PMLE Collaborating to manage data and models Practice Question
Exhibit
pipeline:
execution_config:
runner: DataflowRunner
project: my-project
region: us-central1
components:
- component_type: CsvExampleGen
component_name: example_gen
arguments:
input_basedir: gs://my-bucket/data/Refer to the exhibit. The team notices that the pipeline fails to read data from the specified Cloud Storage path. What is the most likely issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between bucket-level permissions (like `storage.objectViewer`) and project-level roles, leading candidates to overlook that the service account must have the specific IAM role on the bucket or project, not just any storage role.
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 service account lacks `storage.objectViewer` permission
The pipeline fails to read data from Cloud Storage because the service account lacks the `storage.objectViewer` IAM role, which grants the `storage.objects.get` and `storage.objects.list` permissions required to read objects. Without this role, the pipeline cannot authenticate or authorize the read operation, even if the bucket and path are correct.
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 bucket does not exist
Why it's wrong here
A nonexistent bucket would produce a not-found error, yet the stem indicates the path itself is misconfigured rather than the bucket absent. It is tempting because typos in bucket names are common, and would be correct if the error explicitly reported the bucket as missing rather than a path read failure.
- ✗
The pipeline runner is incorrect
Why it's wrong here
The runner executes pipeline code and does not govern access to a Cloud Storage path, so an incorrect runner would not cause a read failure at that location. It is tempting because runner misconfiguration breaks pipelines generally, and would be correct if the pipeline failed to start or could not execute its components at all.
- ✗
The region is mismatched
Why it's wrong here
A region mismatch affects latency and data residency, but Cloud Storage buckets are globally addressable by name, so the pipeline can still read the path. It is tempting because region errors do break some Google Cloud services, and would be correct if the resource were regional, such as a Compute Engine instance or BigQuery dataset.
- ✓
The service account lacks `storage.objectViewer` permission
Why this is correct
A missing `storage.objectViewer` role on the service account directly prevents the pipeline from listing and reading objects at the Cloud Storage path, satisfying the stem's read-failure constraint. Without this permission, requests return 403 errors, so the pipeline cannot access the data regardless of path correctness.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PMLE 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 PMLE exam.