AssociateAZ-104
Microsoft Azure Administrator
Master the essential skills needed to manage cloud services on Microsoft Azure — compute, networking, storage, security, and monitoring.
Study Hours
45h
Prep Time
~3 months
Avg. Pass Rate
78%
Topics Covered
Identity & Governance
Compute
Networking
Storage
Monitoring & Backup
Skills measured
Official study guideMicrosoft's own objectives, in the order the exam presents them. Each area links to its section on Microsoft Learn. Checked 2026-10-26.
Manage Azure identities and governance20–25%
This area on Microsoft LearnManage 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 storage15–20%
This area on Microsoft LearnConfigure 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 Files
- Create and configure a container in Azure 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 resources20–25%
This area on Microsoft LearnAutomate 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 encryption at host for Azure virtual machines
- 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 networking15–20%
This area on Microsoft LearnConfigure 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 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 resources10–15%
This area on Microsoft LearnMonitor 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
Microsoft Learn Modules
Associated Applied Skills
Scenario-based assessments that complement this certification with hands-on proof.