Pass the Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 Questions and answers with CertsForce

To meet the technical requirement that User1 can create initiative definitions and User4 can assign initiatives to RG2, we must understand how Azure Policy roles operate according to Microsoft Azure documentation and AZ-104 study guides.

Azure Policy uses role-based access control (RBAC) to determine who can create, manage, and assign policies or initiatives (policy sets). The key roles relevant to this task are:

Resource Policy Contributor – Allows users to create, edit, and delete policy definitions and initiative definitions, but does not allow assignment of policies or initiatives. This role is required for users who will design or build the policy logic (definitions).

Therefore, User1, who needs to create initiative definitions, must have the Resource Policy Contributor role.

Scope: Subscription (Sub1) – because initiatives are created at subscription or management group level.

Contributor – Provides full access to manage resources, except granting permissions. Contributors can assign existing policies or initiatives to resource groups or subscriptions if they have sufficient permissions.

Therefore, User4, who needs to assign initiatives to RG2, must be assigned the Contributor role at the RG2 scope.

Other roles:

Security Admin is related to Microsoft Defender for Cloud security settings, not policy creation.

Resource Policy Contributor for RG2 would not meet the requirement because creating definitions typically requires subscription-level access.

According to Microsoft Docs (“Azure built-in roles for Policy”):

“The Resource Policy Contributor role allows users to create, edit, and delete Azure policy and initiative definitions. To assign policies or initiatives, users need the Contributor or Owner role at the appropriate scope.”

Hence, the configuration should be:

User1: Resource Policy Contributor for Sub1

User4: Contributor for RG2

Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC) for Azure file shares requires identity-based authentication integration. According to the Microsoft Azure Administrator documentation, this feature is only supported for StorageV2 (general purpose v2) and FileStorage account types.

In this scenario:

You are required to grant Group4 read-only access using Azure RBAC on Azure file shares.

The technical requirement specifies:

“Whenever possible, grant Group4 Azure RBAC read-only permissions to the Azure file shares.”

From the case study data:

Storage Account

Kind

Identity-based Access

storage1

Storage (general purpose v1)

Azure AD DS

storage2

StorageV2

Disabled

storage3

BlobStorage

N/A

storage4

FileStorage

Azure AD DS

The Storage (general purpose v1) type (storage1) does not support Azure AD or Azure RBAC integration for file shares. Microsoft documentation clearly states that “StorageV1 accounts must be upgraded to StorageV2 to support Azure AD authentication and RBAC role assignments.”

Meanwhile, FileStorage (storage4) already supports Azure AD Domain Services (Azure AD DS) and RBAC role assignment; hence no further modification is required there. However, to make storage1 compatible, it must be converted from StorageV1 to StorageV2.

Once converted to StorageV2, you can then:

Enable identity-based access for Azure file shares.

Assign Azure RBAC roles (e.g., Storage File Data Reader) to Group4.

Microsoft-Documented Requirements Summary:

Supported Account Types: StorageV2 or FileStorage

Unsupported: StorageV1 and BlobStorage

Required RBAC Roles for Read-Only Access:

Storage File Data Reader (or custom read-only role)

Thus, to meet the organization’s requirement to provide Azure RBAC read-only permissions, you must change the account type of storage1 to StorageV2, ensuring both storage1 and storage4 can be managed with Azure RBAC.

1️⃣ Create a Log Analytics workspace.

2️⃣ Collect Windows performance counters from the Log Analytics agents.

3️⃣ Create an alert rule.

The question states:

“You need to configure the alerts for VM1 and VM2 to meet the technical requirements.”

The technical requirement from the case study specifies:

“Trigger an alert if VM1 or VM2 has less than 20 GB of free space on volume C.”

This requirement involves monitoring performance metrics (disk space) and generating alerts based on those metrics. According to Microsoft Azure monitoring and management documentation, the process to configure such alerts involves using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.

Step-by-Step Verified Solution:

Step 1: Create a Log Analytics workspace

A Log Analytics workspace is required to store and analyze logs and performance data collected from virtual machines.

Azure Monitor uses this workspace as the central repository for performance counters, events, and logs from connected agents.

From the Microsoft Documentation:

“Before you can collect and query data from virtual machines, you must create a Log Analytics workspace in your subscription.”

