What this course is, and is not
This course prepares you for Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator. Two points before anything else:
- It is independent of Microsoft. It is not produced, endorsed or reviewed by Microsoft.
- It does not promise a pass. It teaches the published skills and gives you practice; the result depends on your study and hands-on time.
Every practice question here is original. None is a real exam question.
The exam in numbers
- Time: you have 100 minutes to complete the exam. It is proctored.
- Passing score: 700 or greater, reported on a scale of 1 to 1,000.
- Scaled score: 700 may not equal 70% of the points. The pass mark reflects question difficulty.
- Guessing: no points are deducted for incorrect answers, so answer every question.
- Microsoft Learn: you can open learn.microsoft.com during this associate exam, but the timer keeps running. Use it for occasional lookups only.
The five skill areas
This course follows the skills measured as of April 17, 2026.
| Skill area | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 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% |
What to do with this table:
- Spend the most study time on the two 20–25% areas: identities and governance, and compute.
- Do not skip monitoring. It is the smallest area, but it is still 10–15% of the exam.
- Treat each bullet in the study guide as an illustration. Microsoft states that related topics may also be covered.
The four admin tools
The audience profile says you should have experience with PowerShell, Azure CLI, the Azure portal, and Azure Resource Manager templates or Bicep files. All four send requests to the same service, Azure Resource Manager, so they produce the same result. Think of one server managed through a GUI, two shells and a configuration file.
This course shows every later task in all four. Below is one simple task, creating a resource group (a container for related resources) named rg-demo in West Europe.
Task 1: Azure portal
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Select Resource groups.
- Select Create.
- Enter Subscription, Resource group (the name) and Region.
- Select Review + Create, then Create.
Task 2: Azure CLI
Azure CLI commands start with az and follow the pattern az <group> <action> --parameter value.
az group create --name rg-demo --location westeurope
Task 3: Azure PowerShell
Az PowerShell cmdlets follow Verb-AzNoun -Parameter value.
New-AzResourceGroup -Name rg-demo -Location westeurope
Task 4: Bicep file or ARM template
The first three tools are imperative: you issue an instruction. A template is declarative: you describe the end state and Azure Resource Manager creates it. A Bicep file uses a compact syntax; an ARM template describes the same thing in JSON.
targetScope = 'subscription'
resource rg 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2025-04-01' = {
name: 'rg-demo'
location: 'westeurope'
}
A file does nothing until you deploy it, and you deploy it with one of the shells:
az deployment sub create --location westeurope --template-file main.bicep
New-AzSubscriptionDeployment -Location westeurope -TemplateFile main.bicep
How to tell them apart quickly
- Starts with
az, lowercase words,--double-dashparameters: Azure CLI. Verb-AzNounwith-SingleDashparameters: Azure PowerShell.resource ... = { }with a resource type and API version: Bicep file.- JSON containing a
resourcesarray: ARM template. - Bold names of menus, fields and buttons: Azure portal.
Do this now: read the four versions again and find the name and the location in each. Recognising the same task in a different syntax is a skill you will use in every level.
How the practice questions work
Questions in this course are scenario-based with one best answer. Several options may be technically possible; only one meets every requirement in the scenario.
Use this method on every question:
- Read the last sentence first to find what is being asked.
- Underline the constraints, such as "least administrative effort" or "must be repeatable".
- Eliminate options that break any constraint.
- Choose the option that satisfies all of them.
- After answering, read the explanation for each wrong option (a distractor).
Step 5 matters most. A distractor is usually a real feature that fits a different scenario. Learning why it is wrong here teaches you when it would be right. This course explains its distractors throughout for that reason.
Microsoft does not identify specific question types in advance. Its exam sandbox lets you try the interface and formats such as multiple choice, drag and drop and case studies. Do one session in the sandbox before exam day.
What the exam asks about this
- The exam does not test its own logistics. Use the numbers above to plan your time, not to memorise.
- It expects you to read a command, cmdlet, ARM template or Bicep file and state what it does.
- It expects you to choose the tool or setting that best fits a scenario's constraints.
Key takeaways
- 100 minutes; pass at 700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000; a scaled score, not 70%.
- Five skill areas: identities and governance, and compute, are 20–25% each; storage and virtual networking are 15–20% each; monitoring is 10–15%.
- This course is independent of Microsoft and promises no pass.
- Four tools, one result: the Azure portal, Azure CLI (
az), Azure PowerShell (Verb-AzNoun), and ARM templates or Bicep files. - No penalty for wrong answers: answer everything.
- Read every distractor explanation.