I am currently preparing for the new Microsoft exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator, which was announced to replace the AZ-103 exam. There are many great resources out there to prepare for the exam, that’s why I want to share my AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam Study Guide with you. To learn and prepare for the exam, I usually use a couple of online resources, mainly Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn, which I am going to share with you. You can find more information about how I prepare for a Microsoft Certification exam on my blog post: How to prepare and pass Microsoft Certification Exam.
Also, check out other Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guides:
- Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-305: Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-700: Microsoft Azure Network Engineer Exam Study Guide
- Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam DP-300: Azure Database Administrator Exam Study Guide
Here is my AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam Study Guide
It is essential to get familiar with the exam objectives and skills measured first. That is why I recommend reading the description of the exam and the skills measured.
Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator
The Azure Administrator implements, manages, and monitors identity, governance, storage, compute, and virtual networks in a cloud environment. The Azure Administrator will provision, size, monitor, and adjust resources as appropriate.
Candidates should have a minimum of six months of hands-on experience administering Azure. Candidates should have a strong understanding of core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance. Candidates for this exam should have experience in using PowerShell, the Command Line Interface, Azure Portal, and ARM templates.
The high-level view of the skills measured in the exam:
- Manage Azure identities and governance (15-20%)
- Implement and manage storage (10-15%)
- Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (25-30%)
- Configure and manage virtual networking (30-35%)
- Monitor and back up Azure resources (10-15%)
You can find more information on the exam website.
Free Online Microsoft Learn AZ-104 Exam Study Guide resources
Microsoft Learn provides you with free online training and learning paths for different Microsoft technologies. They not just offer reading material, but also control questions and free online labs. Here are some relevant Microsoft Learn modules and learning paths for the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam. Microsoft Learn is an important part of my AZ-104 Azure Administrator exam study guide.
The team also just made it easier to prepare with the new AZ-104 related learning paths on Microsoft Learn. I highly recommend that you take these for your AZ-104 exam preparation.
- AZ-104 Prerequisites for Azure administrators
- AZ-104 Manage identities and governance in Azure
- AZ-104 Implement and manage storage in Azure
- AZ-104 Deploy and manage Azure compute resources
- AZ-104: Configure and manage virtual networking
- AZ-104 Monitor and back up Azure resources
Microsoft Docs AZ-104 study guide resources
One thing I always used to prepare for my Microsoft exams is Microsoft Docs. Here are the relevant Microsoft Docs which I used to prepare and study for the AZ-104 exam.
Manage Azure identities and governance (15-20%)
Manage Azure AD objects
What is Azure Active Directory?
- create users and groups
- manage user and group properties
- manage device settings
- perform bulk user updates
- manage guest accounts
- configure Azure AD Join
- configure self-service password reset
Manage role-based access control (RBAC)
What is role-based access control (RBAC) for Azure resources?
- create a custom role
- provide access to Azure resources by assigning roles
- interpret access assignments
- manage multiple directories
Manage subscriptions and governance
Overview of Management services in Azure
- configure Azure policies
- configure resource locks
- apply tags
- create and manage resource groups
- move resources
- remove RGs
- manage subscriptions
- configure Cost Management
- configure management groups
Implement and manage storage (10-15%)
Manage storage accounts
- configure network access to storage accounts
- create and configure storage accounts
- generate shared access signature
- manage access keys
- implement Azure storage replication
- configure Azure AD Authentication for a storage account
Manage data in Azure Storage
- export from Azure job
- import into Azure job
- install and use Azure Storage Explorer
- copy data by using AZCopy
- What is Azure CLI
- Get started with Azure CLI
- Install the Azure CLI (Thomas Maurer)
Configure Azure files and Azure blob storage
- create an Azure file share
- create and configure Azure File Sync service
- configure Azure blob storage
- configure storage tiers for Azure blobs
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (25-30%)
Configure VMs for high availability and scalability
- configure high availability
- deploy and configure scale sets
Automate deployment and configuration of VMs
- modify Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template
- configure VHD template
- deploy from template
- save a deployment as an ARM template
- automate configuration management by using custom script extensions
Create and configure VMs
- configure Azure Disk Encryption
- move VMs from one resource group to another
- manage VM sizes
- add data discs
- configure networking
- redeploy VMs
Create and configure containers
- create and configure Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
- create and configure Azure Container Instances (ACI)
Create and configure Web Apps
- create and configure App Service
- create and configure App Service Plans
Configure and manage virtual networking (30-35%)
Implement and manage virtual networking
- create and configure VNET peering
- Virtual network peering overview
- Azure Virtual Network frequently asked questions (FAQ) VNet Peering
- Tutorial: Connect virtual networks with virtual network peering using the Azure portal
- Create a virtual network peering – different deployment models, same subscription
- Create, change, or delete a virtual network peering
- configure private and public IP addresses, network routes, network interface, subnets, and virtual network
- What is Azure Virtual Network?
