AWS SysOps Administrator Associate Exam Guide

Everything you need to know about the AWS SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam, from study strategies to exam day tips.

Exam Information

180 minutes

Duration

65 questions

Questions

720/1000

Passing Score

$150 USD

Exam Cost

Recommended Study Plan

Week 1-2

Monitoring & Reporting

Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation (20%)

15-20 hours

CloudWatch metrics, alarms, and dashboards
CloudWatch Logs and Log Insights
AWS Config rules and compliance
EventBridge and automated remediation

Recommended Resources:

CloudWatch Workshop

AWS Config Documentation

Week 3-4

Reliability & High Availability

Reliability and Business Continuity (16%)

15-20 hours

EC2 Auto Scaling groups and policies
Elastic Load Balancing configuration
RDS Multi-AZ and read replicas
Backup and disaster recovery strategies

Recommended Resources:

High Availability Guides

Practice Questions

Week 5-6

Deployment & Security

Deployment and Provisioning (18%) + Security (16%)

20-25 hours

CloudFormation stack operations
AMI creation and EC2 Image Builder
IAM policies, roles, and best practices
AWS Organizations and Service Control Policies

Recommended Resources:

Security Best Practices

CloudFormation Labs

Week 7-8

Networking & Cost Optimization

Networking and Content Delivery (18%) + Cost (12%)

15-20 hours

VPC design, subnets, and security groups
Route 53 routing policies
CloudFront distributions
Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor optimization

Recommended Resources:

VPC Workshop

Practice Exams

Exam Tips & Strategies

Practice the Exam Labs

SOA-C02 includes hands-on exam labs. Practice common tasks like creating CloudWatch alarms, configuring Auto Scaling, and VPC troubleshooting.

Manage Lab Time Carefully

Exam labs have separate time limits. Don't spend too much time on one task—move on if stuck.

Master CloudWatch

CloudWatch is heavily tested. Know metrics, alarms, dashboards, Logs, Log Insights, and Events/EventBridge.

Know Troubleshooting Steps

Many questions test your ability to troubleshoot issues. Know common error scenarios for EC2, RDS, VPC, and S3.

Key Topics to Master

Amazon CloudWatch

CloudWatch Logs & Alarms

AWS Config

Auto Scaling

Elastic Load Balancing

Amazon RDS

AWS CloudFormation

IAM Policies & Roles

VPC & Security Groups

Amazon Route 53

AWS Systems Manager

AWS Cost Explorer

AWS Trusted Advisor

Amazon S3 Lifecycle Policies

For the most up-to-date exam information, visit the official exam guide.

View Official Exam Guide

Back to SysOps Administrator

AWS SysOps Administrator Associate Exam Guide

Everything you need to know about the AWS SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam, from study strategies to exam day tips.

Exam Information

180 minutes

Duration

65 questions

Questions

720/1000

Passing Score

$150 USD

Exam Cost

Recommended Study Plan

Week 1-2

Monitoring & Reporting

Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation (20%)

15-20 hours

CloudWatch metrics, alarms, and dashboards
CloudWatch Logs and Log Insights
AWS Config rules and compliance
EventBridge and automated remediation

Recommended Resources:

CloudWatch Workshop

AWS Config Documentation

Week 3-4

Reliability & High Availability

Reliability and Business Continuity (16%)

15-20 hours

EC2 Auto Scaling groups and policies
Elastic Load Balancing configuration
RDS Multi-AZ and read replicas
Backup and disaster recovery strategies

Recommended Resources:

High Availability Guides

Practice Questions

Week 5-6

Deployment & Security

Deployment and Provisioning (18%) + Security (16%)

20-25 hours

CloudFormation stack operations
AMI creation and EC2 Image Builder
IAM policies, roles, and best practices
AWS Organizations and Service Control Policies

Recommended Resources:

Security Best Practices

CloudFormation Labs

Week 7-8

Networking & Cost Optimization

Networking and Content Delivery (18%) + Cost (12%)

15-20 hours

VPC design, subnets, and security groups
Route 53 routing policies
CloudFront distributions
Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor optimization

Recommended Resources:

VPC Workshop

Practice Exams

Exam Tips & Strategies

Practice the Exam Labs

SOA-C02 includes hands-on exam labs. Practice common tasks like creating CloudWatch alarms, configuring Auto Scaling, and VPC troubleshooting.

Manage Lab Time Carefully

Exam labs have separate time limits. Don't spend too much time on one task—move on if stuck.

Master CloudWatch

CloudWatch is heavily tested. Know metrics, alarms, dashboards, Logs, Log Insights, and Events/EventBridge.

Know Troubleshooting Steps

Many questions test your ability to troubleshoot issues. Know common error scenarios for EC2, RDS, VPC, and S3.

Key Topics to Master

Amazon CloudWatch

CloudWatch Logs & Alarms

AWS Config

Auto Scaling

Elastic Load Balancing

Amazon RDS

AWS CloudFormation

IAM Policies & Roles

VPC & Security Groups

Amazon Route 53

AWS Systems Manager

AWS Cost Explorer

AWS Trusted Advisor

Amazon S3 Lifecycle Policies

For the most up-to-date exam information, visit the official exam guide.

View Official Exam Guide

Quick Feedback

AWS SysOps Administrator Associate Exam Guide

Exam Information

Recommended Study Plan

Exam Tips & Strategies

Practice the Exam Labs

Manage Lab Time Carefully

Master CloudWatch

Know Troubleshooting Steps

Key Topics to Master

AWS SysOps Administrator Associate Exam Guide

Exam Information

Recommended Study Plan

Exam Tips & Strategies

Practice the Exam Labs

Manage Lab Time Carefully

Master CloudWatch

Know Troubleshooting Steps

Key Topics to Master