Chapter 3 of 5 · AWS SOA-C03
Deployment and Automation
CloudFormation, AMIs, Image Builder, Systems Manager operations, patching and event driven automation.
- 7topics
- 32 minfast track
- 1diagrams and exhibits
- 22%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1CloudFormation Templates and StacksProvision resources as code with CloudFormation: template sections, parameters, intrinsic functions, nested and cross stack…4 min
- 2CloudFormation Changes and TroubleshootingUpdate CloudFormation stacks with change sets, detect drift, protect resources, fix failed rollbacks and deploy to many accounts…5 min
- 3AMIs, Launch Templates and Image BuilderBuild, share and copy AMIs, bootstrap with user data, define launches with launch templates and automate golden image pipelines…5 min
- 4Systems Manager Operations ToolsManage fleets with Systems Manager: managed node needs, Run Command, Session Manager, State Manager, Parameter Store, Inventory…Diagram5 min
- 5Patching and Maintenance WindowsPatch fleets with Patch Manager, baselines and patch groups, schedule work in maintenance windows, and compare in place patching…4 min
- 6Scheduled and Event Driven AutomationAutomate operations with EventBridge Scheduler, Lambda, Step Functions, Automation runbooks, tags, Config remediation and AWS…4 min
- 7Deployment Strategies, Terraform and GitChoose in place, rolling, blue/green and canary deployments with CodeDeploy and Elastic Beanstalk, and manage infrastructure code…5 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
This chapter is about building cloud resources in a repeatable way and then operating them without manual effort. It follows the deployment, provisioning and automation domain of the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03) outline.
The first half is provisioning: infrastructure as code with CloudFormation, and images and launch templates for EC2. The second half is automation of existing resources with Systems Manager, patching, schedules and events.
The chapter has two outline topics, and they are spread across six pages because each topic is broad.
How the topics fit together
Provisioning creates the resources, and automation keeps them correct over time.
- CloudFormation builds and changes whole environments from templates, and finds drift.
- AMIs, launch templates and Image Builder define what each instance starts from.
- Systems Manager runs commands, gives shell access and holds configuration.
- Patch Manager and maintenance windows keep servers current on a plan.
- Schedules, events and runbooks remove routine manual work.
A good operations answer is repeatable and auditable. Prefer templates, runbooks and managed tools over console clicks and ad hoc scripts.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and example commands.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
If you can, deploy a small template, break it on purpose and read the stack events. Failure messages are a common source of exam questions.
Ready for more practice?
The full AWS SOA-C03 question bank has 850 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
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