- Quickstart: Create a virtual network using the Azure portal
- Virtual network traffic routing
- Networking limits
- Create, change, or delete a public IP address
- Add, change, or remove IP addresses for an Azure network interface
- Associate a public IP address to a virtual machine
- Subnet extension
- Virtual network traffic routing
- Add network interfaces to or remove network interfaces from virtual machines
Configure name resolution
- configure Azure DNS
- configure custom DNS settings
- configure a private or public DNS zone
Secure access to virtual networks
- create security rules
- associate an NSG to a subnet or network interface
- evaluate effective security rules
- deploy and configure Azure Firewall
- deploy and configure Azure Bastion Service
Configure load balancing
- configure Application Gateway
- configure an internal load balancer
- configure load balancing rules
- configure a public load balancer
- troubleshoot load balancing
Monitor and troubleshoot virtual networking
- monitor on-premises connectivity
- use Network Performance Monitor
- use Network Watcher
- troubleshoot external networking
- troubleshoot virtual network connectivity
Integrate an on-premises network with an Azure virtual network
- create and configure Azure VPN Gateway
- create and configure VPNs
- configure ExpressRoute
- configure Azure Virtual WAN
Monitor and back up Azure resources (10-15%)
Monitor resources by using Azure Monitor
- configure and interpret metrics
- configure Log Analytics
- query and analyze logs
- set up alerts and actions
- configure Application Insights
Implement backup and recovery
- configure and review backup reports
- perform backup and restore operations by using Azure Backup
- create a Recovery Services Vault
- use soft delete to recover Azure VMs
- create and configure backup policy
- perform site-to-site recovery by using Azure Site Recovery
Additional Tips and Resources
I hope this AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam Study Guide helps you pass the exam. I also recommend that you open a free Azure account if you don’t have one yet. You can create your free Azure account here. Also, check out my blog posts about Microsoft Azure Certification:
- Why you should become Microsoft Azure certified
- How to pick the right Azure exam certification path
- How to prepare and pass a Microsoft Azure exam
I hope you enjoyed my AZ-104 Study Guide. Did I miss any link, or do you have any recommended AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam Study resources? Let me know in the comments.
Tags: Administrator, AZ-104, AZ-104 Study Guide, Azure, Azure Administrator, Azure CLI, Certification, Certified, Compute, Exam, guide, Learning, Microsoft, Microsoft Learn, PowerShell, Resources, Storage, Study, Study Guide Last modified: October 13, 2021
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for this blog. i have a question.
Can I pass the AZ-104 exam on preparing the exam with the Exam ref AZ-103 book ? or there is same changes between AZ-103 and AZ-104 ?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Marwen
I don’t know, I haven’t done the AZ-104 yet. That said I believe in general it focuses still on the same topics. You can compare the different exam measured skills on the exam websites.
You can still take AZ-103 (90 days after AZ-104 got released) and you will get the same Azure Administrator certification.
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for Great and well organised content you prepared . Web sites are sometimes hard to follow even for the administrators :)
Thank you :)
Thank you for your hard work. i am working as IT admin but no experience in Azure but have knowledge of cloud, can i give AZ-104,or do i have to have experience?
Hi Akash
I would recommend that you are starting with AZ-900 Azure fundamentals. And after that go to Az-104.
Many thanks Thomas for you great effort i am following all of your post on linked in all of them are very helpful and valuable .
Hi guys.
First, thank you Thomas for these resources and for sharing them to us.
Second. Microsoft made this exam available, ad if you register to take it until or on May 31st 2020, you get an 80% discount using the code AZ104WAGONER. There are available only 300 seats, first come, first serve. (more details here : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/community-blog-post.aspx?BlogId=8&Id=375290 )
Good luck to everyone!
Hi Thomas,
Great tool for reference and studying. Is there a way to get it in a PDF?
