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DevOps Automation Tools & Scripting Techniques Flashcards

7 cards from real AWS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 DevOps Automation Tools & Scripting Techniques flashcards as text

  1. A DevOps engineer needs to run a shell script as a post-deploy hook in AWS CodeDeploy. Which AppSpec file section should contain this script reference?

    Answer: ApplicationStart

    The ApplicationStart lifecycle hook runs scripts after the application files have been installed, making it the correct place for post-deploy startup logic.

  2. Which AWS CLI command lists all available parameter names stored in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store under a specific path prefix?

    Answer: aws ssm get-parameters-by-path --path /myapp/

    aws ssm get-parameters-by-path retrieves all parameters within a specified path hierarchy, making it ideal for prefix-based lookups.

  3. In a Jenkins pipeline, a developer wants to skip a stage if a specific environment variable is not set. Which Jenkinsfile construct achieves this?

    Answer: when { environment name: 'VAR', value: 'true' }

    The 'when' directive with 'environment' condition evaluates the stage conditionally based on whether the named environment variable matches the given value.

  4. A team uses AWS Systems Manager Run Command to execute scripts across 50 EC2 instances simultaneously. What is the recommended way to avoid overwhelming all instances at once?

    Answer: Use --max-concurrency and --max-errors parameters

    --max-concurrency limits how many instances execute simultaneously while --max-errors defines the failure threshold before the command halts.

  5. Which Python boto3 pattern is considered best practice for handling AWS API throttling in automation scripts?

    Answer: Use exponential backoff with jitter on ThrottlingException

    Exponential backoff with jitter spreads retry attempts over time, reducing contention and preventing thundering herd problems when AWS throttles API calls.

  6. A CloudFormation custom resource needs to signal success or failure back to the stack. What mechanism does the Lambda function use to communicate this?

    Answer: Send a PUT request to the pre-signed S3 URL in the ResponseURL event field

    CloudFormation custom resources require the Lambda function to PUT a JSON response to the ResponseURL pre-signed S3 URL provided in the event, signaling SUCCESS or FAILED.

  7. When writing an AWS CDK app in Python, which command synthesizes the CloudFormation template without deploying it?

    Answer: cdk synth

    cdk synth generates and prints the CloudFormation template for the CDK app without making any changes to the AWS environment.