PCDOE Practice Question: Bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps
This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of bootstrapping a google cloud organization for devops. 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.
A Cloud Build pipeline fails with 'Permission denied' when trying to pull a Docker image from Artifact Registry in the same project. The Cloud Build service account has the Artifact Registry Reader role. What additional configuration is likely missing?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The Artifact Registry repository has a VPC-SC perimeter blocking access.
The Cloud Build service account has the Artifact Registry Reader role, which grants permission to read (pull) images. However, if the Artifact Registry repository is inside a VPC Service Controls (VPC-SC) perimeter, the service account must also be explicitly added to the perimeter's allowed identities or the request must originate from within the perimeter. Without this, VPC-SC blocks all API calls from outside the perimeter, resulting in a 'Permission denied' error despite valid IAM roles.
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.
✗
Cloud Build needs to be enabled in the Artifact Registry region.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Build is a global service; region is configured per repository.
✓
The Artifact Registry repository has a VPC-SC perimeter blocking access.
Why this is correct
VPC-SC perimeters can deny access from outside the perimeter; cloudbuild may run outside unless configured.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The Docker image tag is incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
A wrong tag would produce a 'not found' error, not 'permission denied'.
✗
The service account needs the Artifact Registry Writer role as well.
Why it's wrong here
The Reader role is sufficient for pulling; Writer is only needed for pushing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between IAM permissions and VPC-SC perimeter policies, tricking candidates into thinking that a missing IAM role is the only cause of 'Permission denied' when the real issue is a network-level access control boundary.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Service Controls (VPC-SC) uses context-aware access policies that evaluate the identity, source IP, and request attributes before allowing API calls. Even with correct IAM roles, if the Cloud Build worker's IP or network is outside the VPC-SC perimeter, the request is denied at the perimeter boundary, not at the IAM layer. This is a common misconfiguration when using shared VPCs or hybrid cloud setups where build workers run in a different network context than the Artifact Registry repository.
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.
Bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps — This question tests Bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The Artifact Registry repository has a VPC-SC perimeter blocking access. — The Cloud Build service account has the Artifact Registry Reader role, which grants permission to read (pull) images. However, if the Artifact Registry repository is inside a VPC Service Controls (VPC-SC) perimeter, the service account must also be explicitly added to the perimeter's allowed identities or the request must originate from within the perimeter. Without this, VPC-SC blocks all API calls from outside the perimeter, resulting in a 'Permission denied' error despite valid IAM roles.
What should I do if I get this PCDOE 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This PCDOE 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 PCDOE exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.