The correct combination is OIDC federation with Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) on the load balancer. This works because IAP acts as a gatekeeper that intercepts all requests to the GKE web app, verifying the user’s identity through OIDC tokens issued by the federated identity provider—in this case, Active Directory federated with Google Cloud. The OIDC federation allows corporate AD credentials to be translated into Google-compatible tokens, while IAP enforces access control at the edge, ensuring only authenticated users reach the application without exposing the GKE cluster to the public internet. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of combining external identity federation with Google Cloud’s perimeter security services. A common trap is choosing a VPN or Cloud NAT instead of IAP, but remember that IAP is designed specifically for application-layer authentication without network-level changes. Memory tip: “Federate with OIDC, then IAP at the edge” — think of IAP as the bouncer checking the OIDC ticket before anyone enters the GKE party.
PCSE Practice Question: Configuring access within a cloud solution environment
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of configuring access within a cloud solution environment. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 company wants to allow employees to access a web application running on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) using their corporate Active Directory credentials. The application is exposed via an HTTPS load balancer. The Security Engineer needs to integrate identity federation and ensure that only authenticated users can reach the application. Which combination of services should be used?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set up federation between Active Directory and Google Cloud using OIDC, and enable IAP on the load balancer.
Option B is correct because it combines OIDC federation between Active Directory and Google Cloud with Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) on the load balancer. IAP verifies user identity via OIDC tokens issued by the federated identity provider, ensuring only authenticated users can reach the application without exposing it to the public internet.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use Cloud Armor to allow only traffic from specific IP ranges and require client certificates.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor does not handle user authentication.
✓
Set up federation between Active Directory and Google Cloud using OIDC, and enable IAP on the load balancer.
Why this is correct
IAP can authenticate users from an external OIDC provider.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable IAP and configure it to use Active Directory as an identity provider.
Why it's wrong here
IAP does not directly support Active Directory; federation is needed.
✗
Configure Cloud Identity as the identity provider and use IAP.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Identity does not integrate with Active Directory directly.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that IAP can directly use any identity provider (like raw Active Directory) without an OIDC/SAML federation bridge, leading candidates to pick option C.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAP uses signed headers (X-Goog-Authenticated-User-Email, X-Goog-Iap-Jwt-Assertion) to pass identity context to the backend, and it validates JWTs issued by Google's authentication layer. Federation via OIDC requires configuring a relying party trust between Google Cloud and the AD FS (or Azure AD) server, exchanging SAML or OIDC assertions for Google-issued tokens. In practice, this setup allows seamless single sign-on (SSO) for corporate users while maintaining fine-grained access control at the load balancer level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Configuring access within a cloud solution environment — This question tests Configuring access within a cloud solution environment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set up federation between Active Directory and Google Cloud using OIDC, and enable IAP on the load balancer. — Option B is correct because it combines OIDC federation between Active Directory and Google Cloud with Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) on the load balancer. IAP verifies user identity via OIDC tokens issued by the federated identity provider, ensuring only authenticated users can reach the application without exposing it to the public internet.
What should I do if I get this PCSE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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