IT, Cloud & Cybersecurity • Certification
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate
Retired AWS SysOps exam replaced by CloudOps Engineer.
Researched and maintained by TestPrepPilot Editorial BoardCloud, IT & cybersecurity certifications desk · Figures last verified August 2026
The short version
What is the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate and is it worth it?
SOA-C02 was a 180-minute associate exam with 65 questions, costing $150 and requiring a 720 score to pass. It retired on 29 September 2025 and is replaced by SOA-C03.
- Historically recognised ops credential
- Covered deployment and monitoring
- Retired 29 September 2025
- Earned certs remain valid to expiry
- Replaced by CloudOps Engineer
What is it?
What exactly is the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
Retired AWS SysOps exam replaced by CloudOps Engineer.
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate (SOA-C02) was retired on 29 September 2025 and replaced by the CloudOps Engineer - Associate (SOA-C03). It validated deployment, management, monitoring and operations of AWS workloads. Although no longer available, it remains a frequently searched credential, and anyone who earned it keeps it through the original three-year expiry.
The path in brief
- Note SOA-C02 is retired
- Take SOA-C03 instead
- Study CloudWatch and automation
- Pass at 720
- Maintain with recertification
Before you book
Who is eligible to sit the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
Who it is for: Systems administrators (historical credential).
The test itself
What is the format of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate is administered by Remote proctored (Pearson VUE) and runs 180 minutes, contains 65 questions (about 50 scored + 15 unscored) questions and requires 720 to pass.
| Administered by | Remote proctored (Pearson VUE) |
|---|---|
| Questions | 65 questions (about 50 scored + 15 unscored) |
| Time limit | 180 minutes |
| Pass mark | 720 |
| Exam fee | $150 |
| Format | Multiple choice and multiple response, online proctored |
Content outline
What topics are on the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate covers 5 content domains.
Weightings come from the official exam outline. Study time is best allocated in roughly these proportions rather than evenly across domains.
- Monitoring and Reporting
CloudWatch, metrics
- High Availability
Auto Scaling, ELB
- Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation
CloudFormation, CodeDeploy
- Security and Compliance
IAM, data protection
- Networking
VPC, Route 53
Money & time
How much does the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate cost?
For the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate, the exam fee is $150; the all-in cost is typically $150; most candidates spend n/a preparing.
Cost breakdown
| Exam fee (historical) | $150 |
|---|---|
| Typical total | $150 |
Retired 29 September 2025; see SOA-C03.
Timeline
- Study n/a (retired)
- Exam 180 minutes (historical)
Typical prep: n/a
The path
How do you register for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
- 1
Create an AWS Certification account5 minutes
Sign in with your AWS Training account or create one at aws.amazon.com/certification; it manages your exam registration, score report and digital badge.
- 2
Choose your exam and level
Pick the credential that matches your role. Most candidates start at Foundational (CLF/AIF) or Associate (SAA, DVA, SOA) and progress to Professional or Specialty.
- Foundational: CLF-C02, AIF-C01
- Associate: SAA-C03, DVA-C02, SOA-C03, DEA-C01, MLA-C01
- Professional: SAP-C02, DOP-C02, AIP-C01
- Specialty: SCS-C03, ANS-C01
- 3
Schedule and pay10 minutes
Book through Pearson VUE at a test centre or online proctored. Foundational and Associate cost $100/$150; Professional and Specialty cost $300.
- 4
Prepare with official resources2-12 weeks
Use the free Exam Guide, AWS Skill Builder Official Practice Questions and Builder labs. Budget 2-12 weeks depending on level.
- 5
Sit the exam
Exams are scored 100-1000 against a fixed pass mark (700 Foundational, 720 Associate, 750 Professional/Specialty). Results appear immediately.
The fine print
What are the retake and renewal rules for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
- Proctoring & delivery
- Delivered by Pearson VUE at a test centre or online with a live proctor. A government photo ID is required and the online environment is scanned before the session.
