Google ACE Deploying and Implementing a Cloud Solution — 30 Questions

Question 1

You want to create a Compute Engine instance with a default machine type of n1-standard-1, using the latest Debian 11 image, with a 50GB boot disk, in the us-central1-a zone. Which gcloud command accomplishes this?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --image-family=debian-11 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50GB --zone=us-central1-a. The correct command is option B. It specifies the machine type as n1-standard-1, uses the latest Debian 11 image via --image-family=debian-11 and --image-project=debian-cloud, sets the boot disk size to 50GB with --boot-disk-size=50GB, and designates the us-central1-a zone with --zone=us-central1-a. Option A is incorrect because it uses debian-10 instead of debian-11. Option C is wrong because it uses --region instead of --zone. Option D is wrong because it uses --root-disk-size instead of --boot-disk-size.

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --image-family=debian-10 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50 --zone=us-central1-a

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --image-family=debian-11 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50GB --region=us-central1-a

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --machine-type=n1-standard-1 --image-family=debian-11 --image-project=debian-cloud --root-disk-size=50GB --zone=us-central1-a

Question 2

An organization needs to deploy a containerized web application on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and expose it to the internet with a static IP address. The cluster is regional, with 3 nodes. Which sequence of kubectl commands achieves this?

Accepted Answer

gcloud compute addresses create web-ip --region=us-central1; kubectl create deployment web --image=web:v1; kubectl expose deployment web --type=LoadBalancer --port=80 --load-balancer-ip=web-ip. To deploy a containerized web application on GKE with a static IP, you first reserve a regional static IP address using `gcloud compute addresses create web-ip --region=us-central1` (regional because the cluster is regional). Then you create the deployment with `kubectl create deployment web --image=web:v1`, and expose it as a LoadBalancer service, assigning the reserved IP using `kubectl expose deployment web --type=LoadBalancer --port=80 --load-balancer-ip=web-ip`. This sequence matches option D, which is correct. The `--load-balancer-ip` flag directly assigns the reserved regional IP to the service.

Answer

kubectl create deployment web --image=web:v1; kubectl expose deployment web --type=LoadBalancer --port=80; then reserve a regional static IP with gcloud compute addresses create web-ip --region us-central1 and assign it via annotation.

Answer

kubectl create deployment web --image=web:v1 --replicas=3; kubectl expose deployment web --type=NodePort --port=80; then use gcloud compute addresses create web-ip --global; kubectl patch service web -p '{"spec":{"loadBalancerIP":"<IP>"}}'

Answer

gcloud compute addresses create web-ip --global; then kubectl create deployment web --image=web:v1; kubectl expose deployment web --type=LoadBalancer --port=80; then patch service to set loadBalancerIP.

Question 3

You need to create a Cloud Storage bucket with the default storage class for frequently accessed data in the us-west1 region. Which command creates the bucket?

Accepted Answer

gsutil mb -c standard -l us-west1 gs://my-bucket. The correct command is B because it uses the `-c` flag to explicitly set the storage class to Standard, ensuring the bucket uses the default storage class for frequently accessed data. Option C creates a bucket without specifying a storage class, relying on the project's default, which may not be Standard. Option A uses an invalid `-s` flag. Option D uses a different command (`gcloud storage buckets create`) that may have a different syntax or default behavior.

Answer

gsutil mb -s standard -l us-west1 gs://my-bucket

Answer

gsutil mb -l us-west1 gs://my-bucket

Answer

gcloud storage buckets create --storage-class=standard --location=us-west1 gs://my-bucket

Question 4

You are using Terraform to manage a GKE cluster. After running 'terraform apply', the cluster is created. Later, you manually delete the cluster via the Cloud Console. What should you do next to align your Terraform state with the actual infrastructure?

Accepted Answer

Run 'terraform refresh' to automatically update the state.. When a resource is manually deleted outside of Terraform, 'terraform refresh' is the command designed to reconcile the Terraform state with the actual infrastructure. It will detect that the resource no longer exists and remove it from the state file, thus aligning the state. 'terraform state rm' is a manual state manipulation command that removes a resource from the state file without verifying its existence in the cloud, which can be used but 'refresh' is generally preferred for detecting and correcting drift.

Answer

Run 'terraform state rm google_container_cluster.my_cluster' to remove the cluster from state, then decide whether to recreate.

Answer

Run 'terraform apply' again to recreate the cluster.

Answer

Run 'terraform destroy' to destroy all resources.

