PCD Building and testing applications Practice Question
This PCD practice question tests your understanding of building and testing applications. 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.
Network Topology
Refer to the exhibit. A developer uses the above cloudbuild.yaml for a Cloud Run service. The trigger is set to run on pushes to the main branch. After a push, the build succeeds but the deployment fails with a permission error. What is the most likely issue?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
The Cloud Build service account lacks permission to deploy to Cloud Run
Deploying to Cloud Run requires specific IAM roles (e.g., Cloud Run Admin, Service Account User) that might not be granted to the default Cloud Build service account.
B
The region 'us-central1' is incorrect
Why wrong: If the region didn't exist, the deploy would error differently; more likely the service account lacks permissions.
C
The container image tag ${SHORT_SHA} is invalid
Why wrong: If the tag were invalid, the push step would fail; but the push succeeded.
D
The Cloud Run service name 'my-service' is misspelled
Why wrong: A misspelling would result in a 'not found' error, not a permission error.
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 lacks permission to deploy to Cloud Run
The Cloud Build service account (typically the default compute engine service account or a user-specified service account) does not have the required IAM roles (e.g., roles/run.admin or roles/run.invoker) to deploy to Cloud Run. Even though the build step succeeds, the deployment step fails because the service account lacks the `run.services.create` or `run.services.update` permission for the target Cloud Run service.
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.
✓
The Cloud Build service account lacks permission to deploy to Cloud Run
Why this is correct
Deploying to Cloud Run requires specific IAM roles (e.g., Cloud Run Admin, Service Account User) that might not be granted to the default Cloud Build service account.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The region 'us-central1' is incorrect
Why it's wrong here
If the region didn't exist, the deploy would error differently; more likely the service account lacks permissions.
✗
The container image tag ${SHORT_SHA} is invalid
Why it's wrong here
If the tag were invalid, the push step would fail; but the push succeeded.
✗
The Cloud Run service name 'my-service' is misspelled
Why it's wrong here
A misspelling would result in a 'not found' error, not a permission error.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the misconception that a build success implies all subsequent steps will succeed, but the trap here is that the deployment step uses a different set of permissions (Cloud Run IAM) than the build step (Cloud Build IAM), and candidates may overlook the need to grant the Cloud Build service account the `roles/run.admin` role.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Cloud Build uses the service account specified in the build config or the project's default compute engine service account to authenticate API calls. For Cloud Run deployments, the service account must have the `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs` permission on the runtime service account (if using a custom service account) and the `run.services.update` permission on the Cloud Run service. A common real-world scenario is when a developer uses the default compute engine service account (which often only has `roles/editor` or `roles/cloudbuild.builds.builder`) without granting the additional `roles/run.admin` role, leading to a 403 permission denied error during the `gcloud run deploy` step.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Building and testing applications — This question tests Building and testing applications — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The Cloud Build service account lacks permission to deploy to Cloud Run — The Cloud Build service account (typically the default compute engine service account or a user-specified service account) does not have the required IAM roles (e.g., roles/run.admin or roles/run.invoker) to deploy to Cloud Run. Even though the build step succeeds, the deployment step fails because the service account lacks the `run.services.create` or `run.services.update` permission for the target Cloud Run service.
What should I do if I get this PCD question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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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