AWS PowerShell module - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ service_behavior

intermediate

Understanding AWS PowerShell Module Cmdlet Behavior

What will be the output of the following PowerShell command using AWS Tools for PowerShell?

Get-EC2Instance -InstanceIds 'i-1234567890abcdef0' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Instances | Select-Object InstanceId, State

PowerShell

Get-EC2Instance -InstanceIds 'i-1234567890abcdef0' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Instances | Select-Object InstanceId, State

A A list of objects showing InstanceId and State properties for the specified instance.

B An error indicating that 'Instances' property does not exist on the output object.

C No output because the command silently fails due to missing credentials.

D A list of all EC2 instances in the account ignoring the specified InstanceIds parameter.

💡 Hint

Consider what the -ExpandProperty parameter does in PowerShell and how AWS cmdlets return data.

The Get-EC2Instance cmdlet returns an object containing a property Instances which is a list of instance objects. Using -ExpandProperty Instances extracts that list so you can select properties like InstanceId and State directly.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Configuring AWS Credentials in PowerShell

Which of the following commands correctly sets AWS credentials for the current PowerShell session using AWS Tools for PowerShell?

A Initialize-AWSDefaultConfiguration -AccessKey 'AKIA...' -SecretKey 'secret'

B Set-AWSDefaultCredential -AccessKey 'AKIA...' -SecretKey 'secret'

C Set-AWSCredential -AccessKey 'AKIA...' -SecretKey 'secret' -StoreAs 'MyProfile'

D New-AWSCredential -AccessKey 'AKIA...' -SecretKey 'secret' -ProfileName 'MyProfile'

💡 Hint

Look for the cmdlet that explicitly sets credentials and optionally stores them under a profile name.

Set-AWSCredential is the correct cmdlet to set AWS credentials in the current session and optionally save them under a profile name for reuse.

❓ Architecture

advanced

Designing a PowerShell Script for AWS Resource Cleanup

You want to write a PowerShell script using AWS Tools for PowerShell to delete all EC2 instances with a specific tag key-value pair. Which approach below correctly lists and deletes only those instances?

A Use <code>Get-EC2Instance</code> with <code>-Filter @{Name='tag:Key'; Values='Value'}</code> to get instances, then pipe to <code>Remove-EC2Instance</code> with <code>-InstanceId</code> parameter.

B Use <code>Get-EC2Instance</code> without filters, then filter instances in PowerShell by tag, then call <code>Remove-EC2Instance</code> with instance IDs.

C Use <code>Get-EC2Instance</code> with <code>-InstanceIds</code> parameter set to tag values, then delete instances.

D Use <code>Remove-EC2Instance</code> with <code>-Filter @{Name='tag:Key'; Values='Value'}</code> directly to delete instances.

💡 Hint

Think about how AWS cmdlets accept filters and how deletion cmdlets require instance IDs.

Get-EC2Instance supports filtering by tags to list matching instances. Remove-EC2Instance requires instance IDs to delete. So first filter, then delete by IDs.

❓ security

advanced

Handling AWS Credentials Securely in PowerShell Scripts

Which practice below is the most secure way to handle AWS credentials in PowerShell scripts for automation?

A Prompt the user to enter credentials interactively every time the script runs.

B Hardcode AWS Access Key and Secret Key directly in the script variables.

C Store credentials in plain text files and read them in the script at runtime.

D Use IAM roles attached to the compute environment and avoid embedding credentials in scripts.

💡 Hint

Consider AWS best practices for credential management in automated environments.

Using IAM roles attached to the compute environment (like EC2 or Lambda) allows automatic, secure credential management without embedding secrets in scripts.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Understanding AWS PowerShell Module Credential Resolution Order

In what order does the AWS Tools for PowerShell module resolve credentials when executing a cmdlet?

A IAM role &gt; Shared credentials file &gt; Environment variables &gt; Explicit credentials passed to the cmdlet

B Explicit credentials passed to the cmdlet &gt; Environment variables &gt; Shared credentials file &gt; IAM role

C Shared credentials file &gt; Explicit credentials passed to the cmdlet &gt; IAM role &gt; Environment variables

D Environment variables &gt; IAM role &gt; Explicit credentials passed to the cmdlet &gt; Shared credentials file

💡 Hint

Think about the precedence of credentials explicitly provided versus environment or role-based credentials.

The AWS Tools for PowerShell first use credentials explicitly passed to the cmdlet, then environment variables, then the shared credentials file (~/.aws/credentials), and finally IAM roles if running on AWS compute resources.