Setting Up a Cloud Solution Environment practice questions

Answer: A) The Google Cloud Free Trial

New customers get a one-time $300 Free Trial credit that expires after 90 days. The Free Tier is a separate, ongoing allowance of free monthly usage for specific products.

• ACorrect. The Free Trial gives eligible new customers a one-time $300 credit to use across most Google Cloud services. The credit expires after 90 days or once it's used up, whichever comes first.
• BIncorrect. The Free Tier doesn't give a dollar credit. It lets all customers use specific products free, up to set monthly limits, and it doesn't expire after 90 days.
• CIncorrect. Committed use discounts lower prices in exchange for committing to a level of usage or spend for one or three years. They aren't a sign-up credit for new customers.
• DIncorrect. Sustained use discounts are applied automatically to eligible Compute Engine resources that run for a large part of the billing month. They aren't a one-time credit.

Answer: A) The Cloud Client Libraries for Python, added as application dependencies

Google recommends Cloud Client Libraries for calling Cloud APIs from application code. They give idiomatic interfaces in each language and handle authentication and request details. Cloud Code, APIs Explorer and gcloud are developer or CLI tools, not runtime libraries.

• ACorrect. Google recommends Cloud Client Libraries for calling Cloud APIs from code. They give idiomatic, per-language interfaces, handle authentication and communication with the server, and install with package managers such as pip.
• BCloud Code is IDE tooling that helps developers write, deploy and debug apps. It can help browse and add client libraries, but the running application doesn't call it to reach Cloud APIs.
• CAPIs Explorer lets a person try API methods interactively in a browser. It's for exploring and testing, not something application code calls at runtime.
• DThe alpha and beta groups are still gcloud CLI commands. Using them would still mean running CLI commands from the program, which the developer wants to avoid.

Answer: A) Migrate to Virtual Machines

Migrate to Virtual Machines, formerly Migrate for Compute Engine, is Google Cloud's lift-and-shift service for moving VMs from on-premises or other clouds to Compute Engine. It uses continuous replication, test clones and a planned cut-over.

• ACorrect. Migrate to Virtual Machines (the successor to Migrate for Compute Engine) lifts and shifts VMs from vSphere, AWS, Azure and Google Cloud VMware Engine to Compute Engine with minor automatic changes. It keeps replicating source disks and supports test clones and a planned cut-over.
• BIncorrect. Migrate to Containers modernizes workloads by turning them into containers, for example to run on GKE. It does not move VMs as-is to Compute Engine instances.
• CIncorrect. Database Migration Service moves databases to managed targets such as Cloud SQL or AlloyDB. It does not move whole virtual machines with their OS and application stack.
• DIncorrect. Storage Transfer Service copies object and file data into Cloud Storage. It does not replicate VM disks or create Compute Engine instances from source VMs.

Answer: A) Use the BigQuery sandbox, which runs within fixed free storage and query limits

The BigQuery sandbox is the only listed option that needs no billing account or payment details. The Free Trial, free tier usage in a regular project and Editions reservations all require billing to be set up.

• ACorrect. The BigQuery sandbox lets anyone with a Google account use BigQuery without a credit card or billing account. It has limits, such as 10 GiB of storage, 1 TiB of query processing per month and a 60-day default table expiration.
• BIncorrect. Signing up for the Free Trial requires a payment method for verification and creates a Cloud Billing account, which the student wants to avoid.
• CIncorrect. The free tier allowance applies to projects linked to a billing account. Using it outside the sandbox still means setting up billing.
• DIncorrect. Editions reservations are a paid capacity-based pricing model and require a billing-enabled project.

Answer: A) gcloud config list

gcloud config list shows the active configuration's properties, including the account, project, and compute region and zone. The other commands each show only part of this, or show unrelated lists.

• ACorrect. gcloud config list shows the properties set in the active configuration. These include core/account, core/project, compute/region and compute/zone, so all the values the developer needs appear in one output.
• BIncorrect. gcloud auth list shows the credentialed accounts and marks which one is active. It doesn't show the default project, region or zone.
• CIncorrect. gcloud projects list lists the projects the caller can access. It doesn't say which project is set as the default in the active configuration, and it doesn't show the account, region or zone.
• DIncorrect. gcloud compute regions list lists the Compute Engine regions available to the project. It doesn't show which region or zone is configured as the default, or the active account.

