The AWS SysOps certification got a new name in 2025 — and a content refresh to match. What used to be the SysOps Administrator – Associate is now the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate (SOA-C03), live since September 30, 2025. Same operations focus, same associate level, but updated to reflect how cloud ops roles actually work today: containers, IaC, multi-account governance.
If you're preparing for SOA-C03 — or still searching under the old SysOps name — you're in the right place.
Exam at a Glance
Exam Name: AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate
Exam Code: SOA-C03
Questions: 65 (multiple choice & multiple response
Duration: 130 minutes
Passing Score: 720 / 1000
Exam Fee: $150 USD
Validity: 3 years
Retake: Wait14 days
Delivery: Pearson VUE (test center or online proctored)
What Is the AWS SysOps Certification?
The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate targets system administrators and cloud operations professionals who manage AWS environments day-to-day. Not architects designing from scratch — operators keeping production workloads healthy, automated, and secure.
AWS retired SOA-C02 on September 29, 2025. SOA-C03 carries over all previous task statements and adds real gaps the old exam ignored: Amazon EKS, Amazon ECR, AWS CDK, Terraform, and Git-based deployment workflows. Exam labs remain retired since March 2023.
It's a natural next step after the AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) and pairs well with the Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — the architect designs it, the CloudOps Engineer runs it.
Not done SAA-C03 yet? Most candidates complete the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) first.
SOA-C03 reduced from 6 domains to 5. Performance optimization moved into Domain 1, and the weighting is unusually balanced — three domains share 22% each.
The heaviest domain and the one most reflective of daily ops work. CloudWatch is the backbone here — metrics, alarms, log groups, Contributor Insights, and anomaly detection. Expect scenario questions on EventBridge-triggered remediation and Systems Manager Automation runbooks. Know the difference between metric filters and CloudWatch Logs Insights queries cold.
High availability isn't just a concept here — AWS tests whether you can configure it. Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks, ELB health check thresholds, RDS Multi-AZ vs Read Replica trade-offs, Route 53 failover routing, and AWS Backup cross-region replication all appear. Disaster recovery tiers (backup & restore through multi-site active-active) are fair game.
The SOA-C03 expansion is most visible here. CloudFormation drift detection and stack policies remain core, but CDK constructs and Terraform state management are now in scope. Understand when to use Systems Manager vs CodePipeline vs Elastic Beanstalk — the exam tests judgment, not just recall.
AWS Organizations and Service Control Policies show up more than candidates expect. This domain tests multi-account security posture: GuardDuty findings, Security Hub aggregation, Inspector vulnerability scanning, KMS key policies, and Secrets Manager rotation. Permission boundaries and IAM policy evaluation logic are consistently tested.
VPC troubleshooting is the core skill here — reading flow logs, diagnosing NACL vs security group conflicts, and resolving routing table gaps. Direct Connect vs VPN trade-offs, CloudFront cache behavior configuration, and WAF rule logic round out the domain. Hybrid connectivity troubleshooting scenarios are common.
Monitoring, Logging & Remediation- 22% Weight
Reliability & Business Continuity- 22% Weight
Deployment, Provisioning & Automation- 22% Weight
Networking & Content Delivery- 18% Weight
Security & Compliance- 16% Weight
Start with CloudWatch — it's 22% of the exam and touches almost every other domain. Build a mental map of how metrics feed alarms, alarms trigger EventBridge rules, and rules invoke Systems Manager Automation. Use the TroyTec AI tutor to work through remediation flow scenarios. Pull the Domain 1 PDF set and do 20 timed questions before bed.
Work through Auto Scaling group configuration end-to-end: launch templates, scaling policies, lifecycle hooks, warm pools. Then shift to Route 53 health checks and failover routing logic. Use the TroyTec test engine's scenario mode — HA questions are heavily situational and need practiced pattern recognition, not just reading.
This is where SOA-C03 differs most from SOA-C02 prep. Spend the morning on CloudFormation — stack policies, drift detection, nested stacks. Afternoon: CDK vs Terraform comparison via the TroyTec AI tutor, which can walk through specific IaC decision scenarios on demand. 20 automation questions from the PDF bank to close out.
AWS Organizations gets underestimated. Spend the first half of the day on SCPs, permission boundaries, and how IAM policy evaluation order works across accounts. Then GuardDuty finding types, Security Hub standards, and KMS key policy structure. Test engine scenario session focused purely on multi-account security — this pattern repeats in the real exam.
Practice reading VPC flow logs and working backward to the cause. Run through the NACL vs security group stateful/stateless distinction until it's automatic. Ask the TroyTec AI tutor to walk through Direct Connect vs Site-to-Site VPN decision criteria — the exam tests when to use each, not just what they are. Review CloudFront cache behaviors and WAF rule evaluation order.
No pausing. No notes. Simulate real conditions in the TroyTec test engine. After finishing, review every incorrect answer immediately using the AI tutor — explanations while the question is fresh stick better than end-of-week cramming.
Your Day 6 results show you where to spend today. Pull the relevant PDF question set for your lowest domain, do a focused 20-question session, then one final mixed 20-question test engine round. Confirm your Pearson VUE slot and skim the official SOA-C03 exam guide task statements one last time.
TroyTec is built for candidates who want focused practice — not another 40-hour video course.
Scenario-Based Test Engine — Questions are built around operational decision-making: the kind of multi-step, real-world situations SOA-C03 actually tests. Not flashcard recall, not trick questions.
PDF Question Bank — Domain-specific sets you can download and study offline. Useful for commutes, targeted drilling by domain weight, or print-and-mark review.
Free AI Chat Tutor — Unlimited access, no cost. Ask it why an answer is correct, request a CloudFormation vs CDK comparison, or walk through a VPC troubleshooting scenario step by step. It doesn't time out.
Free Preview — Sample every tool before paying. No account needed to start.
Since September 30, 2025, it's the AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate (SOA-C03). AWS renamed and refreshed the former SysOps Administrator – Associate to better reflect modern operations roles, adding containers and IaC tooling to the exam scope.
SOA-C02 retired on September 29, 2025. Active SOA-C02 holders keep their credential until it expires. New candidates must take SOA-C03 — it's the only available version of the exam.
65 questions — multiple choice and multiple response — with a 130-minute time limit. There are no exam labs; those were retired in March 2023 and remain removed under SOA-C03.
720 out of 1000. AWS uses scaled scoring, so your raw correct count doesn't directly equal your scaled score.
$150 USD. That's the standard associate-level fee across AWS certifications. Retakes cost the same $150 and require a 14-day wait.
3 years. Recertification means retaking the current exam before your credential expires.
Dumps — leaked real exam questions — violate AWS's certification agreement and can result in permanent disqualification. TroyTec provides original practice questions written to reflect SOA-C03 domain objectives. They prepare you for the exam format and reasoning style without the legal and credential risk.
The Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) tests cloud architecture design. The CloudOps Engineer – Associate (SOA-C03) tests how you operate, monitor, and maintain those architectures in production. Different skill sets, significant content overlap in networking and IAM. Many professionals hold both.
Yes. SOA-C03 holders work as Cloud Operations Specialists, SysOps Engineers, Cloud Support Engineers, and Site Reliability Engineers. It's a recognized credential for anyone managing AWS production environments and a direct path toward the AWS DevOps Engineer – Professional.
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Everything you need to know about the AWS SysOps Certification (SOA-C03) certification
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Updated May 07, 2026
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