Five real Associate Cloud Engineer projects mapped directly to GCP-ACE exam objectives. Mark a step complete and HandsOnCert commits the evidence — gcloud CLI output, IAM bindings, deployment configs — straight to your own GitHub repo. The portfolio employers actually click into.
$49 one-time · Project 1 free · No subscription
Every project maps to an official GCP-ACE exam domain. Each one ends with evidence committed to your GitHub repo automatically.
Create a GCP project, configure billing alerts, set up IAM with custom roles for a team, and configure the gcloud CLI with multiple configurations. Commit your project setup configuration and IAM bindings.
Setting Up a Cloud Solution Environment — ~17% of examCompare Compute Engine machine types and Cloud Storage classes for a workload, plan a VPC network with subnets across regions, and estimate costs using the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator. Commit your planning documentation and pricing comparison.
Planning & Configuring — ~16% of examDeploy a Compute Engine instance and a GKE cluster, deploy an application to App Engine or Cloud Run, and configure a Cloud SQL instance. Commit your deployment configurations and verification screenshots.
Deploying & Implementing — ~23% of examConfigure Cloud Monitoring dashboards and alerting policies, set up Cloud Logging with a log-based metric, and configure a Cloud Scheduler job for a recurring task. Commit your monitoring dashboard and alerting configuration.
Ensuring Successful Operation — ~22% of examConfigure IAM policies at the project and resource level, set up a service account with workload identity for a GKE workload, and configure VPC firewall rules following least privilege. Commit your IAM policy bindings and firewall rule definitions.
Configuring Access & Security — ~22% of examEvery completed step auto-commits evidence to your own repo. No fake portfolio templates — real configs, real screenshots, real history.
No simulators. You work in the actual Google Cloud console and tools, the same ones you'll use on the job and in the GCP-ACE exam.
Stuck on a step or an exam concept? Cert Buddy is trained on GCP-ACE objectives and helps you debug and understand — not just copy-paste.
Every chargeable resource has a clear alert telling you exactly when to stop, deallocate, or delete — so a lab break doesn't become a surprise bill.
Get the full GCP-ACE lab guide as a PDF — step-by-step instructions, screenshots to capture, and an exam quick-reference section.
$49 once. No subscription, no recurring charges. Or get All-Access to all 21 cert paths for $199.
Are the GCP-ACE hands-on labs free?
Project 1 (Project Setup) is completely free, including unlimited access to Cert Buddy for that project and the manual GitHub commit workflow. The remaining 4 projects unlock for a one-time payment of $49.
Do I need a GCP account for these labs?
Yes, you need a Google Cloud account with the $300 free trial credit (valid 90 days). GCP-ACE resources fit comfortably within this credit if cleaned up promptly — GKE clusters in particular need to be deleted after Project 3.
How does the GitHub portfolio auto-commit work for GCP-ACE?
When you mark a lab step complete, HandsOnCert commits your gcloud CLI output, IAM bindings, and deployment configurations directly to your own GitHub repository via OAuth.
How long does the GCP-ACE path take to complete?
The 5 projects take approximately 8 hours total, covering environment setup, planning/configuring, deployment, operations, and access/security — the same domains tested on the GCP-ACE exam.
Is GCP-ACE the right starting point for Google Cloud?
Yes. Unlike AWS and Azure, Google Cloud doesn't have a separate fundamentals tier — GCP-ACE is the entry-level certification and covers core services, deployment, and operations with no prerequisites.
Should I take GCP-PCA, GCP-PDE, or GCP-PCSE after GCP-ACE?
It depends on your role. GCP-PCA (Professional Cloud Architect) is the general next step for architecture roles, GCP-PDE (Professional Data Engineer) for data roles, and GCP-PCSE (Professional Cloud Security Engineer) for security roles. All three build on the foundational skills from GCP-ACE.
Start Project 1 free — no credit card required. See exactly how the GitHub auto-commit works before you pay anything.
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