Deprecated and Restricted AWS Services

Single reference for services that are retired, restricted, or in maintenance mode. Kept here so warnings aren’t scattered across individual service files. Check this before the exam — the status of some services changed in 2024–2025.

AWS OpsWorks (All Flavours) — Retired 2024

Status: Fully retired. The service no longer exists. The EventBridge source aws.opsworks no longer emits events.

Exam impact:

• If an answer choice uses aws.opsworks as an EventBridge source → it is a distractor, eliminate it.
• OpsWorks auto-healing scenarios in old study materials should be replaced with Auto Scaling equivalents (see Domain-1-SDLC-Automation/Deployment-Strategies.md).
• The aws opsworks CLI namespace is gone.

Modern replacement: Systems Manager (Run Command, State Manager, Patch Manager) for configuration management. Chef/Puppet can still be self-managed on EC2 if needed.

AWS CodeStar (Project Service) — Retired July 31, 2024

Status: Fully retired. Support ended July 31, 2024. The aws codestar CLI namespace was removed.

Exam impact:

• aws codestar CLI commands in answer choices → distractors, eliminate them.
• ⚠️ Do not confuse with CodeStar connections — aws codestar-connections is a live, fully supported service for connecting CodePipeline to GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket. Different service, similar name.

Modern replacement: CodePipeline + CodeBuild + CodeDeploy directly, or GitHub Actions.

Amazon CodeCatalyst — Maintenance Mode (November 2025)

Status: Closed to new customers November 7, 2025. Existing customers continue normally. No new features being added (maintenance mode).

Exam impact:

• Unlikely to appear as the correct answer for new architecture questions.
• Know what it was: a unified development environment (spaces, projects, dev environments, workflows).
• The exam may still reference it in historical context — know it existed and what it did.

Modern replacement: For new projects, use CodePipeline + CodeBuild + CodeDeploy (or GitHub Actions).

AWS CodeCommit — Status Uncertain

Status: Restricted to existing customers July 25, 2024 (new customers could not create repositories). Subsequent status changes have been reported but not independently verified.

Exam impact:

• Treat with caution — verify the current status on the AWS CodeCommit service page before the exam.
• The service’s core concepts (Git repositories, IAM-based auth, EventBridge triggers, CodePipeline source) remain valid exam knowledge regardless of availability status.
• If the exam presents CodeCommit as a source in a CI/CD scenario, it is still a valid answer — the exam blueprint may not reflect real-time service availability changes.

Alternative: GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket via CodeStar connections for new architectures.

AWS Proton — Reduced Investment

Status: Still available but AWS has significantly reduced investment. Not actively promoted for new use cases.

Exam impact: Very low exam frequency. If it appears, know it was for platform teams to provide self-service infrastructure templates to application teams.

Quick Reference: Dead CLI Namespaces

If you see these in exam answer choices, they are distractors:

Last updated: October 2026 (Amazon Q review). Verify service statuses against official AWS documentation before your exam date.