PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A company wants to deploy a containerized application on GKE that needs to access Cloud SQL. They want to avoid storing database credentials in the application. Which THREE components should they use?
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
✓
Cloud SQL Auth Proxy (sidecar container)
Workload Identity binds a Kubernetes service account to a GCP service account. The Cloud SQL Auth Proxy provides secure access to Cloud SQL using IAM database authentication. IAM database authentication allows the service account to authenticate to Cloud SQL without passwords.
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 SQL Auth Proxy (sidecar container)
Why this is correct
Handles TLS and IAM authentication to Cloud SQL.
- ✗
Cloud SQL private IP
Why it's wrong here
Private IP provides network connectivity but does not address credential management.
- ✓
Workload Identity
Why this is correct
Binds Kubernetes SA to GCP SA, providing GCP credentials to pods.
- ✗
Service account key stored in a Kubernetes secret
Why it's wrong here
Storing keys in Kubernetes secrets is not recommended; Workload Identity avoids this.
- ✓
IAM database authentication
Why this is correct
Allows the service account to authenticate to Cloud SQL without a password.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCSE 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 PCSE exam.