Microsoft Azure Administrator AZ-104 Exam Guide
AZ-104 validates whether you can implement, manage, secure, and monitor core Azure services across identity, governance, storage, compute, networking, and operational maintenance. It is intended for Azure administrators and related IT professionals who work with cloud infrastructure and coordinate with networking, security, database, application, or DevOps teams. This guide helps you decide whether your current experience is sufficient, which skills to study first, how to practise without relying on leaked content, and when to schedule the assessment.
What AZ-104 proves and who should take it
AZ-104 is the exam associated with the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. Microsoft classifies the certification as Intermediate, with Azure as the product and Administrator as the role. The assessment focuses on the operational work of configuring, managing, securing, and administering an Azure environment rather than on a single service or narrow technology.
The target candidate has subject-matter expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring Azure environments. That environment can include virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security, and governance. Administrators commonly work as part of a larger infrastructure team and coordinate with specialists delivering networking, security, database, application development, and DevOps solutions.
The certification is a sensible target if your work already includes provisioning resources, controlling access, applying governance, supporting workloads, and investigating operational conditions in Azure. It is less suitable as a first exposure to cloud administration. Microsoft lists familiarity with operating systems, networking, servers, and virtualization, together with experience using PowerShell, Azure CLI, the Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager templates or Bicep files, and Microsoft Entra ID.
Use the audience profile as a readiness test, not as a rigid admissions rule. If several of those areas are unfamiliar, begin with Microsoft’s AZ-104 prerequisites learning path and Azure fundamentals material before attempting advanced practice. If you can perform the tasks but cannot explain why one configuration is preferable to another, prioritize troubleshooting and design comparisons rather than memorizing command syntax.
Which skills are measured on the exam
The current AZ-104 study guide lists five assessed areas: manage Azure identities and governance, implement and manage storage, deploy and manage Azure compute resources, implement and manage virtual networking, and monitor and maintain Azure resources. These domains collectively describe the administrator’s lifecycle: control access, deploy workloads, connect them, store data, and keep the environment observable and recoverable.
The official Exam Readiness Zone summary assigns the following ranges: Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%), Implement and manage storage (15–20%), Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%), Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%), and Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%). Keep the domain name attached to every range when planning study time; a bare percentage has no useful meaning.
The study guide says its skill bullets illustrate how the skill is assessed and that related topics may also appear. Most questions cover generally available features, although commonly used preview features may be included. Treat the published outline as a boundary for prioritization, not as a promise that every question will reproduce a bullet verbatim.
The English exam version is updated first. Microsoft states that localized versions are generally updated approximately eight weeks after the English version, while also warning that localized updates may not always follow that schedule. Check the current study guide and scheduling information close to your appointment, especially if you plan to test in a language other than English.
Manage identities and governance
Identity and governance is one of the two largest assessed domains, with Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%) of the exam. The related Microsoft learning material covers Microsoft Entra ID objects, Azure role-based access control, subscriptions, governance, Azure Policy, and self-service password reset. Study these as connected administrative decisions rather than isolated product definitions.
A useful lab sequence is to create or review identities, place them in groups, assign access through Azure RBAC, and then apply a governance rule with Azure Policy. Record the scope of each assignment and the reason for the chosen role. This exposes a common weakness: knowing a role name without understanding whether its scope is a resource, resource group, subscription, or broader boundary.
The Microsoft Exam Readiness Zone episode for this domain highlights managing Microsoft Entra ID users and groups, access to Azure resources, and subscriptions and governance. After studying, explain how identity, authorization, and policy solve different problems. A user may be authenticated but still lack authorization; an authorized action may still be restricted by governance.
Implement and manage storage
Implement and manage storage (15–20%) covers the storage part of the administrator’s job. Prepare by connecting storage requirements to access, durability, performance, data movement, and protection decisions. Microsoft’s AZ-104 course places storage solutions, data sharing, and backup among its administrator topics, so do not study storage as a list of account settings alone.
Build a small scenario around an application that needs files, objects, or shared data. Decide how the data should be accessed, how permissions should be controlled, and how the data should be protected. Then implement the choice in the portal and, where practical, repeat it with Azure CLI, PowerShell, or an infrastructure template. The point is to understand the operational effect of each setting.
