mediumMultiple Choice
PDE Practice Question: Refer to the exhibit
Network Topology
Refer to the exhibit. A team uses this Cloud Build configuration to deploy a service to Cloud Run. The deployment step fails with a 'Permission denied' error. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google often tests the distinction between build-time errors (e.g., missing Dockerfile, malformed tags) and deployment-time permission errors, expecting candidates to recognize that a 'Permission denied' error specifically points to IAM misconfiguration rather than build configuration issues.
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
✓
The Cloud Build service account does not have the Cloud Run Admin role.
The Cloud Build service account (typically the default compute engine service account or a user-specified service account) must have the Cloud Run Admin role (roles/run.admin) to deploy services to Cloud Run. Without this IAM permission, the deployment step fails with a 'Permission denied' error, even if the build itself succeeds. The error occurs because Cloud Build attempts to call the Cloud Run Admin API (run.googleapis.com) to create or update the service, and the service account lacks the required authorization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The Dockerfile is missing from the repository.
Why it's wrong here
A missing Dockerfile produces a build-step failure such as 'no such file', not a permission error during deployment. Cloud Build would fail before reaching the Cloud Run deploy step. This is tempting because build context problems are common, and it would be correct if the build step itself reported the file could not be found.
- ✗
The Docker image tag is missing or malformed.
Why it's wrong here
A malformed or absent image tag causes an invalid image reference error, not 'Permission denied'. Tag issues surface as manifest-not-found or invalid-format messages. This is tempting because tag mistakes are frequent in Cloud Build configs, and it would be the answer if the error named the image reference rather than authorisation.
- ✗
The region 'us-central1' is incorrect for Cloud Run.
Why it's wrong here
An incorrect region yields a region-not-found or unsupported-location error, not 'Permission denied'. Cloud Run accepts us-central1. This is tempting because region mismatches do break deployments, and it would be correct if the error cited an unavailable location or the service was deployed to a region the caller cannot access.
- ✓
The Cloud Build service account does not have the Cloud Run Admin role.
Why this is correct
Cloud Build executes deployments using its dedicated service account, which requires the Cloud Run Admin role to create or update services. Without that IAM binding, the deployment step is rejected with 'Permission denied' even though the configuration syntax itself is valid.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PDE 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 PDE exam.