(Source: Azure Monitor and Log Analytics Guide)

Step 2: Collect Windows performance counters from the Log Analytics agents

After creating the workspace, you must connect VM1 and VM2 to the workspace and configure the Windows performance counters that you want to monitor.

In this case, you would collect the LogicalDisk(%) Free Space counter for C: drive.

Azure Monitor agent or Log Analytics agent collects these metrics and sends them to the workspace for analysis.

“To monitor system performance, configure the agent to collect performance counters such as available memory or free disk space.”

(Source: Azure Monitor Performance Counters Documentation)

Step 3: Create an alert rule

Once performance data is being collected, you can create an alert rule in Azure Monitor based on a Kusto query or metric threshold.

You would define a condition such as:

LogicalDisk | where FreeSpaceMB < 20480

and configure it to trigger an alert when free space on volume C drops below 20 GB.

This alert can notify via email, action group, or automation runbook.

“Alerts in Azure Monitor proactively notify you when important conditions are found in your monitoring data. Alerts can trigger automated actions or notifications.”

(Source: Azure Monitor Alerts Overview)

Incorrect Options (Eliminated):

Configure the Diagnostic settings:

Used for collecting activity logs or resource logs, not performance counters from VMs.

Create an Azure SQL database:

Not relevant to the scenario of monitoring disk space.

The question asks which storage account type should be created for storage5 and which existing storage account should be configured as the destination for replication — while supporting the planned changes.

Step 1: Planned Change Requirement

From the case study:

“Create a storage account named storage5 and configure storage replication for the Blob service.”

This indicates that storage5 will act as a secondary (destination) account to receive geo-replicated blobs (as part of RA-GRS or GRS replication configuration).

Therefore, the new storage5 must support Blob service replication features.

Step 2: Determining Correct Account Type

According to Microsoft Azure Administrator Documentation (Microsoft Learn: “Types of storage accounts”):

Account Type

Blob Support

File Share Support

Recommended Use

Storage (general purpose v1)

✅ Basic blob

Limited

Legacy use, lacks advanced features

StorageV2 (general purpose v2)

✅ Full blob, file, queue, table support

✅

Supports replication (GRS, RA-GRS, ZRS) and access tiers

BlobStorage

✅ Blob only

❌ No file shares

Used only for block and append blobs

BlockBlobStorage

✅ Blob only (premium tier)

❌ No file shares

High-performance workloads only

Therefore, the correct type for storage5 must be StorageV2, as it supports both:

Blob service replication (GRS, RA-GRS, ZRS, LRS)

All tiers (Hot, Cool, Archive)

This meets the planned change and ensures the account supports replication for Blob service.

Step 3: Determining the Correct Destination Storage Account

The question also requires identifying which existing storage account should act as the destination for replication configuration.

In Azure, Blob service replication (for example, geo-redundant replication or object replication) requires:

Both storage accounts to be StorageV2.

Both to be in the same region pair and have object replication enabled.

Looking at the table:

Storage Account

Kind

Location

File Share

Identity-based Access

storage1

Storage (general purpose v1)

West US

sharea

Azure AD DS

storage2

StorageV2 (general purpose v2)

East US

shareb, sharec

Disabled

storage3

BlobStorage

East US 2

N/A

N/A

storage4

FileStorage

Central US

shared

Azure AD DS

Only storage2 meets all of the following conditions:

✅ Type: StorageV2

✅ Region: East US (a valid replication pair for East US 2 or secondary region)

✅ Blob Service supported

Hence, storage2 is the correct destination storage account to configure for replication from storage5.

Step 4: Supporting Microsoft Azure Documentation Extracts

From Microsoft Learn – Azure Storage account overview:

“General-purpose v2 accounts support all Azure Storage features, including blob, file, queue, and table storage. They are recommended for most scenarios.”

“Object replication requires both source and destination accounts to be of the same type (StorageV2) and in regions that are geo-paired.”

“Blob and StorageV2 accounts support replication options such as LRS, ZRS, GRS, and RA-GRS.”

You must identify the correct storage account for flow logging of IP traffic from VM5 that satisfies the retention requirement of eight months.

