All 7 AWS Systems Manager questions
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What is AWS Systems Manager and what operational tasks does it help automate across your AWS resources? What is Systems Manager Session Manager, and how does it improve the security of accessing EC2 instances compared to traditional SSH? How does Systems Manager Patch Manager automate the process of keeping instances up to date with the latest security patches? How does Systems Manager Inventory help maintain visibility into the software and configuration details installed across a fleet of managed instances? How can Systems Manager State Manager ensure that instances remain in a consistently defined configuration state over time, even after reboots or scaling events? How can Systems Manager be integrated with AWS Config and Security Hub to build a comprehensive automated compliance remediation pipeline?
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What are Systems Manager Automation documents, or runbooks, and how do they help standardize common operational procedures?

Intermediate

Answer

Systems Manager Automation lets you define a sequence of steps as a reusable document, commonly called a runbook, that automates common operational procedures, such as safely restarting an application, creating an AMI backup before a change, or remediating a specific type of security finding, ensuring these procedures are executed consistently every time rather than relying on someone manually following a written checklist that could introduce human error.
aws ssm start-automation-execution --document-name AWS-RestartEC2Instance --parameters InstanceId=i-1234567890abcdef0
Real-world example An operations team creates a standardized automation runbook for safely restarting a specific application service, ensuring every team member performs the exact same verified sequence of steps rather than relying on individually remembered, inconsistent procedures.

Common follow-ups: Can Automation documents call other Automation documents as sub steps?;How do you version control changes to a custom Automation document?

AWS Config;AWS CloudTrail & Auditing
All 7 AWS Systems Manager questions