PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A company wants to implement single sign-on (SSO) for its employees to access the Google Cloud Console using their existing corporate credentials from an on-premises Active Directory. Which THREE components are required? (Choose 3)
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 Directory Sync to synchronize user and group objects from Active Directory to Google Cloud Directory.
SAML 2.0 federation requires a SAML Identity Provider (AD FS or similar) to authenticate users, Cloud Identity or Google Workspace as the identity platform to configure the SAML trust, and Cloud Directory Sync to synchronize users from AD to Google Cloud Directory so that users exist in Google's directory for IAM binding.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Workload Identity Federation to map AD users to service accounts.
Why it's wrong here
Workload Identity Federation is for non-human workloads, not for console SSO.
- ✓
Cloud Directory Sync to synchronize user and group objects from Active Directory to Google Cloud Directory.
Why this is correct
Users must exist in Google's directory for IAM assignments.
- ✗
A VPN connection between the on-premises network and Google Cloud.
Why it's wrong here
SSO does not require a VPN; SAML works over the internet.
- ✓
A SAML 2.0 identity provider (e.g., AD FS) that authenticates users against Active Directory.
Why this is correct
Required as the external IdP.
- ✓
Cloud Identity or Google Workspace to configure the SAML integration.
Why this is correct
Google Cloud uses Cloud Identity as the identity platform.
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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.