- Retake policy
- If you do not pass, you must wait 14 days before retaking the same exam. Each attempt is paid; there is no limit on attempts.
- Score reporting
- Exams are scored on a 100-1000 scale. Foundational pass at 700, Associate at 720, Professional and Specialty at 750. A score report shows section-level feedback under a compensatory model (no section minimum).
- Recertification
- All AWS certifications are valid for three years. Recertify by passing the latest version of the same exam, or by earning a higher-level credential that automatically refreshes lower ones (for example, DevOps Pro refreshes CloudOps Associate).
- Refunds & rescheduling
- Cancellation and reschedule rules follow Pearson VUE; refunds are generally not given for no-shows, and reschedules must occur before the cut-off window.
Context
AWS certification levels
| Level | Duration | Fee | Pass score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundational (CLF-C02, AIF-C01) | 90 min | $100 | 700 | |
| Associate (SAA/DVA/SOA/DEA/MLA) | 130 min | $150 | 720 | |
| Professional (SAP/DOP/AIP) | 180 min | $300 | 750 | |
| Specialty (SCS/ANS) | 170 min | $300 | 750 |
What it pays
How much does this credential pay?
$96,900 median for network and computer systems administrators (BLS, May 2024)
There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation called "AWS SysOps Administrator" — the certification validates cloud operations skill, and the wage question belongs to the role you perform with it. The closest official BLS occupation is Network and Computer Systems Administrators, SOC 15-1244, which had a May 2024 median wage of $96,900, with the lowest 10 percent under $56,190 and the highest 10 percent above $157,420. The fit is deliberate: AWS SysOps Administrator - Associate holders work as cloud operations engineers, systems administrators and SRE-adjacent roles that run, monitor and troubleshoot AWS environments. BLS counted 217,500 network and computer systems administrator jobs in 2024 and projects 1 percent growth from 2024 to 2034, with about 15,100 openings a year, almost all replacement demand — the slow growth reflecting the shift of infrastructure administration toward cloud platforms, which is exactly the market this certification serves. The limitation to state plainly: the BLS median covers the whole occupation, credentialed or not, and cloud-ops pay varies widely by company; read the number as the relevant benchmark for the occupation, with cloud-platform roles typically at or above the median.
| Measure | Figure | Source / note |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage, network and computer systems administrators | $96,900 | BLS OOH, SOC 15-1244, May 2024 |
| Lowest 10 percent | Under $56,190 | BLS OOH, SOC 15-1244, May 2024 |
| Highest 10 percent | Above $157,420 | BLS OOH, SOC 15-1244, May 2024 |
| Median, software developers (senior track) | $132,270 | BLS OOH, SOC 15-1252, May 2024 |
Job growth.BLS projects 1 percent growth for network and computer systems administrators from 2024 to 2034, about 15,100 openings per year.
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook - Network and Computer Systems Administrators
Your odds
What are the pass rates?
AWS publishes no pass rate — it publishes the passing score: 720 of 1000, with a 65-question, 130-minute exam
AWS does not publish cohort pass rates for its certification exams, and third-party surveys are not official data, so we do not treat them as authoritative. What AWS does publish is the format and the passing standard: the SysOps Administrator - Associate exam (SOA-C02) has 65 questions, a 130-minute time limit, and a passing score of 720 on the 100-1000 scale. The exam is delivered at Pearson VUE centres or through online proctoring, and the certification is valid for three years. The exam content follows the official exam guide, with domains covering the operations of cloud environments: monitoring, logging and remediation; reliability and business continuity; deployment, provisioning and automation; security and compliance; networking and content delivery; cost and performance optimisation. The absence of a published pass rate is not an absence of standards: the SysOps exam is the most hands-on of the Associate exams, rewarding operational troubleshooting — reading CloudWatch metrics, diagnosing failures, automating remediation — and the 720 line on 65 questions requires consistent performance. The practical reading: target 80 percent-plus on practice and use AWS's official exam guide and sample questions, the closest thing to the real item style.
