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200+ Free AWS SysOps Administrator Practice Questions

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A SysOps administrator needs to monitor CPU utilization for an EC2 instance and receive notifications when it exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which combination of AWS services should be used?

A
B
C
D
to track
2026 Statistics

Key Facts: AWS SysOps Administrator Exam

~70%

Estimated Pass Rate

Industry estimate

720/1000

Passing Score

AWS

100-140 hrs

Study Time

Recommended

$159,933

Avg AWS Cert Salary

Global Knowledge

65

Questions

50 scored + 15 unscored

$150

Exam Fee

AWS

The AWS SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02) requires a scaled score of 720/1000 to pass. The exam has 65 questions (50 scored + 15 unscored) in 130 minutes. Domain 1 (Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation) is the largest at 20%, followed by Deployment (18%), Networking (18%), Reliability (16%), Security (16%), and Cost Optimization (12%). AWS-certified professionals earn a median salary of $159,933/year.

Sample AWS SysOps Administrator Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your AWS SysOps Administrator exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 200+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1A SysOps administrator needs to monitor CPU utilization for an EC2 instance and receive notifications when it exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which combination of AWS services should be used?
A.CloudWatch Logs and AWS Lambda
B.CloudWatch Alarms and Amazon SNS
C.CloudTrail and Amazon SQS
D.Amazon EventBridge and AWS Step Functions
Explanation: CloudWatch Alarms monitor metrics and trigger actions when thresholds are breached. When combined with Amazon SNS, you can send notifications via email, SMS, or HTTP endpoints. CloudWatch Logs is for log data, not metric alarms. CloudTrail logs API activity. EventBridge is for event routing.
2A company wants to collect custom application metrics from an on-premises server and send them to CloudWatch. Which solution requires the least operational overhead?
A.Install the CloudWatch agent on the server
B.Write a custom script using the CloudWatch SDK
C.Use AWS Systems Manager Session Manager
D.Deploy an API Gateway to receive metric data
Explanation: The CloudWatch agent is designed to collect system-level and custom metrics from both EC2 instances and on-premises servers, handling authentication, retries, and batching automatically.
3An ALB needs to trigger alerts when average response time exceeds 500ms. What should be configured?
A.Create a CloudWatch alarm on TargetResponseTime metric
B.Enable VPC Flow Logs
C.Configure AWS Config rules
D.Set up CloudTrail Insights
Explanation: Application Load Balancers emit the TargetResponseTime metric to CloudWatch. A CloudWatch alarm can monitor this metric and trigger notifications when thresholds are exceeded.
4Security team needs to identify failed login attempts (HTTP 401) from web access logs and send to a security account. Most efficient solution?
A.Create metric filters in CloudWatch Logs
B.Use CloudWatch Logs Insights
C.Configure subscription filters to stream logs to Kinesis Data Stream
D.Set up CloudTrail
Explanation: CloudWatch Logs subscription filters forward log data in real-time to Kinesis Data Streams, Lambda, or OpenSearch. This enables automated streaming to a central security account for analysis.
5Compliance requires keeping application logs for 7 years. Most cost-effective solution?
A.Increase CloudWatch Logs retention to 7 years
B.Export logs to S3 and use Glacier Deep Archive
C.Copy logs to DynamoDB
D.Use CloudWatch Logs Insights
Explanation: Export logs to S3 and use lifecycle policies to transition to Glacier Deep Archive, which is designed for 7-10 year retention at lowest cost. CloudWatch Logs storage is expensive for long-term retention.
6Track security group changes and alert when SSH (port 22) is opened to 0.0.0.0/0. Which services?
A.CloudTrail and CloudWatch Alarms
B.AWS Config and Amazon EventBridge
C.VPC Flow Logs and GuardDuty
D.CloudWatch Logs Insights and SNS
Explanation: AWS Config monitors configuration changes and rules can detect non-compliant security groups. Combined with EventBridge, you can trigger automated remediation or alerts.
7Capture all API activity across multiple accounts/regions centrally with tamper-proof storage. What to implement?
A.Enable CloudTrail in each account/region to centralized S3 with MFA delete
B.Use CloudWatch Logs agent on EC2
C.Configure VPC Flow Logs
D.Enable AWS Config
Explanation: CloudTrail captures API activity. Sending to centralized S3 with MFA delete and object lock creates a tamper-proof audit trail.
8Automatically stop EC2 instances tagged "Environment:Dev" daily at 7 PM. Least operational effort?
A.EventBridge scheduled rule targeting Systems Manager Automation
B.Lambda triggered by CloudWatch Events
C.AWS Batch
D.Auto Scaling scheduled actions
Explanation: EventBridge scheduled rules with Systems Manager Automation provides built-in instance management with robust error handling and logging.
9Patch 500 EC2 instances monthly with compliance reporting and rollback capability. Which service?
A.AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager
B.AWS Lambda with custom scripts
C.AWS OpsWorks
D.EC2 Image Builder
Explanation: Systems Manager Patch Manager automates patching with maintenance windows, compliance reports, and patch baselines.
10Auto-encrypt S3 buckets created without encryption within 5 minutes. Most efficient architecture?
A.Config rule with automatic remediation using Systems Manager
B.CloudWatch Events to Lambda
C.S3 Event Notifications to Lambda
D.CloudFormation template
Explanation: AWS Config rules detect non-compliant resources and trigger automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation, providing continuous compliance.