Question 5

You need to deploy a Cloud Function that is triggered by HTTP requests. You want to pass configuration parameters to the function at deployment time. Which approach should you use?

Accepted Answer

Use the --set-env-vars flag with gcloud functions deploy.. You can set environment variables at deployment time using the --set-env-vars flag with the gcloud functions deploy command. This allows passing configuration parameters without modifying the code. Option C is correct.

Answer

Store parameters in a Cloud Storage bucket and read them at runtime.

Answer

Edit the function code to hardcode the parameters.

Answer

Include the parameters in the HTTP request body.

Question 6

You are using gsutil to upload files to a Cloud Storage bucket. You need to set the storage class of the objects to Nearline. Which TWO methods can you use?

Accepted Answer

Use gsutil cp -s nearline file.txt gs://my-bucket.. Both options A and B are valid methods to set the storage class to Nearline when uploading files to a Cloud Storage bucket. Option A uses the `-s` flag with `gsutil cp` to set the storage class for a specific object during upload. Option B sets the bucket's default storage class, which applies to all subsequent uploads. Options C and D are incorrect. `gsutil mv` does not support the `-s` flag for setting storage class. While `--storage-class` *is* a valid flag for `gsutil cp`, it represents the same method as Option A (setting the storage class during the copy operation) and therefore does not constitute a second distinct method as requested by the question.

Answer

Use gsutil mv -s nearline file.txt gs://my-bucket.

Answer

Upload with --storage-class nearline flag on gsutil cp.

Question 7

You are managing a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance. You need to import a SQL dump file stored in a Cloud Storage bucket. The file is 10GB. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

gcloud sql import sql my-instance gs://bucket/file.sql --database=db. The correct command is 'gcloud sql import sql my-instance gs://bucket/file.sql --database=db'. This imports a SQL dump file into a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance. Option A is incorrect because using psql from a Compute Engine instance is not the recommended method for large import files; it would require streaming the file, which is less efficient and not directly from Cloud Storage. Option C is wrong because 'gcloud sql instances import' is not a valid command; the correct syntax uses 'gcloud sql import sql'. Option D is incorrect because 'gcloud sql import csv' is used for CSV imports, not SQL dumps.

Answer

Use psql command from a Compute Engine instance to connect and import the file.

Answer

gcloud sql instances import my-instance gs://bucket/file.sql --database=db

Answer

gcloud sql import csv my-instance gs://bucket/file.sql --database=db

Question 8

You created a Cloud Run service from source code using gcloud run deploy --source . --region us-central1 --platform managed. Where can you view the build logs and runtime logs?

Accepted Answer

In Cloud Logging (Logs Explorer) under the Cloud Run resource.. When you deploy a Cloud Run service with gcloud run deploy --source ., a Cloud Build is triggered to build the container image. The build logs are sent to Cloud Logging by default, and the runtime logs from Cloud Run are also sent to Cloud Logging. Therefore, you can view both types of logs in the Logs Explorer by filtering for the Cloud Run resource. Option B (Cloud Build history page) only shows build logs, not runtime logs. Options C and D are incorrect because the Cloud Run service details page redirects to Logs Explorer, and Cloud Monitoring is for metrics, not logs.

Answer

In Cloud Build history page.

Answer

In the Cloud Run service details page under 'Logs' tab.

Answer

In Cloud Monitoring dashboards.

Question 9

You need to create a Cloud Storage bucket with a retention policy that prevents object deletion for 30 days. Which TWO steps are necessary?

Accepted Answer

Enable Object Versioning on the bucket.. To prevent object deletion for 30 days, you need to use a combination of Object Versioning and a default event-based hold. Enabling Object Versioning (A) retains all versions of objects, so even if an object is deleted, the version history remains. Setting a default event-based hold (B) places a hold on new objects indefinitely until released, but combined with the retention policy, it ensures that objects cannot be deleted before the hold duration. Locking the retention policy (C) makes it permanent, but it is not required if you want flexibility. IAM policies (D) control permissions but do not prevent deletion of objects by authorized users. Therefore, options A and B are the correct steps.

Answer

Lock the retention policy using gsutil retention lock gs://my-bucket.

Answer

Set an IAM policy to prevent deletion.

Answer

Set a retention policy using gsutil retention set 30d gs://my-bucket.

Question 10

An engineer wants to create a Compute Engine instance with a specific machine type, a custom network subnet, and a startup script. Which gcloud command correctly creates such an instance?

