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-tf-state" } }

  Why it's wrong here

  The backend block is not a valid argument inside a provider block; provider blocks configure the Google Cloud provider credentials and settings, not where Terraform stores its state. Backend configuration must be declared within a terraform block, such as `terraform { backend "gcs" { ... } }`. Even if placed correctly, the backend itself would override local state and requires the `bucket` and `prefix` arguments.

• ✗

  terraform { backend "cloud-storage" { bucket = "my-tf-state" path = "prod" } }

  Why it's wrong here

  The backend type for Google Cloud Storage is `gcs`, not `cloud-storage`; Terraform will not recognize `cloud-storage` as a valid backend identifier. Additionally, the GCS backend uses `prefix` to set the state file's key within the bucket, not `path`, which is used by other backends like the remote one. Using `path` here would cause an invalid configuration error.

• ✗

  terraform { backend "gcs" { bucket = "my-tf-state" folder = "prod" } }

  Why it's wrong here

  Although `gcs` is the correct backend type, the argument for specifying where the state file lives inside the bucket is `prefix`, not `folder`. The `folder` key is not defined by the GCS backend, so Terraform would reject the configuration as invalid. This prefix can include slashes to create a logical directory structure, e.g., `prefix = "prod/network"`.

• ✓

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

  Why this is correct

  This is the correct way to configure remote state storage for Google Cloud using Terraform. The `terraform` block wraps the backend declaration, the type is `gcs` for Google Cloud Storage, and the `bucket` and `prefix` arguments accurately define the bucket name and the object key within that bucket. Using a distinct prefix like `"prod"` allows multiple environments or components to share the same bucket while keeping their state files isolated and easily retrievable.

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