About the AWS SysOps Administrator Exam

The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) validates expertise in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS. It focuses on monitoring, high availability, deployment automation, security and compliance, networking, and cost optimization. This certification is ideal for system administrators, operations engineers, and DevOps engineers.

Questions

65 scored questions

Time Limit

130 minutes

Passing Score

720/1000

Exam Fee

$150 (Amazon Web Services (AWS))

AWS SysOps Administrator Exam Content Outline

20%

Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation

CloudWatch metrics, alarms, logs, CloudTrail, EventBridge, Systems Manager, automated remediation

16%

Reliability and Business Continuity

Auto Scaling, backup strategies, disaster recovery, Multi-AZ, Read Replicas, high availability

18%

Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation

CloudFormation, deployment strategies, AMIs, StackSets, cross-account automation

16%

Security and Compliance

IAM policies, KMS encryption, Security Groups, NACLs, Secrets Manager, GuardDuty, compliance controls

18%

Networking and Content Delivery

VPC, Route 53, ELB, CloudFront, Direct Connect, Transit Gateway, VPC endpoints

12%

Cost and Performance Optimization

Cost Explorer, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, S3 lifecycle policies, right-sizing, Trusted Advisor

How to Pass the AWS SysOps Administrator Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: 720/1000
  • Exam length: 65 questions
  • Time limit: 130 minutes
  • Exam fee: $150

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

AWS SysOps Administrator Study Tips from Top Performers

1Focus on Domain 1 (Monitoring, 20%) — understand CloudWatch Alarms, Logs Insights queries, and CloudTrail integration
2Master Systems Manager — Session Manager, Patch Manager, State Manager, Run Command, and Automation documents
3Know CloudFormation thoroughly — drift detection, stack policies, DeletionPolicy, change sets, and StackSets
4Understand backup strategies — RDS snapshots vs automated backups, point-in-time recovery, cross-region snapshots
5Learn Auto Scaling deeply — step scaling vs target tracking, cooldown periods, lifecycle hooks, instance refresh
6Know VPC networking — Flow Logs, security groups vs NACLs, NAT Gateway HA, VPC endpoints (Gateway vs Interface)
7Understand deployment strategies — in-place vs rolling vs blue/green, CodeDeploy, Route 53 failover routing
8Complete 200+ practice questions and score 80%+ consistently before scheduling the exam

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AWS SysOps Administrator Associate pass rate?

The AWS SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02) exam has an estimated pass rate of around 70% for well-prepared candidates. AWS requires a scaled score of 720 out of 1000. The exam has 65 questions (50 scored + 15 unscored) in 130 minutes. Candidates with hands-on AWS operations experience and 2-3 months of focused study typically pass on their first attempt.

How many questions are on the AWS SysOps Administrator exam?

The SOA-C02 exam has 65 total questions: 50 scored questions and 15 unscored pretest questions. You have 130 minutes to complete the exam. Questions are either multiple choice (one correct answer) or multiple response (two or more correct answers). Approximately 60% of questions are scenario-based, presenting real-world operational challenges.

What are the six domains of the SOA-C02 exam?

The six exam domains are: Domain 1 – Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation (20%): CloudWatch, CloudTrail, EventBridge, Systems Manager; Domain 2 – Reliability and Business Continuity (16%): Auto Scaling, backup strategies, disaster recovery; Domain 3 – Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation (18%): CloudFormation, deployment strategies, AMIs; Domain 4 – Security and Compliance (16%): IAM, KMS, Security Groups, compliance controls; Domain 5 – Networking and Content Delivery (18%): VPC, Route 53, ELB, CloudFront; Domain 6 – Cost and Performance Optimization (12%): Cost Explorer, Reserved Instances, S3 lifecycle.

How long should I study for the AWS SysOps Administrator Associate?

Most candidates study for 8-12 weeks, investing 100-140 hours total. If you already have Solutions Architect Associate, 6-8 weeks is typical. Key study areas: 1) Hands-on experience with CloudWatch, Systems Manager, and CloudFormation; 2) Understanding operational excellence principles; 3) Backup and disaster recovery strategies; 4) Practice questions — aim for 80%+ on practice exams before scheduling.

What AWS services are most important for the SOA-C02 exam?

Core services tested heavily: Monitoring (CloudWatch, CloudTrail, X-Ray, EventBridge); Management (Systems Manager, CloudFormation, AWS Config); Compute (EC2 Auto Scaling, Launch Templates); Storage (EBS snapshots, S3 lifecycle policies); Database (RDS automated backups, point-in-time recovery, Read Replicas); Networking (VPC Flow Logs, Route 53 health checks, VPC endpoints); Security (KMS, Secrets Manager, GuardDuty, Inspector).

What is the difference between AWS SysOps and Solutions Architect Associate?

Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) focuses on designing architectures — 'how should we build this?' SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02) focuses on operating and managing AWS environments — 'how do we keep this running reliably?' SysOps covers deeper operational topics: monitoring and alerting, patching, backup automation, troubleshooting, and incident response. SysOps candidates should have 1+ years of hands-on operational experience.

What CloudWatch features should I know for the exam?

Key CloudWatch features for SysOps: Metrics (EC2, EBS, RDS, custom metrics); Alarms (threshold-based, anomaly detection, composite); Logs (log groups, log streams, metric filters, Insights queries); Dashboards (cross-region); Events/EventBridge (scheduled rules, pattern matching); Contributor Insights (top contributors analysis); Synthetics Canaries (endpoint monitoring).