2026 Exam Guide
Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate Study Guide
Current exam coverage, candidate guidance, important topics, and practical preparation advice for the AZ-104 exam.
What Is Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate?
Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate is earned by passing AZ-104. It validates the practical skills needed to implement, manage, monitor, and secure Azure environments. Candidates work with identities, subscriptions, resource groups, governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, monitoring, backup, and operational automation.
The current Azure administrator role is broad. In 2026, candidates should understand Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, Azure Policy, storage accounts, virtual machines, virtual networks, private DNS, NSGs, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Recovery Services vaults, Bicep or ARM templates, and common troubleshooting workflows.
Who Should Take This Exam?
AZ-104 is appropriate for Azure administrators, systems administrators, cloud support engineers, infrastructure engineers, and IT professionals moving into Azure operations.
Candidates should be comfortable with the Azure portal, Azure CLI or PowerShell, basic networking, storage, operating systems, and identity concepts. Hands-on practice is especially important because the exam often asks for the operationally correct configuration.
Exam Domains
Identity and Governance
Guide areaUsers, groups, RBAC, subscriptions, policy, tags, and resource locks.
Storage and Compute
Guide areaStorage accounts, blob protection, virtual machines, scale sets, containers, and backup.
Virtual Networking
Guide areaVNets, subnets, peering, DNS, private access, NSGs, and routing.
Monitoring and Maintenance
Guide areaAzure Monitor, alerts, logs, backup, update management, and troubleshooting.
Common Topics Covered
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Azure RBAC
- Azure Policy
- Storage accounts
- Virtual machines
- Virtual networks
- Private DNS
- Azure Bastion
- Azure Monitor
- Azure Backup
Study Tips
Use a sandbox subscription and create resources from scratch. Practice assigning RBAC at different scopes, applying policy, locking resources, configuring storage protection, and building VNets.
Troubleshoot deliberately. Break DNS, NSG rules, route tables, VM boot settings, and backup policies, then use Azure Monitor and portal diagnostics to find the cause.
Practice Questions Overview
Certoga's AZ-104 starter bank includes original scenario questions for administrator tasks. Use the bank alongside hands-on labs so answers reflect real Azure behavior rather than memorized menu names.