The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03) exam replaced the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam (SOA-C02) on 30 September 2025. It has 65 questions in 130 minutes, a passing score of 720 out of 1000 and a $150 fee. It tests how you run workloads on AWS: monitoring, fixing, automating, securing and keeping them available.
Facts verified November 2026 against the official AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate exam page and exam guide.
Table of Contents
SOA-C03 quick facts
| Item | SOA-C03 |
|---|---|
| Full name | AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate |
| Replaced | AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02), last exam day 29 September 2025 |
| Level | Associate |
| Questions | 65 (50 scored, 15 unscored) |
| Question types | Multiple choice and multiple response |
| Time | 130 minutes |
| Passing score | 720 on a scaled score of 100–1000 |
| Fee | $150 USD (before tax) |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test centre or online proctored |
| Recommended experience | 1 year of experience with AWS and 1 year in a systems administration or operations role |
| Results | Within 5 business days |
| Valid for | 3 years |
Is the SysOps Administrator certification still valid?
Yes. If you passed SOA-C02, your AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate certification stays valid for its full 3 years and keeps its original name. It isn’t renamed to CloudOps Engineer. When it’s due for renewal, you recertify through the current exam, SOA-C03.
If you were studying for SOA-C02, most of your knowledge carries over. The main differences are below.
What changed when SysOps became AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate?
| SOA-C02 domain (weight) | SOA-C03 domain (weight) |
|---|---|
| Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation (20%) | Monitoring, Logging, Analysis, Remediation, and Performance Optimization (22%) |
| Reliability and Business Continuity (16%) | Reliability and Business Continuity (22%) |
| Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation (18%) | Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation (22%) |
| Security and Compliance (16%) | Security and Compliance (16%) |
| Networking and Content Delivery (18%) | Networking and Content Delivery (18%) |
| Cost and Performance Optimization (12%) | No separate domain. Performance moves into Domain 1 |
The shift is clear: reliability and automation carry more weight, and performance tuning now sits with monitoring, where you’d actually spot the problem. SOA-C02 had no labs either: AWS removed them on 28 March 2023, as noted in the archived SOA-C02 exam guide. Old study material that mentions exam labs is out of date.
How is SOA-C03 scored?
You need a scaled score of 720 or more overall, with no per-domain pass mark. Compensatory scoring lets a strong domain offset a weaker one. The 15 unscored questions are mixed in, so answer everything. There’s no penalty for wrong answers.
What are the five SOA-C03 domains?
Domain 1: Monitoring, Logging, Analysis, Remediation, and Performance Optimization (22%)
- Amazon CloudWatch metrics, alarms, dashboards and Logs, plus the CloudWatch agent for memory and disk metrics that EC2 doesn’t send by default.
- AWS CloudTrail for API activity, and AWS Config for configuration history and rules.
- Amazon EventBridge rules and AWS Systems Manager Automation to fix issues automatically.
- Performance: right-sizing EC2, choosing EBS volume types, database and caching tuning.
How to reason about it: the exam likes closed loops. A metric breaches a threshold, an alarm or EventBridge rule fires, and an automation fixes the problem without a person logging in. If an option relies on someone checking a dashboard, look for a better one.
Domain 2: Reliability and Business Continuity (22%)
- Scaling with EC2 Auto Scaling and load balancers.
- High availability with Multi-AZ databases, Route 53 health checks and failover routing.
- Backups and restores: AWS Backup, EBS snapshots, RDS automated backups and snapshots, S3 versioning and replication.
- Disaster recovery strategies and recovery testing.
How to reason about it: check what’s being protected and from what. Accidental deletion calls for versioning or backups. AZ failure calls for Multi-AZ. Region failure calls for cross-Region copies or replication.
Domain 3: Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation (22%)
- Infrastructure as code with AWS CloudFormation (stacks, change sets, StackSets, drift detection) and AWS CDK, plus third-party tools such as Terraform.
- Creating and sharing AMIs, EC2 Image Builder, and Systems Manager for patching, Run Command and Parameter Store.
- Deployment strategies and containers on Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS.
How to reason about it: “repeatable across many accounts and Regions” means StackSets. “Detect manual changes to the stack” means drift detection. “Patch a fleet without SSH” means Systems Manager.
Domain 4: Security and Compliance (16%)
- IAM policies, roles and troubleshooting access denied errors. AWS Organizations and SCPs.
- Encryption with AWS KMS and certificates with AWS Certificate Manager.
- Findings and compliance with AWS Security Hub, Amazon GuardDuty, Amazon Inspector and AWS Config rules.
How to reason about it: when access is denied, check every layer in order: an SCP, a permissions boundary, the identity policy, the resource policy and, for encrypted data, the KMS key policy. An explicit deny anywhere wins.
