Question 100 of 486
Granting Compute Network User Role for Shared VPC Access
You are a DevOps engineer tasked with bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for a company that develops a SaaS product. The company has three teams: Platform, Application, and Data. Each team needs to manage their own projects, but the network should be centrally managed. You decide to use a shared VPC. You create a host project 'shared-vpc-host' and attach three service projects: 'platform-service', 'app-service', and 'data-service'. You grant the Network Admin role to the Platform team for the host project. The Application team needs to deploy Compute Engine instances in their service project, but they should not be able to modify network resources. You grant them the Compute Instance Admin role at the service project level. However, the Application team reports that they cannot create instances because they don't have permission to use the subnets in the shared VPC. What is the most likely missing step?
Quick Answer
The answer is to grant the Application team the Compute Network User role on the host project or the specific subnets. This is required because in a shared VPC service project setup, subnet permissions are inherited from the host project, not the service project; the Compute Network User role (roles/compute.networkUser) allows a user to attach instances to existing subnets without granting any ability to modify network resources. On the Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of shared VPC IAM inheritance—a common trap is assuming that granting compute instance roles at the service project level is sufficient, when in fact the network-level permission must come from the host project. Remember the memory tip: "Host project holds the net, service project holds the compute"—the network user role must be on the host side for any team to use the subnets.
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that granting a role on the service project is sufficient for shared VPC subnet access, when in fact the Compute Network User role must be granted on the host project or the specific subnets to allow instance attachment.
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
✓
Grant the Application team the Compute Network User role on the host project or the specific subnets.
The Application team needs the Compute Network User role (roles/compute.networkUser) on the host project or the specific subnets to use the shared VPC subnets. This role allows them to attach instances to existing subnets without granting permission to modify network resources. Granting it at the service project level (Option B) is insufficient because the subnet permissions are inherited from the host project in a shared VPC setup.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Grant the Application team the Compute Network Admin role on the host project.
Why it's wrong here
This would give too much permission; they only need to use subnets.
- ✗
Grant the Application team the Compute Network User role on the service project.
Why it's wrong here
The subnet permissions are on the host project, not the service project.
- ✓
Grant the Application team the Compute Network User role on the host project or the specific subnets.
Why this is correct
Compute Network User allows using subnets without managing them.
- ✗
Grant the Application team the roles/compute.subnetUser on the subnet.
Why it's wrong here
The role is Compute Network User, not subnetUser.
Visual reference
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PCDOE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. You are bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for a DevOps team. You need to set up a shared VPC host project that will be used by multiple service projects. What is the minimal set of roles required for the DevOps team to create and manage service projects in the host project?
easy- A.Project Creator and Service Project Admin
- ✓ B.Compute Network Admin and Service Project Admin
- C.Compute Shared VPC Admin
- D.Owner and Service Project Admin
Why B: The minimal set of roles required for a DevOps team to create and manage service projects in a shared VPC host project is Compute Network Admin (roles/compute.networkAdmin) on the host project and Service Project Admin (roles/compute.xpnAdmin) at the organization or folder level. Compute Network Admin grants permissions to manage networking resources, while Service Project Admin allows attaching service projects to the host project. Without both, the team cannot configure shared VPC networking or associate service projects.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This PCDOE 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 PCDOE exam.
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