mediumMultiple Choice
Google ACE Practice Question: A team uses Cloud Shell for all GCP CLI operations
A team uses Cloud Shell for all GCP CLI operations. A developer notices that files they create in Cloud Shell's home directory persist between sessions, but files in other directories do not. What explains this behavior?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume Cloud Shell behaves like a traditional persistent VM where all files survive, or they may confuse the persistent home directory with automatic full-disk backup, leading them to choose option A or D.
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
✓
Only $HOME (~) has persistent 5 GB storage; other directories use ephemeral container storage
Cloud Shell provides each user with a persistent 5 GB home directory ($HOME) backed by Cloud Storage. Files created outside this directory reside in the container's ephemeral storage, which is discarded when the Cloud Shell session ends or is restarted. This design ensures user configurations and scripts are preserved while maintaining a clean, temporary environment for other operations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cloud Shell saves all files to Cloud Storage automatically
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Shell does not automatically back up or sync your files to Cloud Storage. The persistent $HOME directory is stored on a separate 5 GB disk attached to the Cloud Shell VM, not on a Cloud Storage bucket, and there is no built-in background sync process. You must explicitly use commands like gcloud storage cp or the Cloud Shell upload/download feature to transfer files to Cloud Storage.
- ✓
Only $HOME (~) has persistent 5 GB storage; other directories use ephemeral container storage
Why this is correct
This is correct because Cloud Shell provisions a 5 GB persistent disk that is always mounted at $HOME (~), so files there survive session restarts. Every other path, such as /tmp or /opt, resides in the container's ephemeral storage, which is created fresh each time and loses all changes when the Cloud Shell VM is reset. This is why best practice is to keep important work inside the home directory or push it to Cloud Storage or a Git repository.
- ✗
Cloud Shell stores files in Firestore, which only retains home directory paths
Why it's wrong here
Firestore is a document database, not a file-storage service, and Cloud Shell never uses it for file storage. Instead, the home directory is backed by a persistent disk that retains your file contents across sessions, while the rest of the container filesystem is ephemeral. The statement also misstates the persistence model: Cloud Shell does not store just paths; it stores actual file data on that persistent disk, not in Firestore.
- ✗
Files outside $HOME are deleted after 24 hours automatically
Why it's wrong here
The ephemeral files outside $HOME are not deleted on a fixed 24-hour timer. They exist only in the writable layer of the Cloud Shell container, and they disappear whenever the underlying VM instance is stopped or recycled, which can happen after an inactivity timeout or during maintenance—not precisely after 24 hours. Cloud Shell sessions are ephemeral as a whole, but the exact timing is not a simple 24-hour deletion schedule.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Artifact Registry and Container Management
Key term
Cloud Shell
Cloud Shell is a browser-based command-line interface that gives you temporary access to a cloud provider’s infrastructure, complete with pre-installed tools and a file system, without needing to install anything on your own computer.
Key term
Cloud storage
Cloud storage is a service that lets you save data on remote servers accessed over the internet instead of on your computer's hard drive.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ACE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ACE exam.