Accepted Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-vm --machine-type=n1-standard-2 --subnet my-subnet --metadata startup-script='echo Hello'. Options B and C are both syntactically correct. In gcloud CLI, flags can use either `--flag=value` or `--flag value` syntax. Option A uses the non-existent `--startup-script` flag. Option D incorrectly uses `--network` instead of `--subnet`. Therefore, the correct commands are B and C.

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-vm --machine-type=n1-standard-2 --subnet=my-subnet --startup-script='echo Hello'

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-vm --machine-type=n1-standard-2 --network=my-subnet --metadata startup-script='echo Hello'

Question 11

A team is using Terraform to manage infrastructure. They want to store the Terraform state file remotely in a GCS bucket for team collaboration. Which Terraform backend configuration is correct?

Accepted Answer

terraform {
  backend "gcs" {
    bucket = "my-terraform-state"
  }
}. Both options A and B are valid Terraform backend configurations for GCS. Option A uses the minimal required argument 'bucket'. Option B adds the optional 'prefix' argument to organize state files within the bucket. The 'gcs' backend supports both. Options C and D are invalid because 'storage' and 'gcloud' are not valid backend types.

Answer

terraform {
  backend "storage" {
    bucket = "my-terraform-state"
  }
}

Answer

terraform {
  backend "gcloud" {
    bucket = "my-terraform-state"
  }
}

Question 12

A company is using a managed instance group (MIG) with autoscaling based on CPU utilization. The application is memory-intensive, and the team notices that new instances are not being created quickly enough during traffic spikes. What should the engineer do to improve responsiveness?

Accepted Answer

Enable predictive autoscaling. The problem states that new instances are not being created quickly enough during traffic spikes. Predictive autoscaling is specifically designed to address this by analyzing historical load patterns and proactively scaling out the instance group *before* the traffic spike hits. This ensures that new instances are ready to handle the increased load, significantly improving responsiveness. While decreasing the autoscaling cooldown period (C) can make the autoscaler react faster to *subsequent* scaling needs after an initial event, it does not address the initial slowness in reacting to the spike itself, especially if the CPU metric is a lagging indicator for a memory-intensive application. The explanation correctly notes that 'predictive autoscaling can help' but then incorrectly dismisses it for 'simplest' when it is the more effective solution for the described scenario.

Answer

Increase the autoscaling cooldown period

Answer

Decrease the autoscaling cooldown period

Answer

Use a larger machine type in the instance template

Question 13

A DevOps engineer needs to deploy a containerized application to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) using a Deployment YAML file. The cluster is already created and kubectl is configured. Which command should they use to create the deployment?

Accepted Answer

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml. The 'kubectl apply -f' command is the standard and recommended way to declaratively manage Kubernetes resources from a YAML file. It applies the configuration, creating the resource if it doesn't exist, or updating it if it does, making it idempotent and suitable for continuous deployment. While 'kubectl create -f deployment.yaml' can create a resource from a file, it will fail if the resource already exists, making it less suitable for idempotent operations compared to 'apply'. 'kubectl run' is for creating resources directly from the command line, not from a YAML file. 'gcloud container deployments create' is not a valid command for deploying Kubernetes resources within a GKE cluster.

Answer

gcloud container deployments create my-deployment --config deployment.yaml

Answer

kubectl create -f deployment.yaml

Answer

kubectl run deployment --image=my-image --restart=Always

Question 14

A developer needs to create a Cloud Storage bucket with the 'Nearline' storage class in the 'us-east1' region for storing data that is accessed less than once a month. Which command should be used?

Accepted Answer

gsutil mb -c nearline -l us-east1 gs://my-bucket. The 'gsutil mb' command with the -c flag for storage class and -l flag for location is correct. Option B correctly uses 'gsutil mb -c nearline -l us-east1 gs://my-bucket'. Option A uses 'gcloud storage buckets create' with '--storage-class nearline' but the correct gcloud command uses different syntax. Option C uses an incorrect 'gcloud mb' command. Option D uses 'gsutil mb' but with incorrect flag names (--storage-class, --location) which are not recognized by gsutil.

Answer

gcloud storage buckets create my-bucket --storage-class nearline --location us-east1

Answer

gcloud mb --class nearline --region us-east1 gs://my-bucket

Answer

gsutil mb --storage-class nearline --location us-east1 gs://my-bucket

Question 15

A developer needs to make a Cloud Storage bucket publicly readable for all users. Which gsutil command should be used to set the appropriate IAM binding?

