Google ACE Deploying and Implementing a Cloud Solution Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  provider "google" { backend "gcs" { bucket = "my-bucket" } }

  Why it's wrong here

  Placing the `backend "gcs"` block inside a `provider "google"` block is invalid syntax. Backend configuration is a special construct that must appear only inside a `terraform` block, while provider blocks are used solely for provider-specific settings such as project, region, or credentials. Terraform will reject this configuration with a syntax error because `backend` is not a supported argument of a provider block.

• ✓

  terraform { backend "gcs" { bucket = "my-bucket" prefix = "terraform/state" } }

  Why this is correct

  This is the correct configuration because it uses the required `terraform` block with a `backend "gcs"` block, and includes both the `bucket` name (where the state file is stored) and a `prefix` (the object path within the bucket). The backend type is exactly `"gcs"`, and this syntax registers Google Cloud Storage as the remote state backend, enabling shared state and locking across the team.

• ✗

  terraform { backend "gcs" { bucket = "my-bucket" versioning = true } }

  Why it's wrong here

  The argument `versioning = true` is not a recognized option for the GCS backend block. Backend configuration for `"gcs"` supports fields like `bucket`, `prefix`, `credentials`, and `encryption_key`, but bucket versioning is managed as a bucket property—usually by setting `versioning { enabled = true }` inside a `google_storage_bucket` resource. Terraform will fail with an unsupported argument error because versioning is not a backend-level setting.

• ✗

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

  Why it's wrong here

  The backend name `"cloud-storage"` does not exist in Terraform; the correct backend type for Google Cloud Storage is `"gcs"`. Backend names are case-sensitive and must match exactly, so this configuration would fail during `terraform init` with an invalid backend type error. Even though the block is inside a `terraform` block, the misspelled backend name is the fatal issue here.

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