Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. 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.
Which TWO IAM predefined roles grant read-only access to Cloud Storage objects but not the ability to list buckets?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
roles/storage.legacyBucketReader
Option A, roles/storage.legacyBucketReader, is correct because it grants read access to Cloud Storage objects (via the storage.objects.get permission) but does not include the storage.buckets.list permission, so users cannot list buckets. Option B, roles/storage.objectViewer, is correct because it provides read-only access to objects (storage.objects.get and storage.objects.list) without the ability to list buckets, as it lacks storage.buckets.list.
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.
✓
roles/storage.legacyBucketReader
Why this is correct
Allows reading objects if you know the bucket, but does not grant storage.buckets.list.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
roles/storage.objectViewer
Why this is correct
Grants storage.objects.get and storage.objects.list (within a bucket), but not storage.buckets.list.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
roles/storage.objectAdmin
Why it's wrong here
Allows full object control, including write and delete.
✗
roles/storage.viewer
Why it's wrong here
Includes storage.buckets.list, so can list buckets.
✗
roles/storage.admin
Why it's wrong here
Full control over buckets and objects.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse roles/storage.viewer (which includes bucket listing) with roles/storage.objectViewer (which does not), or assume that any 'viewer' role excludes bucket listing, but the storage.viewer role actually includes storage.buckets.list, making it incorrect for this specific requirement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Cloud Storage IAM permissions are granular: storage.objects.get allows reading object content, while storage.buckets.list is required to enumerate buckets via the Google Cloud Console or gcloud storage ls command. The legacyBucketReader role is a legacy role that only grants object read access without bucket listing, making it suitable for scenarios where users need to access objects via direct URLs or signed URLs but should not see the bucket inventory. This distinction is critical for compliance with least-privilege access in multi-tenant environments.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PCA question in full detail.
Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — This question tests Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: roles/storage.legacyBucketReader — Option A, roles/storage.legacyBucketReader, is correct because it grants read access to Cloud Storage objects (via the storage.objects.get permission) but does not include the storage.buckets.list permission, so users cannot list buckets. Option B, roles/storage.objectViewer, is correct because it provides read-only access to objects (storage.objects.get and storage.objects.list) without the ability to list buckets, as it lacks storage.buckets.list.
What should I do if I get this PCA 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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