AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02): Complete Guide 2026
Master AWS operations, monitoring, and automation for cloud infrastructure.
What is AWS SysOps Administrator?
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate validates technical expertise in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS. It focuses on operations, monitoring, security, and automation - essential skills for cloud operations engineers.
This certification is ideal for system administrators transitioning to cloud and DevOps engineers managing AWS infrastructure. It complements the Solutions Architect and Developer Associate certifications.
Quick Exam Facts
- Exam Code: SOA-C02
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Format: 65 questions (multiple choice + labs)
- Passing Score: 720/1000
- Cost: $150 USD
- Validity: 3 years
Exam Domains & Weights
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation | 20% |
| 2. Reliability and Business Continuity | 16% |
| 3. Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation | 18% |
| 4. Security and Compliance | 16% |
| 5. Networking and Content Delivery | 18% |
| 6. Cost and Performance Optimization | 12% |
Domain 1: Monitoring & Remediation (20%)
- CloudWatch metrics, alarms, and dashboards
- CloudWatch Logs and Log Insights
- EventBridge for event-driven automation
- AWS Config for compliance monitoring
- Automated remediation with Systems Manager
Domain 2: Reliability & Business Continuity (16%)
- Backup and disaster recovery strategies
- Multi-AZ and multi-region architectures
- RDS backups, snapshots, and read replicas
- S3 versioning and replication
- Route 53 health checks and failover
Domain 3: Deployment & Automation (18%)
- CloudFormation templates and stacks
- Systems Manager automation documents
- EC2 Image Builder and AMI management
- Elastic Beanstalk deployments
- Auto Scaling policies and lifecycle hooks
Domain 4: Security & Compliance (16%)
- IAM policies, roles, and permissions
- KMS encryption and key management
- Security groups and NACLs
- AWS Organizations and SCPs
- AWS Secrets Manager and Parameter Store
Key Services to Master
- CloudWatch: Deep knowledge of metrics, logs, alarms
- Systems Manager: Run Command, Patch Manager, Session Manager
- CloudFormation: Template syntax, intrinsic functions
- EC2: Instance types, placement groups, Spot instances
- VPC: Subnets, route tables, VPN, Direct Connect
Exam Tips
- Lab questions: Practice hands-on AWS console tasks
- CLI knowledge: Know common aws CLI commands
- Troubleshooting: Focus on operational problem-solving
- Time management: Labs take longer, budget accordingly
Career Impact
- Average salary: $110,000 - $140,000 USD
- Cloud Operations Engineer and SRE roles
- Strong foundation for DevOps Engineer Professional
- Complements Solutions Architect for full-stack cloud skills
Plan Your Study Journey
Use our free tools to optimize your preparation