Answer: A) The Unattended Project Recommender in Active Assist

The Unattended Project Recommender uses project activity signals to recommend shutting down likely abandoned projects, or reassigning owners for active ones. Other Active Assist recommenders and Cloud Asset Inventory don't assess activity at the project level.

• ACorrect. The Unattended Project Recommender looks at project activity such as API and networking traffic, billing and service usage over the last 30 days. It recommends removing projects with low usage and assigning a new owner to busy projects that have no active owner.
• BIncorrect. The idle VM recommender only finds individual Compute Engine VM instances with low usage. It doesn't judge whether a whole project is unattended.
• CIncorrect. The IAM role recommender suggests removing or narrowing permissions that principals haven't used. It doesn't flag inactive projects for shutdown.
• DIncorrect. Cloud Asset Inventory lists resources and their metadata, but it doesn't analyze usage or recommend which projects are abandoned. The administrator would have to work that out themselves.

Answer: A) Cloud Shell Editor, opened from the Open Editor button

Every Cloud Shell instance includes Cloud Shell Editor, a browser-based editor based on Code OSS for browsing, editing and debugging code. Web preview and the persistent home directory support other tasks, and Cloud Workstations is a separate service.

• ACorrect. Every Cloud Shell instance includes Cloud Shell Editor by default. It is based on Code OSS and lets you browse directories and edit files while keeping access to the Cloud Shell terminal. It provides language features such as code suggestions, linting and debugging support. You open it with the Open Editor button or at ide.cloud.google.com.
• BIncorrect. Web preview lets you view, in your browser, a web application that is running on a port in your Cloud Shell instance. You can use it to see the app's output, but not to edit or debug source files.
• CIncorrect. The persistent home directory keeps your files between Cloud Shell sessions. It is storage, not an editor with highlighting, completion or debugging.
• DIncorrect. Cloud Workstations is a separate managed service that you must configure yourself. It also offers a browser-based editor, but it doesn't come with Cloud Shell.

Answer: A) gcloud alpha resource-manager liens create --project=PROJECT_ID --restrictions=resourcemanager.projects.delete --reason="Production"

A lien that restricts resourcemanager.projects.delete, created with gcloud alpha resource-manager liens create, blocks deletion of the project until the lien is removed. Labels, granting the lien modifier role, and undelete do not prevent deletion.

• ACorrect. This command places a lien on the project that restricts the resourcemanager.projects.delete permission. Nobody can delete the project until the lien is removed.
• BIncorrect. Labels are only metadata used to organize resources and report costs. They do not block any operation, so the project can still be deleted.
• CIncorrect. This grants a user permission to create and remove liens, but it does not create a lien. The project is still unprotected.
• DIncorrect. This command restores a project that was already shut down, as long as it is still within the recovery period. It does not stop the project from being deleted in the first place.

Answer: A) Run the build steps in the official Google Cloud CLI Docker image from Google's registry

The official Google Cloud CLI Docker image comes with gcloud already installed, so pipeline steps can run gcloud in a container without installing the CLI on each runner.

• ACorrect. Google publishes Google Cloud CLI Docker images (gcr.io/google.com/cloudsdktool/google-cloud-cli, with tags such as :stable, :alpine and :slim). These images already include gcloud, gsutil and bq, so build steps can run gcloud in an isolated container without installing the CLI on the runner.
• BIncorrect. Cloud Shell is an interactive environment for a single user, opened in the browser. It is not meant to run as an automated build step inside a CI/CD pipeline.
• CIncorrect. This installs the Google Cloud CLI on the runner during each build, which is exactly the installation and maintenance work the team wants to avoid.
• DIncorrect. A key file only provides credentials. It does not provide the gcloud binary, and spreading long-lived keys across runners is also a security risk.

Answer: A) gcloud config set disable_usage_reporting true

Setting the gcloud property disable_usage_reporting to true opts the CLI out of sending anonymized usage statistics. The survey, log_http and disable_prompts properties control unrelated behavior.

• ACorrect. The disable_usage_reporting property controls whether gcloud collects anonymized statistics such as the command run, how long it took and whether it failed. Setting it to true opts out. The property is first set during installation and can be changed at any time.
• BIncorrect. This property only stops gcloud from showing prompts that invite the user to take a feedback survey. It does not change usage statistics collection.
• CIncorrect. log_http controls whether gcloud logs HTTP requests and responses to the terminal for debugging. It does not affect usage reporting to Google.
• DIncorrect. disable_prompts makes gcloud run without interactive prompts and use default answers. It has nothing to do with anonymized usage statistics.