Keep a decision log containing the requirement, selected service or configuration, alternative considered, and validation step. When a practice question presents several plausible storage options, this habit helps you eliminate answers that solve the wrong requirement instead of selecting the option with the most familiar name.
Deploy and manage compute resources
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%) is another high-weight domain. Microsoft’s course describes virtual machines, web apps, containers, provisioning, sizing, monitoring, and adjustment of resources. Your preparation should therefore include both initial deployment and the follow-up work required when a workload changes or fails.
Practise deploying a compute workload, changing its configuration, connecting it to the appropriate network and identity controls, and checking its health. Repeat the workflow through more than one management method. A portal-only learner may understand the interface but struggle to express repeatable deployment; a command-only learner may miss the configuration relationships visible in the portal.
For each lab, write down the dependencies before creating the workload. Include the resource group, network placement, access path, storage requirement, monitoring requirement, and recovery expectation. Then remove or reset resources when finished. This is both a cost-control measure and a way to learn which resources are independent and which are tied to the workload’s lifecycle.
Do not reduce compute preparation to memorizing machine sizes or commands. A stronger exercise asks what should be changed when capacity, availability, access, or manageability requirements change. Explain the trade-off, perform the change, and verify that the workload remains reachable and observable.
Implement and manage virtual networking
Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%) requires more than recognizing networking terminology. Microsoft’s course identifies virtual networking, connections between Azure and on-premises sites, and network traffic management as administrator topics. Build your understanding from address space and segmentation through routing, access control, connectivity, and validation.
Use a repeatable troubleshooting path: confirm the intended source and destination, check address ranges, inspect the relevant security and routing controls, test name resolution where applicable, and verify the result from the workload’s perspective. Record what you expected to happen before changing a setting. This prevents random rule changes that appear to fix one symptom while hiding the underlying problem.
Refresh the networking foundations Microsoft lists for the course audience, including TCP/IP, DNS, VPNs, firewalls, and encryption technologies. You do not need to treat every networking subject as a specialist certification, but you should be able to connect a symptom to the layer or configuration most likely responsible.
A practical lab can use a simple application tier and a restricted administrative path. Create the intended connectivity, test an allowed flow, test a blocked flow, and document why each result is correct. The exercise is valuable because it links network design with identity, compute, monitoring, and security instead of treating virtual networks as a separate chapter.
Monitor and maintain Azure resources
Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%) is the smallest published domain, but it should not be ignored. Microsoft’s certification page includes monitoring and backing up Azure resources among the stated skills, while the course covers backup and monitoring. Operational readiness means detecting a problem, identifying its scope, taking an appropriate action, and confirming recovery.
Create a maintenance checklist for the resources in your practice environment. Include health and performance signals, relevant activity or diagnostic information, backup configuration, restore expectations, and a method for confirming that a change had the intended effect. The checklist should name the resource and the evidence you would inspect, not simply say “monitor the environment.”
Practise a restore-oriented scenario, even if the lab is small. Define what must be recoverable, identify the protection configuration, and describe how you would verify the recovered resource. Then compare monitoring and backup: monitoring helps you understand current or recent conditions, while backup supports recovery from data or resource loss.
Because the domain has a lower published range than identities and governance (20–25%), storage (15–20%), compute resources (20–25%), and virtual networking (15–20%), candidates sometimes leave it until the final study session. That is a mistake. Maintenance knowledge often provides the context that makes a deployment or troubleshooting answer correct.
How to choose a preparation route
Choose self-paced study when you can create a regular lab routine and investigate mistakes independently; choose instructor-led training when you need structured pacing, demonstrations, and an accountable learning schedule. Microsoft provides an AZ-104 learning series with prerequisite, identity and governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, and monitoring and backup paths, plus the AZ-104T00-A course for Azure administrators.
The listed AZ-104T00-A course is available for instructor-led or self-directed preparation and is described as a 4-day course. Its coverage includes subscriptions, identities, infrastructure, virtual networking, connections to on-premises sites, network traffic, storage, virtual machines, web apps, containers, backup, and monitoring. A course can organize learning, but it does not replace hands-on repetition or the current skills outline.
