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How to complete labs for AZ-400

Gayle Apfel 0 Reputation points
2025-04-17T11:51:00.6766667+00:00

I'm really struggling with the AZ-400 labs. I'm almost finished the module called 'continuous integration' and I've found work-arounds for all the labs, but now I'm stuck on the last one.

My main problem is that my free Azure subscription does not have any self-hosted parallel jobs available. I have filled in the form to request one, as I understand that one should be allocated, but it's not longer allocated by default. But now it's been 2 weeks and I still don't have one. I've been trying to use my self-hosted parallel job, but the VM that we were asked to setup in a previous lab doesn't include docker, and that is now causing errors. It looks like I am going to have to create a new self-hosted agent to run the lab.

There have been multiple other problems:

  • The lab referenced a connection service that it claimed had been created, but no instructions within the lab to create it.
  • A previous lab had added branch policies to the main branch that prevented the pipeline in this lab from being created without first removing those policies
  • The container registry resource provider needed to be registered but that was also not mentioned in the lab.

I understand that these are all good learning exercises, but then the time estimate from the lab should not be '30 minutes'. I'm still on the first task after close to an hour, and now I'm going to have to create a new agent to get it to complete.

I'd appreciate any advise on this.

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  1. Rakesh Gurram 14,560 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-04-18T15:58:33.7966667+00:00

    Hi Gayle Apfel,

    Microsoft no longer provides free parallel jobs automatically for new Azure DevOps accounts—they now require manual approval, which can take several weeks. Submitting another request was a good step, and you may also try using the DevOps Community Forum. If your lab VM doesn’t have Docker, you can install it manually via PowerShell or create a new VM with Docker pre-installed. Some labs also assume the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) service connection is already set up—if not, you can add it in Project Settings > Service Connections. Branch policies may block pipeline changes, so consider temporarily disabling them during setup. If needed, register the Microsoft.ContainerRegistry provider in the Azure Portal. Since approvals may be delayed, you can use self-hosted agents or container jobs as temporary solutions. We’re sharing your feedback with our backend team regarding the detailed explanation and the 30-minute duration.

    Please refer to the following doc, Configure and pay for parallel jobs

    If the information is helpful, please Accept Answer & Upvote so that it would be helpful to other community members.

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