You should be able to copy past it into Word and save it as a PDF file :)
I won’t create a pdf file from my site since I will be updating the blog post if new links from time to time, and I can’t really update PDFs ;)
Hello Thomas,
Well organized! Thank you
I noticed that there are no links for the below topics. Can you please include relevant links
Implement and manage virtual networking
create and configure VNET peering
configure private and public IP addresses, network routes, network interface, subnets, and virtual network
oh, great catch! Up updated the guide and fixed it. Let me know if that now works.
Thanks for the guide. I passed the Fundamentals over xmas and am doing the beta exam in late April. There is a LOT of content, especially the networking side of things. In previous admin jobs, we always had the network group a lot of that. I real life , are Azure admins really doing this much networking?
First of all, congrats for passing the Fundamentals. I could now write a super long answer to why I think that is the case. From my experience, yes, but not always, which means that when it comes to the cloud, you need a much broader understanding of how things work together. Sure, you will often have experts for specific topics, but you will need to understand how everything works together. I often see cloud teams within companies who do all the cloud work, from deploying VMs, backup, networking, storage, automation, management, governance, and much more. They all have a broad understanding of Azure, and maybe one of them has more in-depth knowledge of networking, the other one is the expert for storage-related topics. But they all know the basics.
I see this classic organization structure blur or even vanish in a lot of companies when they focus on the cloud. Because they usually mean they are slowing the organization down drastically. Check out the T-shaped skills: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills
Hello Thomas,
Your mean that if I pass the exam AZ 103 in this time. I will get the AZ-104 certification, right ?
Thank you
Hi, Yes if you pass the AZ-103 you will also still get the same Azure Administrator certification as you would get with the AZ-104
Hi
AZ-103 exams are retired and no more available, only exam we can appear is AZ-104?? am I right?
Hi ARIF
AZ-103 is still available for a moment:
“You will be able to take this exam until it retires on or around August 31, 2020. Note: Exams retire at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time.”
You can find more here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-103?WT.mc_id=thomasmaurer-blog-thmaure
Thanks Thomas for clarification
You’re welcome :)
Thank you so Much
You’re welcome :)
Great Content Thomas. I am enjoying your AZ-104 to prep for my certification next month .
Thanks Chiugo, happy studying and good luck with the exam. :)
Let me know how it went and if there is something missing
Hi Thomas,
Thanks a lot for this information, its very well organized and it’s so usefull.
I am studing the AZ-104 and I’m planning to do the exam in the next month
Awesome great to hear! All the best with the exam!
Chuck,
Thank you for taking out the time to organise and share these resources.
Glad to hear the AZ 103 is still available until August, is your study guide also applicable to the AZ 103? and what are the specific changes to the exam if you are aware?
Thanks
Hi Thomas,
For those who prefer printed books do you know any that are worth the money?
Cheers
Hi Thomas,
Thank you so much for putting this together by mapping 104 exam objectives vs relevant links. Have searched all over the internet but find this the most useful one. Planning to give the exam by mid June, Thanks again!
Hi Ramanan
Thank you, you’re welcome.
And good luck with your exam!
Hi, Thomas,
I’m looking for a test practice exams, Could you recomend us any web site or aplication in order to practices?.
I’ll make my cert exam the next 11- jul.
Thanks in advances.
SaraTC
Man, simply great!!
Thanks for sharing with us!
Thank you, you are welcome :)
Hi Thomas.
Thanks for the content, its helping begin this AZ-104 ‘journey’.
I am using the Microsoft\Docs\Learn documentation initially and have a AZ-103 book I will go through also.
Have you any opinion on the time required to be spent on all forms of access to Azure for the Labs and any practical tasks:
– Portal
– CLI
– CloudShell
– PowerShell
– ARM Templates(JSON) – not sure if this is required for AZ-104 ?
For every ‘task’ included in the syllabus, should we know how to complete them in every method?
Thanks again Thomas.
Mark
thank you sir for this blog,
My doubt is, Can I take AZ104 EXAM directly with taking the AZURE Fundamental exam AZ900.
MY Role is to be A expert in AZURE DevOps.
I would have a look at the Skills Measured and have a look through the material if you feel comfortable with that, then you should be good. If you see things you are not sure about, then I would study.
Hi Thomas,
Great work with this content as well as with the various youtube videos.
I passed AZ-900 and have been studying for AZ-104 since 2 months. I find it very hard to remember every minute detail example what SKU is compatible with what…. I find the course very overwhelming. Can you provide a tip on how to remember and which things to focus on ? ( Sorry, its a broad question )
Regards
Saurabh
Hi Saurabh
To Which SKUs are you referring?
