AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - AssociateSOA-C03Exam Guide
An Associate exam validating the deployment, management, and operation of AWS workloads across monitoring, reliability, automation, security, and networking.
Associate · AvailableInformation verified 2026-08-24
English questions for this exam are not yet available. Practice links open the Japanese version.
Exam overview
- Exam code
- SOA-C03
- Level
- Associate
- Exam status
- Available
- Intended candidate
- CloudOps engineers with about one year of experience deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS.
- AWS-recommended knowledge and experience
- About one year deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS
- Question formats
- Multiple choice and multiple response
- Languages
- English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese
- Testing options
- Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored exam
- Certification validity
- Three years from the date earned; see AWS recertification guidance for renewal options
Who this exam is for
- People responsible for monitoring, change, and incident response in AWS
- Operations professionals moving from on-premises to cloud operations
- Learners who want structured coverage of operations, IaC, and automation
These learning profiles are organized from the AWS intended-candidate and recommended-experience guidance.
Official exam domains
A concise rendering of the domains, weights, and task statements in the official exam guide.Monitoring, Logging, Analysis, Remediation, and Performance Optimization
22%Uses metrics, logs, and alarms to detect issues, remediate them, and optimize performance.
Key tasks
- Implement monitoring, logging, and alarms
- Identify and remediate issues from monitoring data
- Optimize compute, storage, and database resources
Services and concepts to review
Amazon CloudWatchAWS CloudTrailAmazon EventBridgeAWS Systems Manager
Reliability and Business Continuity
22%Operates high availability, scaling, backups, and recovery procedures.
Key tasks
- Implement high availability and scaling
- Implement backup and restore
- Operate disaster recovery strategies
Services and concepts to review
AWS BackupAWS Auto ScalingElastic Load BalancingAmazon Route 53
Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation
22%Covers infrastructure as code, configuration management, deployment, and automated remediation.
Key tasks
- Provision and maintain resources
- Automate deployment and configuration management
- Automate operational tasks and remediation
Services and concepts to review
AWS CloudFormationAWS Systems ManagerAWS CodeDeployAWS Lambda
Security and Compliance
16%Operates access, encryption, detection, vulnerability, and compliance controls.
Key tasks
- Protect data and infrastructure
- Implement security and compliance policies
- Detect and remediate security events
Services and concepts to review
AWS IAMAWS KMSAWS ConfigAmazon GuardDutyAmazon Inspector
Networking and Content Delivery
18%Implements and troubleshoots VPC connectivity, DNS, load balancing, and content delivery.
Key tasks
- Implement and optimize network connectivity
- Configure DNS and content delivery
Services and concepts to review
Amazon VPCRoute 53Elastic Load BalancingCloudFrontAWS Transit Gateway
Suggested study path
- Differentiate what CloudWatch, CloudTrail, and Config observe
- Compare backup, Multi-AZ, and multi-Region strategies by recovery requirements
- Organize operational workflows using CloudFormation and Systems Manager
- Repeat incident scenarios through domain practice and mock exams
Relevant AWS services and concepts
Observability
Why review these: To distinguish metrics, API history, configuration state, and event-driven operations.
Amazon CloudWatchAWS CloudTrailAWS ConfigAmazon EventBridge
Automation
Why review these: To build repeatable change and automated remediation into operations.
AWS CloudFormationAWS Systems ManagerAWS LambdaAWS CodeDeploy
Continuity and connectivity
Why review these: To treat recovery and traffic control as one operational process.
AWS BackupElastic Load BalancingRoute 53AWS Transit Gateway
How this exam differs from other AWS Certifications
SAA-C03
SAA-C03 focuses on architecture decisions; SOA-C03 focuses on monitoring, changing, and recovering running environments.
Open exam guideDOP-C02
SOA-C03 covers Associate-level operations; DOP-C02 extends into advanced automation and continuous delivery across systems.
Learning with Path & Pass
Practice questions: 140 questions
- Practice by domain
- Quick practice
- Review and bookmarks
- Mock exams
- Progressive hints
- Immediate scoring and detailed explanations
- On-device learning history and progress
All questions are original practice content based on public exam objectives. They are not actual, recalled, or past AWS Certification exam questions.
Frequently asked questions
The certification was renamed AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate for SOA-C03. Existing SOA-C02 credentials keep the former name and remain valid for three years from issue.
No. However, AWS suggests Cloud Practitioner-level fundamentals first for candidates without IT work experience.
No. They are original practice questions based on public exam guides and primary sources, not actual or recalled AWS Certification exam questions.
Official sources
- AWS Certification official site
- Official AWS certification page
- Official AWS exam guide
- SOA-C03 update and certification rename
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