Step 1 — Review the Requirements

Flow logs are stored in a StorageV2 (general purpose v2) account.

The selected storage account must support Network Watcher flow logs.

Data must be retained for eight months (≈ 240 days).

Step 2 — Evaluate Each Storage Account

Storage Account

Kind

Region

Remarks

storage1

Storage (general purpose v1)

West US

Does not support flow logs (deprecated type).

storage2

StorageV2 (general purpose v2)

East US

Fully supports flow logs and lifecycle management.

storage3

BlobStorage

East US 2

Not suitable — supports blobs only, not log structure or lifecycle retention.

storage4

FileStorage

Central US

File-only — cannot store flow logs.

Step 3 — Compliance with Flow Log Retention

Flow logs for Network Watcher NSG flow logging are supported only by StorageV2 accounts. You can use Azure Storage lifecycle management to automatically delete logs after a set period — such as 240 days (8 months) — to comply with retention requirements.

Official Microsoft Note:

“Network security group (NSG) flow logs are stored in Azure StorageV2 (General Purpose v2) accounts, which support lifecycle management for log retention.” — Azure Network Watcher documentation.

Conclusion

storage2 is the only StorageV2 account.

It’s located in East US, matching VM5’s region (East US) — this satisfies performance and compliance requirements.

✅ Yes, Yes, No

To determine which virtual machines can be encrypted, we must refer to the technical requirement:

“Whenever possible, use Azure Disk Encryption and a key encryption key (KEK) to encrypt the virtual machines.”

According to the Microsoft Azure Administrator documentation, Azure Disk Encryption (ADE) uses BitLocker for Windows virtual machines and DM-Crypt for Linux virtual machines to encrypt OS and data disks. However, not all VM types and disk configurations are supported for ADE.

From the provided configuration:

VM

OS

Description

Disk Type

VM1

RHEL

Uses ephemeral OS disks

❌ Not supported

VM2

Windows Server 2022

Has a basic volume

✅ Supported

VM3

RHEL

Uses standard SSDs

✅ Supported by DM-Crypt, but not optimal

VM4

Windows Server 2022

Uses Write Accelerator disks

✅ Supported

VM5

Windows Server 2022

Has a dynamic volume

❌ Not supported by ADE

Step-by-step Analysis (Based on Microsoft Docs):

Ephemeral OS disks (VM1):

These are not compatible with Azure Disk Encryption because they are stored on local temporary storage and are not persisted to Azure Storage.

“Ephemeral OS disks cannot be encrypted using Azure Disk Encryption because they reside on local VM storage.” — [Microsoft Learn: Azure Disk Encryption prerequisites]

Dynamic volumes (VM5):

Azure Disk Encryption does not support dynamic disks — only basic disks are supported.

“Azure Disk Encryption does not support dynamic disks; only basic disks can be encrypted.” — [Microsoft Learn: ADE limitations]

Write Accelerator disks (VM4):

These disks can be encrypted if they are standard OS/data disks with Write Accelerator enabled. Microsoft confirms that ADE supports Write Accelerator–enabled disks on supported VM sizes.

Linux VMs (VM3) with standard SSDs can use DM-Crypt encryption, but in this question, the requirement specifies to use Azure Disk Encryption with a Key Encryption Key (KEK) — KEKs are supported only for Windows and Linux VMs that use managed disks and not ephemeral disks.

However, VM3 uses standard SSDs (supported by ADE) and VM2 and VM4 meet the technical requirement of using ADE with KEK, but Azure prefers Windows VMs for KEK integration because of BitLocker integration and Key Vault support.

Therefore, the verified supported VMs for Azure Disk Encryption with KEK are:

✅ VM2 (Windows Server 2022, basic volume)

✅ VM4 (Windows Server 2022, Write Accelerator disks)

Supporting Microsoft Documentation (Extracted):

“Azure Disk Encryption helps protect and safeguard your data to meet your organizational security and compliance commitments. It uses BitLocker for Windows VMs and DM-Crypt for Linux VMs.”

“ADE is not supported on ephemeral OS disks or dynamic disks.”

“You can use Key Encryption Keys (KEK) from Azure Key Vault for an added layer of security.”