If you are new to Azure, start with the prerequisite path. Microsoft identifies Azure fundamentals covering cloud concepts, architecture and services, management and governance, together with an introduction to Azure Cloud Shell and ARM template deployment. If you already administer Azure, skim the fundamentals and spend the saved time on the domains where you cannot complete a task without step-by-step instructions.
Use an Azure practice environment responsibly. Microsoft’s learning paths state that you can use pay-as-you-go Azure or try Azure free for up to 30 days. Verify the current terms before creating resources, set spending controls where available, and delete or stop what you no longer need. The official learning material is the source for current account and service conditions.
A practical study roadmap
A useful roadmap moves from baseline knowledge to guided implementation, then to mixed scenarios and exam-readiness checks. Do not schedule the exam simply because you completed a video course. Schedule when you can explain the five domains, complete representative administrative tasks, review errors systematically, and work within the published assessment conditions.
Start by downloading or reviewing the current AZ-104 study guide and marking every skill bullet as familiar, partly familiar, or untested. Use the five-domain ranges to allocate attention, but let evidence override assumptions: an experienced network administrator may need less networking review and much more identity or storage practice.
Next, follow the Microsoft learning sequence: prerequisites, identities and governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, then monitoring and backup. After each path, perform a lab without copying the instructions line by line. Rebuild the configuration from a short requirement, test it, and write a brief explanation of the choices. This turns passive recognition into operational recall.
Then combine domains. Deploy a compute workload into a governed subscription, control access, connect the required network paths, protect its data, and configure monitoring. Introduce one fault or policy constraint at a time and troubleshoot it. Mixed exercises are important because real administrator decisions cross service boundaries and exam scenarios may test those relationships.
Finish with Microsoft’s practice assessment and exam sandbox. Use the practice assessment to identify knowledge gaps and the sandbox to become familiar with the interface and question styles. Review every uncertain answer, including answers you happened to get right. The aim is not to memorize a score; it is to identify the underlying concept that needs another lab or explanation.
Suggested weekly rhythm
A repeatable session is more valuable than an ambitious but irregular plan. Begin with a short review of one objective, spend most of the session performing or troubleshooting a task, and finish by recording the result and one unresolved question. Reserve a later session for retrieval without notes so that you can distinguish recognition from usable knowledge.
For an early study block, establish Azure and identity fundamentals. For the next blocks, work through storage and compute, then networking and operations. In the final block, rotate through mixed scenarios and revisit the two weakest domains shown by your notes and practice assessment. Adjust the number of sessions to your experience and schedule rather than treating this order as an official timetable.
Keep a command and configuration notebook, but organize it by decision: requirement, Azure capability, configuration, validation, and rollback or recovery. This is more useful than a collection of unexplained commands. Include portal navigation only when it helps you locate or verify the same administrative concept.
Readiness checks before scheduling
Schedule only after you can complete representative tasks without relying on a copied lab and can explain the security, governance, networking, storage, compute, and monitoring consequences of your choices. A strong readiness check includes an unfamiliar requirement, a deliberate configuration error, a verification step, and a short written explanation of the fix.
Use the official score requirement as a formal checkpoint: a score of 700 or greater is required to pass AZ-104. Do not treat one practice result as a prediction. Repeat practice after studying the identified gaps, examine why each missed answer was attractive, and confirm the correct principle in Microsoft Learn.
Check the exam study guide again for its current skills version. The supplied guide identifies skills measured as of April 17, 2026, and Microsoft states that exams are updated periodically. This matters more than an old course outline or an unofficial list copied from a previous exam version.
Registration, delivery, and language decisions
Begin registration from the Microsoft certification page, select AZ-104, and use the scheduling option shown for the exam provider. Microsoft recommends registering with a personal Microsoft account rather than an organizational work or school account because exam records can be lost if you leave the organization. Make sure the legal name in your Learn profile matches your legal identification before the appointment.
