ACE Practice Question: A Compute Engine VM with only a private IP…
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of a compute engine vm with only a private ip…. 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.
A Compute Engine VM with only a private IP address needs to download software updates from the internet (apt-get update). What must be configured in the VPC to enable outbound internet access for private VMs?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
Create a VPC firewall rule allowing egress to 0.0.0.0/0 on port 80 and 443
Firewall egress rules allow traffic direction — but without Cloud NAT, the packets have no external IP to route through. Both firewall rules and Cloud NAT are needed.
Distractor review
Enable Private Google Access on the subnet
Private Google Access allows VMs to reach Google APIs (like Cloud Storage, BigQuery) using internal routing — it doesn't provide general internet access for external package repositories.
Best answer
Configure Cloud NAT on the VPC's Cloud Router for the subnet
Cloud NAT provides outbound internet connectivity for VMs with private IPs. It translates their private source IP to a shared NAT IP for external connections — enabling apt-get, pip, etc.
Distractor review
Add an external IP address to the VM temporarily for the update, then remove it
Temporarily adding an external IP is a workaround that increases attack surface — Cloud NAT is the correct long-term solution without exposing individual VMs.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
- Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
- Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
- The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
- Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
- Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
- Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Related practice questions
Related ACE practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
What is the correct order of the Google Cloud resource hierarchy from highest to lowest level?
Question 2
A compliance archive stores legal documents accessed at most once per quarter. Which Cloud Storage class minimizes storage cost while meeting that access pattern?
Question 3
Which gcloud command creates a Compute Engine VM named 'web-01' using the e2-medium machine type in zone us-central1-a?
Question 4
A team wants to receive an email alert when the average CPU utilization of VMs in a managed instance group exceeds 80% for more than 5 minutes. What should they create in Cloud Monitoring?
Question 5
A junior developer needs read-only access to all GCP resources in a project. Which IAM role grants the minimum permissions required?
Question 6
A startup creates its first Google Cloud project. Before deploying any paid resources, what must be linked to the project?
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ACE question test?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure Cloud NAT on the VPC's Cloud Router for the subnet — Private Google Access alone allows VMs to reach Google APIs — not the general internet. For outbound internet access from VMs without external IPs, Cloud NAT (Network Address Translation) must be configured on the VPC's Cloud Router. Cloud NAT translates private IPs to shared external IPs for outbound connections.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ACE subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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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.