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 DevOps engineer is trying to create a service account key for a CI/CD pipeline, but receives the error: 'Constraint constraints/iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation violated'. What is the most likely cause and solution?
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.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The Organization Policy prevents key creation; the engineer needs to request an exception from the security team.
The error 'Constraint constraints/iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation violated' indicates that an Organization Policy with the constraint `iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation` is enforced at the organization, folder, or project level. This policy explicitly blocks the creation of service account keys, which is why the engineer cannot generate a key for the CI/CD pipeline. The correct solution is to request an exception from the security team, who can either remove the policy or add the engineer's project to an exemption 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.
✓
The Organization Policy prevents key creation; the engineer needs to request an exception from the security team.
Why this is correct
The constraint explicitly blocks key creation. An exception or alternative method (e.g., workload identity federation) is needed.
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 Cloud Resource Manager API is disabled; enable it.
Why it's wrong here
A disabled API would give an API not enabled error, not a constraint violation.
✗
The project does not have billing enabled; enable billing.
Why it's wrong here
Billing issues produce different errors (e.g., 'billing account not enabled').
✗
The service account has been deleted; the engineer must recreate it.
Why it's wrong here
The error message does not mention deletion; it specifically cites an Org policy constraint.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between Organization Policy constraints (like `iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation`) and other common errors (like API disablement or billing issues), so candidates mistakenly choose B or C because they assume a missing API or billing is the root cause, but the specific error message directly names the constraint.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The `iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation` constraint is a list constraint that can be applied at the organization, folder, or project level via Organization Policies. When enforced, it blocks the `google.iam.admin.v1.CreateServiceAccountKey` API call, which is used by the `gcloud iam service-accounts keys create` command or the Google Cloud Console. A common real-world scenario is a security team enforcing this policy to prevent long-lived keys in favor of workload identity federation or short-lived credentials, requiring engineers to use alternatives like Workload Identity Federation for CI/CD pipelines.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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 Organization Policy prevents key creation; the engineer needs to request an exception from the security team. — The error 'Constraint constraints/iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation violated' indicates that an Organization Policy with the constraint `iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation` is enforced at the organization, folder, or project level. This policy explicitly blocks the creation of service account keys, which is why the engineer cannot generate a key for the CI/CD pipeline. The correct solution is to request an exception from the security team, who can either remove the policy or add the engineer's project to an exemption list.
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.
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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