PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
An administrator needs to grant a network team the ability to create and manage firewall rules, but not delete VPC networks. Which IAM role should be assigned?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between networkAdmin and securityAdmin, where candidates mistakenly choose networkAdmin thinking it covers firewall rules, but it actually grants broader VPC management permissions including deletion.
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
✓
roles/compute.securityAdmin
The roles/compute.securityAdmin role grants permissions to create, modify, and delete firewall rules and SSL certificates, but explicitly excludes permissions to delete VPC networks or modify their configurations. This aligns exactly with the requirement to manage firewall rules without being able to delete VPC networks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
roles/compute.networkAdmin
Why it's wrong here
Allows deleting VPC networks.
- ✓
roles/compute.securityAdmin
Why this is correct
Allows managing firewall rules without network deletion.
- ✗
roles/compute.viewer
Why it's wrong here
Read-only, cannot create firewall rules.
- ✗
roles/compute.admin
Why it's wrong here
Full control, including deletion.
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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.