability. • For a full set of 900 questions. Go to https://skillcertpro.com/product/aws - solutions - architect - professional - exam - questions/ • SkillCertPro offers detailed explanations to each question which helps to understand the concepts better. • It is recommended to score above 85% in SkillCertPro exams before attempting a real exam. • SkillCertPro updates exam questions every 2 weeks. • You will get life time access and life time free updates • SkillCertPro assures 100% pass guarantee in first attempt.