Recovering an Impaired Instance: Automation Techniques

Correct Answer: B.

You can create an Amazon CloudWatch alarm that monitors an Amazon EC2 instance.

If the instance becomes impaired due to an underlying hardware failure or a problem that requires AWS involvement to repair, you can automatically recover the instance.

Terminated instances cannot be recovered.

A recovered instance is identical to the original instance, including the instance ID, private IP addresses, Elastic IP addresses, and all instance metadata.

Option A is incorrect since this is used to monitor API activity.

Option C is incorrect since this is used to check for configuration changes.

Option D is incorrect since this is used to check for recommendations.

For more information on using Alarm actions, please refer to the below URL-

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/UsingAlarmActions.html

When an instance appears with an impaired status, it means that there is an issue with the instance that needs to be addressed. If you had to manually recover the instance, it is a good idea to automate this process so that in the future, the instance can recover automatically from an impaired state. To achieve this, you can use AWS services such as CloudTrail, CloudWatch, AWS Config, or Trusted Advisor to set up alarms and automate the recovery process.

A. Check the CloudTrail logs and add an alarm action to recover the instance: CloudTrail is a service that logs AWS API calls made by or on behalf of your AWS account. While CloudTrail can be used to track changes and troubleshoot issues in your AWS environment, it is not ideal for automating instance recovery. Therefore, option A is not the best choice for automating the recovery process.

B. Create a CloudWatch alarm and based on the alarm create an action to recover the Instance: CloudWatch is a monitoring service that can be used to monitor various AWS resources, including EC2 instances. By creating a CloudWatch alarm, you can monitor an instance for a specific event, such as an impaired status, and trigger an action, such as recovering the instance. Therefore, option B is a good choice for automating the recovery process.

C. Create an AWS Config rule that triggers an alarm action to recover the instance: AWS Config is a service that provides a detailed view of the configuration of AWS resources in your account. By creating a Config rule, you can monitor the configuration of an instance and trigger an alarm if it deviates from the desired configuration. While you can use Config to automate instance recovery, it is not the most straightforward way to achieve this. Therefore, option C is not the best choice for automating the recovery process.

D. Create an AWS Trusted Advisor rule that triggers an alarm and based on that alarm create an action to recover the instance: Trusted Advisor is a service that provides best practice recommendations for your AWS environment. By creating a Trusted Advisor rule, you can monitor your environment for specific issues, such as instances with impaired status, and trigger an alarm. However, Trusted Advisor does not provide a built-in mechanism to recover instances. Therefore, option D is not the best choice for automating the recovery process.

In conclusion, the best option for automating the recovery process of an instance with an impaired status is to create a CloudWatch alarm and based on the alarm create an action to recover the instance (option B).