Google ACE Planning and configuring a cloud solution Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of planning and configuring a cloud solution. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Refer to the exhibit. A user 'admin@example.com' attempts to create a Compute Engine instance but fails with a permission error. Which permission is missing?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
iam.serviceAccounts.actAs
The error occurs because when a user creates a Compute Engine instance with a service account, they need the `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs` permission on that service account. This permission allows the user to impersonate the service account and delegate its identity to the instance. Without it, the creation fails even if the user has `compute.instances.create`.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
compute.instances.get
Why it's wrong here
This is included in compute.instanceAdmin.v1.
✓
iam.serviceAccounts.actAs
Why this is correct
This permission is required to use a service account during instance creation and is not in the given roles.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
compute.instances.create
Why it's wrong here
This is included in roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1.
✗
compute.instances.setServiceAccount
Why it's wrong here
Not needed for creation; it's for changing service account on existing instances.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs` permission as a hidden requirement, trapping candidates who assume that `compute.instances.create` alone is sufficient for instance creation with a service account.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs` permission is checked by the IAM system when the Compute Engine API's `instances.insert` method is called with a service account email. The permission must be granted on the service account resource itself (e.g., `projects/-/serviceAccounts/{email}`), not on the project. In real-world scenarios, this often trips up users who grant broad compute roles but forget to grant the `actAs` permission on the specific service account, leading to a confusing 'Permission denied' error that masks the root cause.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this ACE question in full detail.
Planning and configuring a cloud solution — This question tests Planning and configuring a cloud solution — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: iam.serviceAccounts.actAs — The error occurs because when a user creates a Compute Engine instance with a service account, they need the `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs` permission on that service account. This permission allows the user to impersonate the service account and delegate its identity to the instance. Without it, the creation fails even if the user has `compute.instances.create`.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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