Hey Thomas,
Curious on your thoughts about the practice exams. I haven’t seen much for AZ-104.
Thanks in advance.
Hello Thomas!
Do you know if there is significative differences between the AZ-103 and AZ-104? this is because just got a practice exam on PDF from AZ – 103. .. Thanks.
Hi Thomas,
The 3 items below “copy data by using AZCopy” might be less relevant to the topic as they only concern Azure CLI and not AZCopy directly?
Cheers,
Lieven
Nice compilation of resources. I passed AZ-900 last month and am ramping up for AZ-104. I plan to use your site as an index of topics along with MS Learn and Udemy video training. Appreciate your work!
Hi Thomas,
Good Evening
I have attempted AZ-104 and got 603 and failed and from the exam report i have send been said to improve this skills to pass.
Exam Report:
Your exam performance was weakest in the following skill areas:
Configure VMs for high availability and scalability
Create and configure VMs
Monitor resources by using Azure Monitor
Please advise
Very nicely bundled together. Thanks
Thank you :)
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for the valuable info. To clarify, you had only used Microsoft learn and Microsoft docs and nothing else to pass the AZ-104?
Thanks,
Ben
Well, and the Azure Portal to try things :)
Hey Thomas,
This is a solid looking study guide! I’m just about to start my preparations for AZ-104 and I’m so thankful that I came across your post. I do have one quick question though, I was browsing the latest skills outline from Microsoft and noticed that there will be some changes to the exam starting November 24, 2020. My question is, would you be updating this guide as well? Although it looks like it will be some very minor changes, I’m really just curious if I should factor that change in my preparation.
Hi Michael
Yes I am currently working on an update :) However, it should not be too big of a difference :)
I think I will release updates version of the exams this or next week.
Hi Thomas, I passed my AZ-900 and planning on AZ-104. I have no background with admin but on the daily basis with processes/Enterprise architecture. I want to be a Azure expert so starting from scratch. Your material is absolutely pin-pointed which helps me instead of getting lost. Now, I have some handle on the admin concepts but cannot retain it for long time since I don’t use it on daily basis. Once I am done with AZ-104, would like to clear AZ-304 (architecture). What approach would you suggest achieving Azure Arch. level skills?
Thanks
Venkat
Amazing. Thank you so much for this! Also, is there any free (or relatively cheap) practice exams you can recommend?
Not really, I am not using these most of the time (Not saying they are bad, practice exams are a good thing, but I don’t know any)
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for putting this together. It was really useful for getting myself prepared for the az-104 exam, especially the networking section. Will be spreading the word.
Much appreciated!
Awesome thank you very much! I hope the AZ-104 exam went well! :)
Thanks so much for this! I have passed my az-104 by looking over your study guide. By any chance, you still publish the az400 one soon? ;)
Congratulations! I am currently looking at Az-400 but it will take some time :)
Thanks Thomas.
you’re welcome :)
Hi Thomas,
I have passed my AZ-104 Exam in last day of 2020 and thanks for your documentation. Looking forward to write AZ-400 Exam and if possible please post the documentation for AZ-400 Exam also.
Thanks once again
Hi Thomas,
I just wanted to check SSO for Legacy Lotus Notes Client installed on AAD authenticated machine.
We have few autopilot machines authenticated by AAD managed by Azure Intune.
We have installed Lotus Notes client on these autopilot machines and we enabled SSO.But it is not working in these autopilot machines. Same Lotus Notes configuration and settings are done in machines authenticated by on-prem AD and SSO is working on those mahines. So when authenticating from AAD, it is not working. Could you please assist on how we can proceed in this.
Thanks & Regards
Hi Thomas, this is a great resource, thanks for providing it..
I saw the exam had recently changed (as they always will) – will you be updating your blog to reflect the changes?
Tom
Yes, I will update the guide in the next coming days. However, for most people, it still will be a good resource to start. Usually the chances are minor :)
Hi Thomas,
I appreciate your time and effort in organizing and compiling all the material to support the AZ-104 exam study. I notice that your material is organized in 11 modules whereas MS Learn covers that material in 6 modules. As instructor material is not to be shared with students, I was wondering if you have a document that outlines topic correspondence between the two.
Best Regards
Thomas,
Thank you, I passed AZ-104 yesterday;)
Congratulations!
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the guide.
I will start study next month for this exam and i will use your guid.
Please show me where to download the Microsoft Azure 104 Study Guide that explains everything in a PDF. I saw a file like that before but do not how to find it again.
Thank you.