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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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| Exam sandbox | You can explore the exam environment by visiting our exam sandbox. |
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| Take a free Practice Assessment | Test your skills with practice questions to help you prepare for the exam. |
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 the 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
Audience profile
As a candidate for this Microsoft Certification, you’re responsible for deploying, implementing, managing, and troubleshooting Windows Server as a workload in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments.
You administer identity, security, management, compute, networking, storage, and monitoring for Windows Server.
You typically collaborate with architects, administrators, and engineers.
For this exam, you should have experience administering Windows Server by using technologies such as Windows Admin Center, Hyper-V, PowerShell, Azure Arc, Azure Monitor, Azure Update Manager, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud. You should also be familiar with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
Skills at a glance
Deploy and manage AD DS (20–25%)
Manage Windows Server instances and workloads in a hybrid environment (10–15%)
Manage virtual machines (10–15%)
Implement and manage an on-premises and hybrid networking infrastructure (10–15%)
Manage storage and file services (15–20%)
Secure Windows Server infrastructure (10–15%)
Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments (15–20%)
Deploy and manage AD DS (20–25%)
Deploy and manage AD DS domain controllers
Deploy and manage domain controllers locally
Deploy and manage domain controllers in Azure
Deploy Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs)
Manage account security on an RODC
Manage and troubleshoot Flexible Single-Master Operations (FSMO) roles
Configure and manage multi-site, multi-domain, and multi-forest environments
Configure domain and forest trust relationships
Configure and manage AD DS sites
Configure and manage AD DS replication
Create and manage AD DS security principals
Create and manage AD DS users and groups
Manage users and groups in multi-domain or multi-forest environments
Select and manage service accounts
Manage Windows Server by using domain-based Group Policies
Implement Group Policy
Implement Group Policy preferences
Manage Windows Server instances and workloads in a hybrid environment (10–15%)
Configure remote management for Windows Server instances in a hybrid environment
Deploy and manage Windows Admin Center on-premises and in the Azure portal
Configure remote management by using PowerShell, including double-hop and Just Enough Administration (JEA)
Configure and manage remote Secure Shell (SSH)
Configure and manage remote desktop access
Manage Windows Server instances and workloads by using Azure services in a hybrid environment
Implement Azure Arc–enabled Windows Server instances
Implement device configuration by using Azure Arc
Deploy Azure services with virtual machine (VM) extensions on non–Azure machines
Manage updates by using Azure Update Manager
Create and run Azure Automation runbooks
Manage VMs (10–15%)
Manage Hyper-V and guest VM
Enable Enhanced Session Mode
Manage VMs remotely by using PowerShell, PowerShell Direct, and SSH Direct for Linux guests
Enable nested virtualization
Configure VM memory settings
Configure integration services
Configure device assignment
Configure GPU partitioning
Manage VM checkpoints
Implement high availability for Hyper-V VMs
Manage Hyper-V virtual hard disks
Configure Hyper-V network adapter
Configure network interface card (NIC) teaming on the Hyper-V host and VM
Configure Hyper-V Virtual Switch
Configure Hyper-V Replica
Manage Windows Server VMs in Azure
Manage storage for Windows Server VMs in Azure
Manage capacity, including resizing and VM scale sets
Manage availability sets and zones
Manage just-in-time (JIT) VM access and Azure Bastion
Manage Azure Virtual Machines network configuration
Implement and manage an on-premises and hybrid networking infrastructure (10–15%)
Implement on-premises and hybrid name resolution
Integrate domain name system (DNS) with AD DS
Create and manage DNS zones and records
Configure DNS forwarding and conditional forwarding
Configure DNS name resolution in a hybrid environment
Implement DNS policies
Implement DNS security extensions (DNSSEC)
Manage IP addressing in on-premises and hybrid scenarios
Implement and configure the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server role
Troubleshoot IP addressing in hybrid environments
Create and manage DHCP scopes
Create IP reservations
Implement high availability for DHCP
Manage storage and file services (15–20%)
Configure and manage Azure Files
Create and manage Azure file shares
Manage permissions for Azure file shares
Configure and manage Azure File Sync
Monitor Azure File Sync
Migrate Distributed File System (DFS) to Azure File Sync
Migrate from file shares to Azure Files
Configure and manage Windows Server file shares
Configure access to Windows Server file shares
Configure File Server Resource Manager (FSRM)
Implement and configure DFS
Configure Server Message Block (SMB) over QUIC
Configure SMB settings and management
Configure Windows Server storage
Configure disks and volumes
Configure and manage Storage Spaces
Implement and manage Storage Spaces Direct
Configure and manage Storage Replica
Configure Data Deduplication
Configure SMB direct (SMB over Remote Direct Memory Access [RDMA])
Configure Storage QoS
Select and configure file systems, including NTFS and ReFS
Configure and manage iSCSI
Manage BitLocker Drive Encryption
Manage and recover encrypted volumes
Secure Windows Server infrastructure (10–15%)
Secure Windows Server operating system
Configure and manage exploit protection
Configure and manage Application Control for Windows
Configure and manage Credential Guard
Configure Microsoft Defender SmartScreen
Implement operating system security by using Group Policies
Manage Windows Server security baseline by using OSConfig
Implement Windows Local Administrator Password Solution
Configure and manage Defender for Servers
Manage Windows Firewall, including connection security rules
Secure AD DS
Configure password policies
Implement Microsoft Entra Password Protection for AD DS
Manage protected users
Harden domain controllers
Restrict access to domain controllers
Configure security options for user accounts
Configure security options for built-in administrative groups
Manage AD delegation
Manage authentication protocols and methods for AD DS
Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments (15–20%)
Monitor by using Windows Server tools and Azure services
Monitor by using Performance Monitor
Create and configure data collector sets
Monitor servers and configure alerts by using Windows Admin Center
Analyze by using the System Insights feature of Windows Server
Manage event logs
Configure data collection rules for Azure Monitor
Create alerts
Monitor Azure Virtual Machines performance by using VM Insights
Troubleshoot Windows Server issues
Troubleshoot connectivity issues
Troubleshoot name resolution
Troubleshoot Windows Update
Troubleshoot Time service
Troubleshoot performance issues
Troubleshoot VM and Azure Arc extension issues
Troubleshoot disk encryption issues
Troubleshoot storage issues
Troubleshoot Active Directory
Restore objects from AD Recycle Bin
Recover AD database by using Directory Services Restore Mode
Recover SYSVOL
Troubleshoot AD replication
Troubleshoot on-premises AD
Troubleshoot Kerberos and authentication issues
Troubleshoot secure channel and computer account trust issues
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.