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AZ-104

Azure Administrator Associate Study Guide

A study path for Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate — what to know before you start, and the order worth doing things in.

Exam at a glance

Length120 min (140 min seat time)
Questions40–60
Passing score700 / 1000
FormatsMultiple choice, drag-and-drop, case studies, possibly labs
Microsoft Learn accessAvailable (split-screen)
RenewalEvery 12 months, free online assessment
PrerequisiteNone

AZ-104: exam domains

Dive deep into each exam objective with comprehensive study materials.

20-25%
Manage Azure Identities and Governance
Manage Microsoft Entra users and groups, assign RBAC roles, and apply governance controls like Azure Policy and management groups.
15-20%
Implement and Manage Storage
Configure storage accounts, redundancy, blob lifecycle management, and secure access with SAS tokens and network rules.
20-25%
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Resources
Deploy virtual machines, scale sets, containers, and App Service, and automate deployment with ARM templates and Bicep.
15-20%
Implement and Manage Virtual Networking
Design virtual networks and subnets, secure traffic with NSGs, and connect networks with peering, load balancing, and DNS.
10-15%
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources
Use Azure Monitor and Log Analytics to track resource health, configure backup and recovery, and manage cost.

Where this exam fits

AZ-900 · recommended groundworkAZ-104AZ-305 · Solutions Architect Expert — requires an active AZ-104AZ-400 · DevOps Engineer Expert

Prerequisites

No strict prerequisites, but the exam assumes subject matter expertise implementing, managing, and monitoring an Azure environment. You should be familiar with operating systems, networking, servers, and virtualization, plus have experience with PowerShell, Azure CLI, the Azure portal, and ARM templates or Bicep.

Recommended background

  • Managing Microsoft Entra identities, groups, and RBAC role assignments
  • Azure Storage — accounts, redundancy, access keys, and SAS tokens
  • Deploying VMs, containers, and App Service using ARM templates or Bicep
  • Virtual networking — VNets, NSGs, peering, and load balancing

Step-by-step study plan

1
Review the official study guide

Open Microsoft's official skills-measured breakdown and use it as your checklist — it's updated whenever the exam changes.

Official AZ-104 study guide
2
Schedule your exam

Pick a date through the official Microsoft certification page and plan your study time backwards from it. Give yourself 2–4 weeks if you already use the tech weekly, 4–8 weeks if you're newer to it.

Exam & scheduling page
3
Go through the official learning path

Complete Microsoft's free, self-paced modules for this exam. Take notes on anything you can't explain simply — that's what to revisit.

Official documentation
4
Get hands-on practice

AZ-104 rewards recognizing real scenarios and trade-offs, not memorization. Spin up a free-tier environment and actually try the concepts — resource provisioning, networking, access controls — rather than just reading about them.

5
Benchmark your knowledge

Use FabricPrep's AZ-104 practice questions to find weak spots, and sit the timed Shield exam to build comfort with exam-day pacing.

Practice AZ-104 now — 72 free questions
6
Take the exam

The day before: review only your weak topics, don't cram new material. On exam day: read each question carefully, eliminate wrong answers first, and watch for wording that implies a constraint (least privilege, cost, performance).

Additional resources

Official AZ-104 study guide
The authoritative skills-measured breakdown, updated whenever the exam changes
AZ-104 certification page
Official exam facts — format, renewal period, and prerequisites
Azure virtual machines docs
Core compute concepts behind the deploy-and-manage-compute domain
Azure virtual network docs
Core networking concepts behind the virtual-networking domain
John Savill's Technical Training — AZ-104 Study Cram v2
A nearly-4-hour high-density review spanning Entra ID, networking, storage, VMs, and RBAC
freeCodeCamp / ExamPro (Andrew Brown) — AZ-104 Full Course
An 11-hour full-length course that builds and configures the Azure resources AZ-104 covers, giving hands-on context
Ready to test yourself?

72 realistic AZ-104 practice questions with instant feedback and detailed explanations.

Practice AZ-104 now