AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 Practice Question

The correct answer is to use .ebextensions configuration files. AWS Elastic Beanstalk uses .ebextensions to allow for deep customization of the environment, including the underlying EC2 instances. By placing YAML or JSON formatted .config files in a .ebextensions directory within the application source bundle, a developer can run commands, install packages, create files, and configure services automatically every time a new version of the application is deployed. This is the most integrated, repeatable, and operationally efficient method for handling customizations that are tied to the application deployment lifecycle.

• Creating and maintaining a custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI) is incorrect because it introduces significant operational overhead. While it can be used for pre-installing software, any changes to the required agents or configurations would necessitate creating, testing, and managing a new AMI, which contradicts the goal of minimizing operational overhead. .ebextensions are more flexible for changes tied to application versions.
• Using EC2 user data scripts via a custom launch template is incorrect. While user data can customize instances at launch, .ebextensions are the idiomatic and recommended way to perform these actions within the Elastic Beanstalk service. Relying on user data scripts bypasses the integrated configuration management that Elastic Beanstalk provides and can be harder to manage and version with the application code.
• Using AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Run Command is incorrect for this use case. SSM Run Command is primarily for ad-hoc administrative tasks, patch management, or state management on a fleet of instances after they are running. It is not designed to be the primary mechanism for bootstrapping instance configurations during an initial Elastic Beanstalk application deployment.