Scripting with gcloud in GCP - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to list all Compute Engine instances in the current project.

GCP

gcloud compute instances [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Alist

Bcreate

Cdelete

Ddescribe

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'create' instead of 'list' will try to make a new instance.

Using 'delete' will remove instances, which is not what we want.

Using 'describe' shows details of one instance, not all.

The list command shows all Compute Engine instances in your project.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to set the default project for gcloud commands.

GCP

gcloud config [1] project my-project-id

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aunset

Bset

Cget

Dlist

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'unset' removes a config value.

Using 'get' only reads the current value.

Using 'list' shows all config values.

The set command updates the configuration, here setting the default project.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the command to create a new Compute Engine instance named 'web-server'.

GCP

gcloud compute instances create [1] --zone=us-central1-a

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aweb-server

Bwebserver

Cweb_server

Dweb server

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using spaces in the name causes errors.

Underscores are not valid for instance names.

Concatenated words without separator are allowed but less readable.

The instance name must use hyphens for separation, so 'web-server' is correct.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a firewall rule named 'allow-http' that allows TCP traffic on port 80.

GCP

gcloud compute firewall-rules create [1] --allow [2]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aallow-http

Btcp:80

Cudp:80

Dallow-ssh

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using UDP instead of TCP for HTTP traffic.

Using a rule name that doesn't match the allowed traffic.

Forgetting to specify the port.

The firewall rule name is 'allow-http' and it allows TCP traffic on port 80, so '--allow tcp:80' is correct.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to list all storage buckets in the project 'my-project' with JSON output format.

GCP

gcloud [1] [2] list --project=[3] --format=json

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Astorage

Bbuckets

Cmy-project

Dinstances

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'instances' instead of 'buckets' for storage.

Omitting the project flag or using wrong project name.

Not specifying the output format correctly.

To list storage buckets, use 'gcloud storage buckets list' with the project flag and JSON output format.

Practice

1. What does the gcloud compute instances list command do?

easy

A. It deletes all virtual machine instances.

B. It creates a new virtual machine instance.

C. It shows all virtual machine instances in your project.

D. It updates the configuration of an instance.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the command structure

   The command uses gcloud compute instances list, which is designed to list resources.

2. Step 2: Identify the resource targeted

   The resource targeted is virtual machine instances under compute service.

3. Final Answer:

   It shows all virtual machine instances in your project. -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   List command = show resources [OK]

Hint: List commands show resources, create commands add resources [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing list with create or delete commands
• Assuming it modifies instances instead of listing
• Ignoring the service and resource part of the command

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to create a new Compute Engine instance named my-vm in zone us-central1-a using gcloud?

easy

A. gcloud create instances my-vm --zone us-central1-a

B. gcloud instances create my-vm --zone us-central1-a

C. gcloud compute create instance my-vm zone=us-central1-a

D. gcloud compute instances create my-vm --zone=us-central1-a

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the correct command order

   The correct order is gcloud compute instances create followed by the instance name.

2. Step 2: Verify flag syntax

   The zone flag must be --zone=us-central1-a with an equals sign.

3. Final Answer:

   gcloud compute instances create my-vm --zone=us-central1-a -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Correct syntax uses 'compute instances create' and '--zone=' [OK]

Hint: Use full service and resource names with flags using '=' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting 'compute' or 'instances' keywords
• Using space instead of '=' in flags
• Wrong command order or missing flags

3. What will be the output of this command if there are two instances named vm1 and vm2 in zone us-east1-b?

gcloud compute instances list --filter="zone:(us-east1-b)" --format="value(name)"

medium

A. vm1 vm2

B. vm1\nvm2

C. ["vm1", "vm2"]

D. Error: Invalid filter syntax

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the filter flag

   The filter limits results to instances in zone us-east1-b, so both vm1 and vm2 match.

2. Step 2: Understand the format flag

   The format value(name) outputs only the names, each on a new line.

3. Final Answer:

   vm1\nvm2 -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Filter + value format = names on separate lines [OK]

Hint: value(name) outputs names line by line, not space separated [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting space-separated names instead of new lines
• Thinking output is JSON array
• Misreading filter syntax as invalid

4. You wrote this script line to delete a Compute Engine instance:

gcloud compute instances delete my-instance --zone us-west1-b

But it fails with an error. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. Missing '=' sign in the --zone flag

B. Instance name is incorrect

C. Delete command requires --force flag

D. gcloud command does not support delete

Solution

1. Step 1: Check flag syntax

   The zone flag must be written as --zone=us-west1-b with an equals sign.

2. Step 2: Confirm command support

   The delete command is valid and does not require --force unless confirmation is skipped.

3. Final Answer:

   Missing '=' sign in the --zone flag -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Flags need '=' between flag and value [OK]

Hint: Flags require '=' between name and value [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using space instead of '=' in flags
• Assuming delete needs --force always
• Thinking delete command is unsupported

5. You want to write a script that creates three Compute Engine instances named app-1, app-2, and app-3 in zone europe-west1-c. Which script snippet correctly uses a loop with gcloud commands?

hard

A. for i in 1 2 3; do gcloud compute instances create app-$i --zone=europe-west1-c; done

B. gcloud compute instances create app-1 app-2 app-3 --zone europe-west1-c

C. for i in 1..3; gcloud compute instances create app-i --zone=europe-west1-c; done

D. gcloud create instances app-{1..3} --zone=europe-west1-c

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand shell loop syntax

   The correct bash loop syntax is for i in 1 2 3; do ... done.

2. Step 2: Check command inside loop

   The command uses variable substitution app-$i and correct flag --zone=europe-west1-c.

3. Step 3: Verify other options

   gcloud compute instances create app-1 app-2 app-3 --zone europe-west1-c creates all instances in one command but does not use a loop. Options A and D have syntax errors or invalid commands.

4. Final Answer:

   for i in 1 2 3; do gcloud compute instances create app-$i --zone=europe-west1-c; done -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Bash loop with correct flags and variable substitution [OK]

Hint: Use 'for i in 1 2 3; do ... done' for loops in bash [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using invalid loop syntax like '1..3'
• Missing 'do' and 'done' in loop
• Incorrect flag syntax without '='
• Trying to create multiple instances without loop or correct command