Read this before quoting the number.AWS publishes the passing score and format but no pass rate; any percentage circulating online is a third-party estimate.
Source: AWS - SysOps Administrator Associate certification (SOA-C02)
Your schedule
How long should I study for it?
80-120 hours over 8-10 weeks of focused study
The SOA-C02 is a 65-question, 130-minute exam with a 720/1000 passing score, built on domains from the exam guide: monitoring, logging and remediation; reliability and business continuity; deployment, provisioning and automation; security and compliance; networking and content delivery; and cost and performance optimisation. The exam is operations-focused — it rewards knowing how to run, monitor, back up and troubleshoot AWS environments rather than design them. A defensible plan runs 80 to 120 hours over 8 to 10 weeks. Weeks 1-3 build the operations foundation: CloudWatch monitoring and logging, the core services you operate (EC2, VPC, S3, RDS), and IAM applied to operations. Weeks 4-5 cover reliability: backups, snapshots, high availability, disaster recovery and business continuity patterns. Weeks 6-7 cover automation and optimisation: CloudFormation, Systems Manager, cost optimisation, and the networking and content-delivery services. Weeks 8-10 add troubleshooting scenarios and two full timed practice exams at the real format. The plan is hands-on-heavy because the exam rewards real operational experience; building and breaking a small environment yourself converts service knowledge into the troubleshooting judgement the items test.
- Weeks 1-335
Operations foundation
- CloudWatch monitoring, alarms and logging
- EC2, VPC, S3, RDS operations
- IAM applied to operational tasks
- Weeks 4-525
Reliability and continuity
- Backups, snapshots and AMI management
- High availability and disaster recovery patterns
- Business continuity scenarios
- Weeks 6-725
Automation and optimisation
- CloudFormation and Systems Manager
- Cost and performance optimisation
- Networking and content delivery services
- Weeks 8-1025
Troubleshooting drills
- Operational troubleshooting scenarios in volume
- Two full 65-question, 130-minute practice exams
- Review every miss; re-study weak domains
Adjusting the pace
Working in cloud operations.Compress the foundation; spend the extra time on automation and troubleshooting drills.
Coming from on-prem sysadmin.Add 2 weeks of AWS fundamentals; the operations mindset transfers, the services are new.
How to study
How do I prepare most effectively?
The SOA-C02 rewards operational troubleshooting, so the dominant strategy is practising diagnosis: read the scenario — an alarm firing, an outage, a misconfigured resource — and select the correct identification and remediation, because the exam items are built around the troubleshooting loop. Second, master the monitoring and logging material thoroughly: CloudWatch metrics, alarms, log groups and the AWS services that feed them anchor the exam's operations focus. Third, learn the reliability patterns: backups, snapshots, failover and disaster recovery are a distinct block, and candidates who have never built a recovery plan under-prepare it. Fourth, use AWS's official exam guide and sample questions, the closest thing to the real item style, and hold yourself to 80 percent-plus on practice because the 720 line leaves little margin. Fifth, take at least two full timed simulations; 65 questions in 130 minutes is exactly 2 minutes per item. Finally, hands-on experience matters: candidates who have actually operated AWS environments — created alarms, taken snapshots, automated with CloudFormation — answer the scenario items measurably better.
Practise the troubleshooting loop
Alarm → diagnosis → remediation; the exam items are built around it.
Master monitoring and logging
CloudWatch metrics, alarms and log groups anchor the operations focus.
Learn the reliability patterns
Backups, snapshots, failover and DR are a distinct block.
Hold to 80%+ on practice
The 720/1000 line on 65 questions leaves little margin.
Operate a real environment
Real CloudWatch-and-snapshot experience beats study-only prep on scenarios.
What to buy
Which study resources are worth paying for?