Domain 5: Networking and Content Delivery (18%)
- VPC design and troubleshooting: route tables, security groups, network ACLs, NAT gateways, VPC endpoints, VPC Flow Logs.
- Connecting networks: VPC peering, AWS Transit Gateway, VPN and AWS Direct Connect.
- Amazon Route 53 routing policies and Amazon CloudFront distributions.
How to reason about it: for “can’t connect” scenarios, trace the packet path: route table, then NACL (stateless, so check both directions), then security group. VPC Flow Logs show whether traffic was accepted or rejected.
Is SOA-C03 harder than SAA-C03?
It’s different rather than harder: SAA-C03 asks what to design, SOA-C03 asks how to run, fix and automate it. Operations experience maps directly onto it. If your background is design or development, plan extra time for CloudWatch, Systems Manager, CloudFormation details and network troubleshooting.
See our SAA-C03 exam guide to compare the two blueprints.
A 6-week SOA-C03 study plan
About 1–1.5 hours a day, with hands-on practice in a free-tier account. Delete resources after each session.
| Week | Focus | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CloudWatch metrics, alarms, Logs and the agent. CloudTrail and Config | An alarm that triggers an action on a test instance |
| 2 | EventBridge and Systems Manager (Automation, Run Command, Patch Manager, Parameter Store) | An automated fix for a simulated problem |
| 3 | CloudFormation and CDK: stacks, change sets, StackSets, drift. AMIs and Image Builder | Deploy, change and roll back a small stack |
| 4 | Reliability: Auto Scaling, Multi-AZ, backups, AWS Backup, DR | A restore you’ve actually tested |
| 5 | Security and networking: IAM troubleshooting, KMS, VPC paths, Flow Logs, Route 53 | Diagnose a blocked connection from Flow Logs |
| 6 | Full timed practice exams and answer review | Two timed mocks with a stable score, comfortably above 720 |
Common SOA-C03 traps
- Missing memory metrics. EC2 doesn’t publish memory or disk-space usage by default. You need the CloudWatch agent.
- CloudTrail vs Config. CloudTrail tells you who made an API call. Config tells you what a resource looked like and whether it’s compliant.
- Security groups vs NACLs. Security groups are stateful. NACLs are stateless, so return traffic needs its own rule.
- Manual fixes. Options that need someone to log in are rarely the best answer when an automated one exists.
- StackSets vs nested stacks. StackSets deploy across accounts and Regions. Nested stacks reuse templates inside one stack.
- Backups vs high availability. Multi-AZ doesn’t protect you from deleting data. Backups do.
SOA-C03 readiness checklist
You’re likely ready to book when you can:
- Build an alarm-to-remediation flow with CloudWatch, EventBridge and Systems Manager.
- Explain when to use CloudTrail, Config and CloudWatch Logs.
- Read a CloudFormation template and predict what a change set will do.
- Pick a backup or DR approach from the failure that’s described.
- Troubleshoot an “access denied” or “can’t connect” scenario step by step.
- Score consistently above the pass mark on full, timed 130-minute practice exams.
How does SOA-C03 compare with other AWS certifications?
- CLF-C02 exam guide: the foundational exam, if you’re new to AWS.
- SAA-C03 exam guide: the design-focused associate exam with the same length and pass mark.
Passing SOA-C03 earns a 50% discount voucher for your next AWS exam or recertification.
Practice for SOA-C03
Our SOA-C03 practice exams follow the current CloudOps blueprint: 65 questions in 130 minutes, with every option explained.
Free mock exam
Take SOA-C03 Mock Exam 1, free
A full-length, timed mock in the real exam format, with every answer explained so you know exactly where you stand.
65
questions
130
minutes
720
to pass
Free account required.
If you complete every mock exam in the course, sit the real exam within 90 days of buying and don’t pass, we’ll refund the course in full. Terms apply.
SOA-C03 FAQ
Is the AWS SysOps Administrator exam still available?
No. SOA-C02 was last available on 29 September 2025. Its replacement, SOA-C03, leads to the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate certification.
What is the SOA-C03 passing score?
720 on a scaled score from 100 to 1000.
Does SOA-C03 have labs?
No. It has multiple-choice and multiple-response questions only. Labs were removed from the SysOps exam in March 2023.
How much does SOA-C03 cost?
$150 USD before tax, or $75 with the 50% voucher from a previous AWS certification.
Will my SysOps certification be renamed?
No. It keeps its name until it expires. When you renew through SOA-C03, you’ll earn the CloudOps Engineer – Associate certification.
How long is SOA-C03 valid?
3 years.
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Sources (checked November 2026): AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate (SOA-C03) exam page and exam guide · AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) exam guide v2.3, archived · AWS Certification benefits
