Google ACE Setting Up a Cloud Solution Environment 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.

• ✗

  The project has IAM policies attached

  Why it's wrong here

  IAM policies are metadata that define who can access project resources; they do not represent billable or deletable resources. A project can be deleted with its IAM bindings intact, as deletion removes the entire project and all associated metadata. The actual blocker for deletion is typically an enabled billing account, not the presence of IAM policies. To delete a project, the caller only needs the resourcemanager.projects.delete permission, not a removal of IAM bindings.

• ✗

  The project still has active resources such as Compute Engine instances

  Why it's wrong here

  Active resources such as Compute Engine instances do not prevent project deletion; the delete operation shuts down and removes all resources within the project. When a project is deleted, it initiates a shutdown phase, during which all running instances are stopped and billed usage ceases. You do not need to manually delete instances first, and a project with running VMs can still be deleted from the console or API as long as billing is disabled.

• ✗

  The project is in a folder

  Why it's wrong here

  Being placed in a folder is purely an organizational grouping mechanism and does not impose any deletion restrictions. The folder hierarchy is about policy inheritance and resource management, not about project lifecycle. Deleting a project within a folder is permitted as long as you have the appropriate delete permission on the project and billing is disabled. The folder itself remains intact, and the project is simply removed from the tree.

• ✓

  The project's billing account is still linked

  Why this is correct

  The correct answer is that a linked billing account prevents project deletion. Google Cloud requires you to disable billing for a project before it can be deleted, because deletion finalizes cost responsibility and prevents accidental ongoing charges. The console will display an error such as 'Billing must be disabled' if the project is still linked to a billing account. You must detach the billing account or disable the project's billing, then initiate the deletion process.

Go deeper

Related to this question