Question #1039
A developer is preparing an AWS CloudFormation template locally and needs to deploy it to AWS. What steps must the developer take to successfully complete the deployment?
Install the AWS CLI. Configure the AWS CLI using an IAM username and password.
Install the AWS CLI. Configure the AWS CLI using an SSH key pair.
Install the AWS CLI. Configure the AWS CLI using an IAM user access key and secret key.
Install an AWS SDK. Configure the SDK using an X.509 certificate.
Explanation
The correct answer is C. To deploy an AWS CloudFormation template, the AWS CLI must be installed and configured with valid IAM credentials. IAM users authenticate via access keys (access key ID and secret access key), not passwords (A) or SSH keys (B). X.509 certificates (D) are legacy credentials not used for standard CLI/SDK authentication. Key points:
1. AWS CLI is the primary tool for deploying CloudFormation templates.
2. IAM access keys (not passwords/SSH/X.509) are required for CLI configuration.
3. The IAM user must have permissions to create/update CloudFormation stacks.
Answer
The correct answer is: C