(Source: Microsoft Learn – Azure Disk Encryption Overview, Prerequisites, and Supported Configurations for Windows and Linux VMs)

In Azure, Load Balancers distribute network traffic across multiple virtual machines (VMs) to ensure high availability and reliability. To add virtual machines to the backend pool of an Azure Load Balancer, the following key conditions must be met according to the Microsoft Azure Administrator documentation:

All VMs in the backend pool must be connected to the same virtual network (VNet) as the Load Balancer.

The Load Balancer (in this case, LB1) is configured for internal load balancing on VNET1/Subnet1 as per the technical requirements of the case study.

The backend pool can include network interfaces (NICs) from VMs within the same region and VNet.

Step-by-step analysis:

From the case study data:

VM

Location

Connected to

IP Address

VM1

West US

VNET1/Subnet1

10.0.1.4

VM2

West US

VNET1/Subnet2

10.0.2.4

LB1

Internal Basic Load Balancer

Connected to VNET1/Subnet1

—

Observation:

VM1 is already connected to VNET1/Subnet1, where the internal Load Balancer LB1 is also deployed.

VM2, however, is connected to VNET1/Subnet2, which is a different subnet within the same virtual network.

According to Microsoft Learn (“Configure backend pools in Azure Load Balancer”):

“All network interfaces in the backend pool must be within the same virtual network as the load balancer. You cannot add VMs connected to different VNets or subnets not associated with the load balancer’s front-end configuration.”

Therefore, before you can add VM2 to the backend pool, you must ensure that its network interface is attached to VNET1/Subnet1, the same subnet used by LB1.

Only after this step will both VMs (VM1 and VM2) be eligible for inclusion in LB1’s backend pool.

Incorrect Option Analysis:

A. Create a new NSG and associate the NSG to VNET1/Subnet1.

❌ Not required. Network Security Groups control traffic filtering, not backend pool configuration.

C. Redeploy VM1 and VM2 to the same availability zone.

❌ Availability Zones only matter for redundancy and failover, not for backend pool eligibility in a basic internal load balancer.

D. Redeploy VM1 and VM2 to the same availability set.

❌ Basic Load Balancers can distribute traffic across VMs in the same availability set, but both VMs must already reside in the same VNet/Subnet first.

Final Verified Answer:

✅ B. Connect VM2 to VNET1/Subnet1

Reference (Microsoft Official Documentation):

Microsoft Learn: Configure the backend pool for Azure Load Balancer

Microsoft Learn: Azure Load Balancer overview

Microsoft Learn: Create and configure an internal load balancer

Microsoft Learn: Virtual network and subnet requirements for load balancing

In Microsoft Azure, containerized application deployment can occur using multiple services, depending on the image type and operating system platform used. The question refers to two images — Image1 (Windows Server) and Image2 (Linux) — which are stored in an Azure Container Registry (ACR).

According to the Microsoft Azure Administrator Study Guide (AZ-104) and official Azure documentation, both Windows-based and Linux-based container images can be deployed using any of the following services, depending on the workload requirements:

Azure App Service (Web App for Containers) – supports both Windows and Linux containers for web applications. It allows developers to directly deploy containerized applications from Docker Hub, Azure Container Registry, or a private registry.

Azure Container Apps – serverless container hosting designed for microservices and event-driven architectures. It supports Linux and Windows containers, using Kubernetes behind the scenes, without requiring users to manage the cluster infrastructure.

Azure Container Instances (ACI) – provides lightweight, serverless containers for quick deployment and isolated workloads. It supports both Windows and Linux images and can pull directly from Azure Container Registry.

Therefore, since both Image1 (Windows Server) and Image2 (Linux) are valid container images supported by the same three Azure container services, the correct and verified solution is to select “App Service, Azure Container Apps, or Azure Container Instances” for both.

This matches Azure documentation under:

“Run containerized applications in Azure App Service”

“Deploy containers using Azure Container Instances”

“Build and deploy microservices using Azure Container Apps”

Each of these Azure services supports containerized deployments from ACR regardless of the underlying operating system image type.

Final Verified Answer:

✅ Image1: App Service, Azure Container Apps, or Azure Container Instances

✅ Image2: App Service, Azure Container Apps, or Azure Container Instances