SOA-C02 prep spans official AWS materials and third-party courses. AWS's own resources — the exam guide, sample questions, skill builder digital courses and labs — are the authoritative source and range from free to a few hundred dollars. Third-party video courses run from roughly $30/month subscriptions to several-hundred-dollar packages, and practice-exam products are essential for the troubleshooting-heavy format. Hands-on practice is non-negotiable: AWS's free tier supports realistic operations experiments — alarms, snapshots, a small CloudFormation stack — at low cost. A realistic total budget is $250 to $800 including the exam fee ($150) and one to three months of a course subscription. Prices below are list prices as of mid-2026 and change frequently; we rank nothing by commission.
| Resource | Price | Format | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS exam guide + sample questions | Free | Official PDF + practice items | The authoritative scope; read it first |
| AWS Skill Builder courses | $29-$99/month | Digital courses and labs | Official learning aligned to the exam |
| Third-party video courses | $30-$300 | Video subscriptions or packages | Structured walkthrough of the domains |
| Practice-exam products | $30-$120 | Online simulated exams | The troubleshooting format is essential to drill |
| AWS free tier | $0 | Hands-on environment | Building the operations experience |
List prices as of mid-2026, subject to change; the SOA-C02 exam fee is $150; no commission or affiliate ranking is implied.
Avoid these
What mistakes do candidates most often make?
The most common SOA-C02 mistake is preparing like an architect: candidates study design patterns and then fail the operations items on monitoring, troubleshooting and remediation, which is what the exam actually concentrates on. The fix is to shift the plan to the operational loop. The second mistake is under-preparing automation — candidates with no CloudFormation or Systems Manager experience lose the deployment and automation block. Third, many candidates skip hands-on practice and cannot reason about alarms and snapshots the way the exam requires. Fourth, candidates skip full timed simulations and misjudge the 2-minutes-per-item pace on reading-heavy scenario items. Fifth, some candidates rely on a single third-party course without reading the official exam guide, losing the exact scope and weighting. Finally, ignoring the three-year validity clock is a quiet mistake; plan recertification early.
✕Preparing like an architect
✓The exam is operations: monitoring, troubleshooting and remediation.
✕Under-preparing automation
✓CloudFormation and Systems Manager are a distinct block; build one stack.
✕Skipping hands-on work
✓Operate a real environment; the troubleshooting items reward experience.
✕Never running full simulations
✓65 questions in 130 minutes; run two full simulations.
✕Ignoring the validity clock
✓The certification expires in three years; plan recertification.
What you'll face
What question types will I see?
The SOA-C02 is a 65-question multiple-choice and multiple-response exam in 130 minutes. The items are troubleshooting-heavy: a described operational situation — an alarm firing, an outage, a backup failure, a misconfigured resource — followed by the correct diagnosis and remediation, or the correct operational choice. The exam tests monitoring, reliability, deployment and automation, security and compliance, networking, and cost optimisation across the exam guide domains. Samples below are editor-written illustrations of the published exam guide, not live exam items; they show the operations and troubleshooting style of the real items.
Operational situations with the correct diagnosis and remediation.
Backups, snapshots, failover and disaster recovery.
CloudFormation, Systems Manager, cost and performance.
Try these
Q1An EC2 instance's CPU utilisation has been at 100% for two hours, triggering a CloudWatch alarm. The most appropriate first action is to:
Answer:A
Operational practice investigates the cause — processes, utilisation pattern, whether the load is legitimate — before resizing or remediating. Termination, rebooting without diagnosis, or raising the threshold to silence the alarm each skip the diagnostic first step.
Q2A workload on an EC2 instance must recover from an Availability Zone failure with minimal data loss. The most appropriate architecture is:
Answer:A
Multi-AZ placement behind an Application Load Balancer with automated snapshots delivers zone-failure recovery with minimal data loss. A single instance, a restart schedule, or weekly volume copies each leave the workload exposed to zone failure or extended data loss.
Q3A team deploys infrastructure repeatedly and wants to eliminate manual configuration drift. The most appropriate tool is:
Answer:A
CloudFormation treats infrastructure as code, making deployments repeatable and drift auditable — the standard answer to configuration drift. Manual checklists, AMI refreshes or versioned files each lack the declarative, reproducible deployment model the requirement specifies.