Microsoft states that certification exams can generally be taken online or at a local test center, subject to provider availability. For an online appointment, run the provider’s system pre-check and make sure the computer and testing area meet the security requirements. A test center may be preferable if your home environment is difficult to prepare or your equipment is unreliable.
You can schedule certification exams no more than 90 days in advance. Microsoft’s scheduling instructions also state that, through Pearson VUE, a maximum of two Microsoft Certification exams can be scheduled at a time. Treat these as scheduling rules to verify during registration, not as a reason to book before you are ready.
The certification page lists English, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional), and Italian as exam languages. If the exam is not available in your preferred language, Microsoft says you can request an additional 30 minutes. Language availability and accommodation requests should be checked before scheduling.
The certification page states that you will have 100 minutes to complete the assessment and that the exam is proctored. It may include interactive components. Use the official exam sandbox to learn the interface, and read the provider’s current instructions for the delivery option you select. Do not infer a question count or exact item mix from unofficial practice material; the supplied official facts do not establish those details.
If you need disability-related accommodations or extra time, Microsoft advises requesting accommodations before scheduling so the provider has time to review the request and confirm that the testing environment supports your needs. Keep the approved arrangement and appointment details together, then revisit the provider instructions shortly before the exam.
What to do during final preparation
Use the final preparation period for consolidation, not for collecting more disconnected resources. Re-read the current study guide, revisit your error log, complete a small number of mixed administrative tasks, and confirm that your chosen delivery method, language, account, and identification details are in order.
Make a one-page concept map with five labeled domains. Under identities and governance, include identity objects, RBAC, subscriptions, and policy. Under storage, include access, protection, and data operations. Under compute, include deployment, configuration, scaling or adjustment, and workload types. Under networking, include segmentation, connectivity, traffic controls, and validation. Under monitoring and maintenance, include signals, backup, restore, and verification.
Avoid last-minute reliance on dumps, leaked questions, or memorization claims. Such material is not a substitute for administering Azure, may describe an outdated exam version, and does not build the reasoning needed to handle changed wording or a new scenario. Use legitimate practice assessments to expose gaps, then return to the official learning content and your own lab evidence.
On the day before the appointment, stop expanding the syllabus. Confirm the appointment, review the provider’s current rules, and prepare the required environment if testing online. If your readiness evidence is weak in a major domain, rescheduling is a more responsible decision than attempting the exam solely because a planned date has arrived.
After the exam and maintaining the certification
The result should guide your next technical action, whether that means consolidating weak areas after a pass or rebuilding fundamentals after an unsuccessful attempt. Microsoft’s certification page states that, after a first failed attempt, you can retake the exam 24 hours later; the interval for subsequent retakes varies, so consult the current retake policy rather than relying on a remembered rule.
The Azure Administrator Associate certification has a 12-month renewal frequency. Microsoft says role-based and specialty certifications expire annually and can be renewed by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Track the renewal date in your personal certification profile and use the renewal process as a reason to revisit changes in the administrator role.
A pass is most useful when it is followed by continued administration practice. Keep using the portal, PowerShell, Azure CLI, and templates or Bicep files in appropriate environments. Review governance, access, networking, recovery, and monitoring decisions in real work or controlled labs. The credential records an assessment result; durable capability comes from applying and verifying those skills over time.
Conclusion
Treat AZ-104 as a test of connected Azure administration, not a vocabulary exercise. Start with the current Microsoft study guide, close prerequisite gaps, practise each domain through implementation and troubleshooting, and then combine identity, governance, compute, storage, networking, and operations in realistic scenarios. Before booking, verify the current delivery, language, accommodation, and scheduling information in your Learn profile. Your next step is to mark the five domains as familiar, partial, or untested and begin with the first untested high-impact area.
Related exams
- AZ-120 exam — Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads
- AZ-140 exam — Configuring and Operating Windows Virtual Desktop on Microsoft Azure
- AZ-305 exam — Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
- AZ-400 exam — Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions
- AZ-500 exam — Microsoft Azure Security Technologies
- AZ-700 exam — Designing and Implementing Microsoft Azure Networking Solutions
Az-104 Questions is a comprehensive test preparation tool that includes more than 1000 real questions and answers, with detailed explanations of all test topics.