Accepted Answer

gsutil iam ch allUsers:objectViewer gs://my-bucket. The 'gsutil iam ch' command with 'allUsers' as the member and 'objectViewer' as the role grants public read access. Alternatively, 'gsutil acl ch' can be used, but modern best practice uses IAM.

Answer

gsutil acl ch -u AllUsers:R gs://my-bucket

Answer

gcloud storage buckets add-iam-policy-binding my-bucket --member allUsers --role roles/storage.objectViewer

Answer

gsutil iam set public-read gs://my-bucket

Question 16

A company wants to deploy a web application that receives high traffic and requires automatic scaling based on CPU usage, with zero-downtime deployments. The application is containerized. Which TWO services should be considered? (Choose 2 correct answers.)

Accepted Answer

Compute Engine with autoscaling. GKE with Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) can scale containerized applications based on CPU utilization, and supports rolling updates for zero-downtime deployments. Compute Engine with autoscaling allows running containers on VMs and can autoscale based on CPU usage, with managed instance groups enabling rolling updates. Cloud Run scales based on request concurrency, not CPU, so it does not meet the requirement. App Engine Standard is not for arbitrary containers. Managed Instance Groups are for VMs, not containers directly.

Answer

App Engine Standard Environment

Answer

Cloud Run

Answer

Managed Instance Groups

Question 17

A developer wants to create a Compute Engine instance with the default Debian 11 image, 50 GB boot disk, in the us-west1-a zone, and attach it to the default VPC subnet. Which command should they run?

Accepted Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --zone=us-west1-a --machine-type=e2-medium --image-family=debian-11 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50 --subnet=default. It specifies all required parameters: zone us-west1-a, machine type e2-medium, Debian 11 image, and a 50 GB boot disk. The --subnet=default flag is optional and defaults to the default VPC subnet. The --boot-disk-size=50 flag interprets the value as GB by default. Option D is also correct because it uses identical settings without the optional --subnet flag. Option A is incorrect because --no-address creates an instance without a public IP, which is not required. Option C is incorrect because it uses image family debian-10 and zone us-west1 (instead of us-west1-a).

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --zone=us-west1-a --machine-type=e2-medium --image-family=debian-11 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50GB --no-address

Answer

gcloud compute instances create my-instance --zone=us-west1 --machine-type=e2-medium --image-family=debian-10 --image-project=debian-cloud --boot-disk-size=50GB

Question 18

An administrator needs to create a Cloud Storage bucket in the US multi-region with the 'nearline' storage class. Which command should they use?

Accepted Answer

gsutil mb -c nearline -l US gs://my-bucket. Both gsutil mb and gcloud storage buckets create can be used to create a Cloud Storage bucket. The gsutil command uses -c for storage class and -l for location. The gcloud command uses --storage-class and --location flags, with the storage class value in uppercase (NEARLINE). Both are valid and produce the same result. Option D is therefore also correct.

Answer

gsutil mb -s nearline -l US gs://my-bucket

Answer

gsutil mb -c nearline -l US-CENTRAL1 gs://my-bucket

Question 19

A developer wants to make objects in a Cloud Storage bucket publicly readable. They want to grant access to allUsers with the objectViewer role. Which command should they use?

Accepted Answer

gsutil iam ch allUsers:objectViewer gs://my-bucket. The correct command is gsutil iam ch allUsers:objectViewer gs://my-bucket, which grants the IAM role roles/storage.objectViewer to allUsers via a valid alias. Option B is invalid because gcloud storage bucket URLs require the gs:// scheme, option A uses legacy ACL syntax, and option C uses an invalid role alias.

Answer

gsutil acl ch -u AllUsers:R gs://my-bucket

Answer

gcloud storage buckets add-iam-policy-binding my-bucket --member allUsers --role roles/storage.objectViewer

Answer

gsutil iam ch allUsers:storage.objectViewer gs://my-bucket

Question 20

A team needs to set up autoscaling for a managed instance group based on CPU utilization. They want the average CPU across the group to stay around 60%. Which autoscaling policy configuration should they use?

Accepted Answer

Set the autoscaling policy to use the target CPU utilization of 0.6. The autoscaling policy for CPU utilization in Google Cloud expects a target value between 0.0 and 1.0, where 0.6 represents 60% CPU utilization. Therefore, setting the target to 0.6 is the correct configuration to maintain an average CPU utilization of 60% across the managed instance group.

Answer

Set the autoscaling policy to use the target CPU utilization of 60

Answer

No autoscaling is needed; MIGs automatically scale based on load

Answer

Set the autoscaling policy to use the target HTTP load balancing utilization of 60%