AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – AssociateStudy guide
The associate certification for operating on AWS (SOA-C02).
About AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02)
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) is a Associate-level certification from AWS. This page organizes the exam scope into a 6-chapter, 17-section study guide and lets you check your understanding with exam-style practice questions. A good flow is to read the chapters below in order, then test yourself via "Practice questions."
Exam domains (approximate weighting)
- Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation~20%
- Reliability and Business Continuity~16%
- Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation~18%
- Security and Compliance~16%
- Networking and Content Delivery~18%
- Cost and Performance Optimization~12%
Weights are approximate guidance for the live exam. Each domain is covered in detail in the chapters and sections below.
Note: This exam has been retired (successor: SOA-C03).
Official exam information: https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-sysops-admin-associate/
1Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation
- 1.1CloudWatch Metrics and Alarms
Understand monitoring ops: CloudWatch metrics, alarm states (OK/ALARM/INSUFFICIENT_DATA) and thresholds, actions (SNS notify, Auto Scaling, EC2 action), and in-guest metrics via the CloudWatch agent. The starting point for "Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation" in SOA-C02.
- 1.2Log Aggregation and Audit (CloudWatch Logs and CloudTrail)
Understand aggregating app/OS logs with CloudWatch Logs and Logs Insights, auditing API activity (who did what) with CloudTrail, and when to use each.
- 1.3Automated Remediation (EventBridge and Systems Manager)
Understand event routing with EventBridge, automated remediation with Systems Manager Automation (runbooks), and Systems Manager ops features (patch management, Run Command, Parameter Store).
2Reliability and Business Continuity
- 2.1Scalability and High Availability
Understand HA operations: load balancers and Auto Scaling groups (spread across AZs, self-healing via health checks, min/desired/max), and scaling policies.
- 2.2Database Availability and Scaling
Understand RDS Multi-AZ (HA via automatic failover) vs. read replicas (read scaling) and when to use each.
- 2.3Backup and Disaster Recovery (RPO/RTO)
Understand EBS/RDS snapshots, centralized management with AWS Backup (schedules, cross-region/account copy), and choosing a DR strategy via RPO/RTO.
3Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation
- 3.1Provisioning with CloudFormation
Understand IaC operations: CloudFormation templates and stacks, previewing with change sets, rolling out across accounts/regions with StackSets, and drift detection.
- 3.2Fleet Management with Systems Manager
Understand large-scale operations automation with Systems Manager: Run Command (commands at scale), Patch Manager (patching), Parameter Store (config/secrets), and maintenance windows.
- 3.3Consistent Instances (AMIs and Launch Templates)
Understand consistent, fast provisioning: golden AMIs (prebaked), launch templates (AMI + type + user data), and bootstrap via user data.
4Security and Compliance
- 4.1IAM and Access Management (Operations View)
Understand IAM identity-based/resource-based policies, evaluation logic (explicit deny wins, default deny), roles and temporary credentials, and least-privilege operations. The starting point for "Security and Compliance" in SOA-C02.
- 4.2Data Protection and Encryption (KMS, ACM)
Understand encryption at rest (KMS for S3/EBS/RDS), encryption in transit (TLS with ACM certificates), and secrets management operations.
- 4.3Compliance and Threat Detection (Config, GuardDuty)
Understand governance operations: AWS Config for configuration recording, rule evaluation, and auto-remediation; GuardDuty for threat detection; and Trusted Advisor best-practice checks.
5Networking and Content Delivery
- 5.1Operating VPC Networking
Understand operating a VPC: public/private subnets, IGW and NAT gateway, security groups vs. NACLs, VPC endpoints, and troubleshooting with VPC flow logs. The starting point for "Networking and Content Delivery" in SOA-C02.
- 5.2Route 53 and DNS Routing
Understand Route 53 hosted zones and records, health checks, and choosing routing policies (failover/latency/geolocation/weighted/simple).
- 5.3Operating CloudFront and Load Balancing
Understand CloudFront edge caching (TTL, invalidation), ELB types (ALB/NLB) and health checks, and choosing between them in operations.
6Cost and Performance Optimization
- 6.1Cost Visibility and Management
Understand cost management ops: visualization/analysis with Cost Explorer, budget alerts with Budgets, cost allocation tags and the Cost and Usage Report (CUR), and consolidated billing in Organizations. The starting point for "Cost and Performance Optimization" in SOA-C02.
- 6.2Resource and Performance Optimization
Understand right-sizing with Compute Optimizer, pricing models (Savings Plans / Reserved / Spot), and optimizing performance/cost with caching and storage tiers.