- A
Add a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that grants access to the Glue service role from the other account.
Correct: Bucket policy allows cross-account access.
- B
Create an IAM role in the second account that the Glue job can assume, with permissions to read from the S3 bucket.
Correct: The Glue job needs a role with cross-account access.
- C
Create a cross-account Glue crawler in the source account.
Why wrong: Incorrect: Crawlers run in the account where the data is located.
- D
Set up VPC peering between the two accounts' VPCs.
Why wrong: Incorrect: VPC peering is not needed for S3 access.
- E
Ensure both accounts are in the same AWS organization.
Why wrong: Incorrect: Organization is not required for cross-account access.
MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data engineering. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which TWO steps are required to set up cross-account access to an Amazon S3 data lake for AWS Glue jobs running in a different AWS account? (Choose two.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Add a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that grants access to the Glue service role from the other account.
Option A is correct because an S3 bucket policy can grant cross-account access by specifying the AWS account ID of the second account as the principal, allowing the Glue service role from that account to read objects. This is a standard method for delegating access to S3 resources across accounts without requiring IAM roles in the source account.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Add a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that grants access to the Glue service role from the other account.
Why this is correct
Correct: Bucket policy allows cross-account access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Create an IAM role in the second account that the Glue job can assume, with permissions to read from the S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
Correct: The Glue job needs a role with cross-account access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create a cross-account Glue crawler in the source account.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Crawlers run in the account where the data is located.
- ✗
Set up VPC peering between the two accounts' VPCs.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: VPC peering is not needed for S3 access.
- ✗
Ensure both accounts are in the same AWS organization.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Organization is not required for cross-account access.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse network-level connectivity (VPC peering) with IAM-level authorization, or assume that cross-account Glue crawlers are a built-in feature, when in fact the crawler must be in the same account as the data lake or use an assumed role with cross-account permissions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, cross-account S3 access relies on the AWS IAM permission boundary: the source account's bucket policy must explicitly allow the principal (the Glue service role ARN from the second account) with an Allow effect, and the second account's IAM role must have an inline or attached policy granting s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket actions. A subtle behavior is that the bucket policy must use the full ARN of the role (e.g., arn:aws:iam::SECOND_ACCOUNT_ID:role/GlueServiceRole) and not just the account ID, unless using a principal wildcard. In real-world scenarios, this setup is common for data lakes where multiple teams in different accounts need to run Glue ETL jobs on shared datasets, and the bucket policy must also handle encryption keys (KMS) if SSE-KMS is used.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this MLS-C01 question test?
Data Engineering — This question tests Data Engineering — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that grants access to the Glue service role from the other account. — Option A is correct because an S3 bucket policy can grant cross-account access by specifying the AWS account ID of the second account as the principal, allowing the Glue service role from that account to read objects. This is a standard method for delegating access to S3 resources across accounts without requiring IAM roles in the source account.
What should I do if I get this MLS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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