Samples are editor-written illustrations of the published exam guide, not live exam items.
The big day
What should I expect on exam day?
The SOA-C02 is a 65-question, 130-minute computer-based exam at a Pearson VUE centre or through online proctoring. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID matching your registration name and your appointment confirmation; personal items go in the locker. Arrive 30 minutes early; late arrivals forfeit the appointment and the $150 fee. Pace at exactly 2 minutes per item, flag uncertain items for review, and budget extra time for the reading-heavy troubleshooting scenarios. You receive your score immediately on screen, with the official result and score report following; AWS does not reveal a pass rate, only your 100-1000 scaled score against the 720 line. If you fail, you may retake after a 14-day waiting period. On a pass, the certification is valid for three years; recertify by passing the current exam or the recertification path. The afterwards matters: record the expiration date and plan recertification early.
Bring
- Valid government-issued photo ID matching your registration name
- Appointment confirmation
Leave at home
- Phone, smartwatch and all electronics
- Notes and study materials
- Personal bags beyond what the centre allows
How the day runs
Rules in the room
- No personal electronics in the testing room
- 130 minutes for 65 questions; the clock does not pause
- A 14-day wait applies before retaking after a fail
Afterwards.On a pass, your certification is valid for three years; recertify by passing the current exam or the recertification path. On a fail, wait 14 days and retake after additional domain study.
Reference
What are the key facts about the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate?
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate is a certification credential; awarded by Amazon Web Services; the exam fee is $150; typical preparation is n/a; holders typically earn $110,000-$150,000.
| Credential | AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | AWS SysOps |
| Type | Certification |
| Profession | IT, Cloud & Cybersecurity |
| Specialty | Amazon Web Services |
| Awarded by | Amazon Web Services |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Typical prep time | n/a |
| All-in cost | $150 |
| Typical salary range | $110,000-$150,000 |
| Delivery | Retired (29 Sep 2025) |
| Level | Associate |
| Replacement | CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03) |
| Validity | Earned certs valid to original expiry |
| Scope | National / Multi-state |
| Also known as | SOA-C02 |
Real questions
Frequently asked questions about the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate
Can I still take SOA-C02?
No. AWS retired it on 29 September 2025. New candidates should take the CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03).
Is my SOA-C02 still valid?
If you passed before retirement, it remains valid through its original three-year expiry and is still recognised by employers.
How is SOA-C03 different?
SOA-C03 keeps the operations core but adds more weight to deployment, provisioning, automation and networking, reflecting modern CloudOps practice.
Is the study material still useful?
Yes. CloudWatch, automation and networking knowledge transfers directly to SOA-C03 preparation.
Which AWS cert should I start with?
Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) for general cloud literacy or AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) for AI/ML context. Role-based candidates often go straight to Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03).
Do AWS certifications expire?
Yes, after three years. You recertify by passing the current version or a higher credential that refreshes it.
Are the exams hands-on?
AWS exams are scenario-based multiple choice and multiple response, not live-terminal. They test applied judgement rather than memorisation.
How are questions scored?
Each exam has 50 scored questions plus 15 unscored items used for future research; the 100-1000 scaled score maps difficulty across forms.
In short
Is the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate worth it?
- Retired AWS SysOps associate (29 Sep 2025)
- Covered deployment, monitoring, operations
- Replaced by CloudOps Engineer (SOA-C03)
- Earned credentials remain valid to expiry
Same awarding body
What other credentials does Amazon Web Services award?
Worth comparing
How does the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate compare with similar credentials?
Trust
Where does this information come from?
Everything above is taken from the awarding body's own published material. Fees, question counts and domain weights are revised regularly — check the official page before you pay.
- Amazon Web Services Awarding body
- Official AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam page Exam page
Research confidence: medium · Last reviewed 2026-08