AZ-104: Azure administrator
Exam version: Skills measured as of April 17, 2026 | Passing score: 700/1000 | Duration: ~100-120 minutes
Who is this for?
As a candidate for this certification, 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.
Skills at a glance
| Domain | Weight | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Manage Azure identities and governance | 20–25% | 01, 02, 03, 17, 18 |
| Implement and manage storage | 15–20% | 04, 05, 06, 19, 20 |
| Deploy and manage Azure compute resources | 20–25% | 07, 08, 09, 10, 21, 22, 23 |
| Implement and manage virtual networking | 15–20% | 11, 12, 13, 24, 25, 26 |
| Monitor and maintain Azure resources | 10–15% | 14, 15, 27, 28 |
| Cross-domain capstone | All | 16 |
Challenges 01-16 cover core exam topics. Challenges 17-28 are advanced deep dives added to each domain. Navigation follows the exam domain order (Identity → Storage → Compute → Networking → Monitor → Capstone), not the challenge number. Within each domain, basic challenges come first, then advanced ones.
How this site works
Each challenge follows a consistent format:
- Introduction | Real-world scenario that frames the challenge
- Exam Skills Covered | Exact bullets from the official study guide
- Description | Your mission with step-by-step tasks
- Success Criteria | Clear "done" definition
- Multi-Tool Tabs | Azure CLI, PowerShell, and Portal instructions
- Hints | Expandable hints if you get stuck
- Break & Fix | Troubleshooting scenarios with deliberate misconfigurations
- Knowledge Check | Exam-style questions to test yourself
- Cleanup | Scripts to delete resources and avoid costs
Prerequisites
- Azure subscription | Azure Free Account ($200 credit for 30 days) or Azure for Students ($100 credit, no credit card)
- Familiarity with | Operating systems, networking basics, servers, virtualization
- Experience with | Azure Portal, command-line tools (CLI or PowerShell)
No setup needed! Open in GitHub Codespaces and get Azure CLI, Bicep, and PowerShell ready in minutes. Free for 60h/month.
Study resources
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Official Study Guide | AZ-104 Study Guide |
| Instructor-Led Course | AZ-104T00 Course |
| Free Practice Assessment | Practice Questions |
| Exam Sandbox | Try the exam interface |
| Schedule the Exam | Pearson VUE |
Microsoft Learn paths
The official Microsoft Learn self-paced content for AZ-104:
Learning path
Sysadmin ↔ Azure
You already know the concepts. Here's how they translate to Azure.
| On-Prem / Sysadmin | Azure Equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|
Active Directory | Microsoft Entra ID | Identity & access management |
Group Policy (GPO) | Azure Policy | Compliance & governance |
File server (SMB) | Azure Files | Managed file shares |
NAS / SAN | Azure Blob Storage | Object & block storage |
Hyper-V / VMware | Azure Virtual Machines | Compute workloads |
IIS / Apache | Azure App Service | Web app hosting |
Docker host | Azure Container Apps | Container workloads |
VLAN / Subnet | Azure VNet / Subnet | Network isolation |
Firewall rules | NSG / Azure Firewall | Traffic control |
DNS server | Azure DNS | Name resolution |
F5 / HAProxy | Azure Load Balancer | Traffic distribution |
Nagios / Zabbix | Azure Monitor | Monitoring & alerts |
Veeam / SCDPM | Azure Backup | Backup & recovery |
DR site | Azure Site Recovery | Disaster recovery |
Ready? Start with the Am I Ready? self-assessment or jump straight to the Lab Setup.