Study guide for Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator

Purpose of this document

This study guide should help you understand what to expect on the exam and includes a summary of the topics the exam might cover and links to additional resources. The information and materials in this document should help you focus your studies as you prepare for the exam.

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Updates to the exam

Our exams are updated periodically to reflect skills that are required to perform a role. We have included two versions of the Skills Measured objectives depending on when you are taking the exam.

We always update the English language version of the exam first. Some exams are localized into other languages, and those are updated approximately eight weeks after the English version is updated. While Microsoft makes every effort to update localized versions as noted, there may be times when localized versions of an exam are not updated on this schedule. Other available languages are listed in the Schedule Exam section of the Exam Details webpage. If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam.

Note

The bullets that follow each of the skills measured are intended to illustrate how we are assessing that skill. Related topics may be covered in the exam.

Note

Most questions cover features that are general availability (GA). The exam may contain questions on Preview features if those features are commonly used.

Skills measured as of April 18, 2025

Audience profile

As a candidate for this exam, you should have subject matter expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring an organization’s Microsoft Azure environment, including virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security, and governance.

As an Azure administrator, you often serve as part of a larger team dedicated to implementing an organization's cloud infrastructure. You also coordinate with other roles to deliver Azure networking, security, database, application development, and DevOps solutions.

You should be familiar with:

• Operating systems

• Networking

• Servers

• Virtualization

In addition, you should have experience with:

• PowerShell

• Azure CLI

• The Azure portal

• Azure Resource Manager templates

• Microsoft Entra ID

Skills at a glance

• 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%)

• Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)

Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%)

Manage Microsoft Entra users and groups

• Create users and groups

• Manage user and group properties

• Manage licenses in Microsoft Entra ID

• Manage external users

• Configure self-service password reset (SSPR)

Manage access to Azure resources

• Manage built-in Azure roles

• Assign roles at different scopes

• Interpret access assignments

Manage Azure subscriptions and governance

• Implement and manage Azure Policy

• Configure resource locks

• Apply and manage tags on resources

• Manage resource groups

• Manage subscriptions

• Manage costs by using alerts, budgets, and Azure Advisor recommendations

• Configure management groups

Implement and manage storage (15–20%)

Configure access to storage

• Configure Azure Storage firewalls and virtual networks

• Create and use shared access signature (SAS) tokens

• Configure stored access policies

• Manage access keys

• Configure identity-based access for Azure Files

Configure and manage storage accounts

• Create and configure storage accounts

• Configure Azure Storage redundancy

• Configure object replication

• Configure storage account encryption

• Manage data by using Azure Storage Explorer and AzCopy

Configure Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage

• Create and configure a file share in Azure Storage

• Create and configure a container in Blob Storage

• Configure storage tiers

• Configure soft delete for blobs and containers

• Configure snapshots and soft delete for Azure Files

• Configure blob lifecycle management

• Configure blob versioning

Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)

Automate deployment of resources by using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates or Bicep files

• Interpret an Azure Resource Manager template or a Bicep file

• Modify an existing Azure Resource Manager template

• Modify an existing Bicep file

• Deploy resources by using an Azure Resource Manager template or a Bicep file

• Export a deployment as an Azure Resource Manager template or convert an Azure Resource Manager template to a Bicep file

Create and configure virtual machines

• Create a virtual machine

• Configure Azure Disk Encryption

• Move a virtual machine to another resource group, subscription, or region

• Manage virtual machine sizes

• Manage virtual machine disks

• Deploy virtual machines to availability zones and availability sets

• Deploy and configure an Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Provision and manage containers in the Azure portal

• Create and manage an Azure container registry

• Provision a container by using Azure Container Instances

• Provision a container by using Azure Container Apps

• Manage sizing and scaling for containers, including Azure Container Instances and Azure Container Apps

Create and configure Azure App Service

• Provision an App Service plan

• Configure scaling for an App Service plan

• Create an App Service

• Configure certificates and Transport Layer Security (TLS) for an App Service

• Map an existing custom DNS name to an App Service

• Configure backup for an App Service

• Configure networking settings for an App Service

• Configure deployment slots for an App Service

Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%)

Configure and manage virtual networks in Azure

• Create and configure virtual networks and subnets

• Create and configure virtual network peering

• Configure public IP addresses

• Configure user-defined network routes

• Troubleshoot network connectivity

Configure secure access to virtual networks

• Create and configure network security groups (NSGs) and application security groups

• Evaluate effective security rules in NSGs

• Implement Azure Bastion

• Configure service endpoints for Azure platform as a service (PaaS)

• Configure private endpoints for Azure PaaS

Configure name resolution and load balancing

• Configure Azure DNS

• Configure an internal or public load balancer

• Troubleshoot load balancing

Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)

Monitor resources in Azure

• Interpret metrics in Azure Monitor

• Configure log settings in Azure Monitor

• Query and analyze logs in Azure Monitor

• Set up alert rules, action groups, and alert processing rules in Azure Monitor

• Configure and interpret monitoring of virtual machines, storage accounts, and networks by using Azure Monitor Insights

• Use Azure Network Watcher and Connection Monitor

Implement backup and recovery

• Create a Recovery Services vault

• Create an Azure Backup vault

• Create and configure a backup policy

• Perform backup and restore operations by using Azure Backup

• Configure Azure Site Recovery for Azure resources

• Perform a failover to a secondary region by using Site Recovery

• Configure and interpret reports and alerts for backups

Study resources

We recommend that you train and get hands-on experience before you take the exam. We offer self-study options and classroom training as well as links to documentation, community sites, and videos.

Study resources	Links to learning and documentation
Get trained	Choose from self-paced learning paths and modules or take an instructor-led course
Find documentation	Azure documentation Microsoft Entra ID Azure Policy Azure Storage Azure Storage Explorer Azure Blob Storage ARM templates Azure Container Instances Azure Container Apps App Service Azure DNS Azure Bastion Application Gateway Azure Monitor Network Watcher Azure Site Recovery Azure Backup service
Ask a question	Microsoft Q&A | Microsoft Docs
Get community support	Azure Community Support
Follow Microsoft Learn	Microsoft Learn - Microsoft Tech Community
Find a video	Exam Readiness Zone Azure Fridays Browse other Microsoft Learn shows

Change log

The table below summarizes the changes between the current and previous version of the skills measured. The functional groups are in bold typeface followed by the objectives within each group. The table is a comparison between the previous and current version of the exam skills measured and the third column describes the extent of the changes.

Skill area prior to April 18, 2025	Skill area as of April 18, 2025	Change
Implement and manage storage	Implement and manage storage	No change
Configure Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage	Configure Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage	Minor