AZ-220 Study Guide: Microsoft Azure IoT Developer

If you are a Developer focusing on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions on Microsoft Azure, then the AZ-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer is for you. I am currently preparing for that exam, so I want to share my AZ-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Certification Exam Study Guide with you. If you are passing the AZ-220 exam, you will earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification, that you understand how to implement the Azure services that form an IoT solution, including data analysis, data processing, data storage options, and platform-as-a-service options. IoT Developers must be able to recognize Azure IoT service configuration settings within the code portion of an IoT solution.

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-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator 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-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-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer 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-220: Microsoft Azure IoT Developer

The Azure IoT Developer is responsible for the implementation and the coding required to create and maintain the cloud and edge portion of an IoT solution. In addition to configuring and maintaining the devices by using cloud services, the IoT Developer also sets up the physical devices. The IoT Developer is responsible for maintaining the devices throughout the life cycle.

The IoT Developer implements designs for IoT solutions, including device topology, connectivity, debugging and security. The IoT Developer deploys compute/containers and configures device networking. The IoT Developer implements designs for solutions to manage data pipelines, including monitoring and data transformation as it relates to IoT. The IoT Developer works with data engineers and other stakeholders to ensure successful business integration.

IoT Developers should have a good understanding of how to implement the Azure services that form an IoT solution, including data storage options, data analysis, data processing, and platform-as-a-service options. IoT Developers must be able to recognize Azure IoT service configuration settings within the code portion of an IoT solution and perform specific IoT coding tasks in at least one Azure-supported language, including C#, Node, C, or Python.

The high-level view of the skills measured in the exam:

• Implement the IoT solution infrastructure (15-20%)
• Provision and manage devices (20-25%)
• Implement Edge (15-20%)
• Process and manage data (15-20%)
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize IoT solutions (15-20%)
• Implement security (15-20%)

You can find more information on the exam website.

Free Online Microsoft Learn AZ-220 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-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Certification Exam. Microsoft Learn is an important part of my AZ-220 exam study guide.

• Introduction to Azure IoT (8 modules)
• Securely connect IoT devices to the cloud (6 modules)
• Build the intelligent edge with Azure IoT Edge (3 modules)
• Develop IoT solutions with Azure IoT Central (3 modules)

Microsoft Docs AZ-220 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-220 exam.

Implement the IoT solution infrastructure (15-20%)

Create and configure an IoT Hub

• create an IoT Hub
  • Create an IoT hub using the Azure portal
  • Create an IoT hub using the Azure CLI
  • Create an IoT hub using the New-AzIotHub cmdlet
• register a device
  • Understand the identity registry in your IoT hub
  • Get started with device management (.NET)
• configure a device twin
  • Understand and use device twins in IoT Hub
• configure IoT Hub tier and scaling
  • Choose the right IoT Hub tier for your solution
  • Auto-scale your Azure IoT Hub

Build device messaging and communication

• build messaging solutions by using SDKs (device and service)
  • Understand and use Azure IoT Hub SDKs
  • Send device-to-cloud and cloud-to-device messages with IoT Hub
  • Quickstart: Send telemetry from a device to an IoT hub and read it with a back-end application (.NET)
• implement device-to-cloud communication
  • Device-to-cloud communications guidance
• implement cloud-to-device communication
  • Cloud-to-device communications guidance
  • Send messages from the cloud to your device with IoT Hub (.NET)
• configure file upload for devices
  • Upload files with IoT Hub
  • Upload files from your device to the cloud with IoT Hub (.NET)

Configure physical IoT devices

• recommend an appropriate protocol based on device specifications
  • Best practices for device configuration within an IoT solution
  • Reference – choose a communication protocol
  • Support additional protocols for IoT Hub
• configure device networking, topology, and connectivity
  • IoT Hub support for virtual networks
  • IoT Hub IP addresses
  • IoT Hub Device Streams (preview)

Provision and manage devices (20-25%)

Implement the Device Provisioning Service (DPS)

• create a Device Provisioning Service
  • Provisioning devices with Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service
  • Quickstart: Set up the IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service with the Azure portal
• create a new enrollment in DPS
  • How to manage device enrollments with Azure Device Provisioning Service SDKs
  • How to manage device enrollments with Azure Portal
• manage allocation policies by using Azure Functions
  • How to use custom allocation policies
• link an IoT Hub to the DPS
  • az iot dps linked-hub

Manage the device lifecycle

• provision a device by using DPS
  • Tutorial: Provision the device to an IoT hub using the Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service
  • Tutorial: Enroll the device to an IoT hub using the Azure IoT Hub Provisioning Service Client (.NET)
• deprovision an autoenrollment
  • How to deprovision devices that were previously auto-provisioned
• decommission (disenroll) a device
  • How to disenroll a device from Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service

Manage IoT devices by using IoT Hub

• manage devices list in the IoT Hub device registry
  • Understand the identity registry in your IoT hub
• modify device twin tags and properties
  • Understand and use device twins in IoT Hub
  • Get started with device twins (.NET)
• trigger an action on a set of devices by using IoT Hub Jobs and Direct Methods
  • Schedule jobs on multiple devices
  • Understand and invoke direct methods from IoT Hub
• set up Automatic Device Management of IoT devices at scale
  • Automatic IoT device and module management using the Azure portal
  • Import and export IoT Hub device identities in bulk

Build a solution by using IoT Central

• define a device type in Azure IoT Central
  • What is Azure IoT Central?
  • Define a new IoT device type in your Azure IoT Central application
  • Quickstart: Add a simulated device to your IoT Central application
• configure rules and actions in Azure IoT Central
  • Configure rules
  • Quickstart: Configure rules and actions for your device in Azure IoT Central
• define the operator view
  • Tutorial: Customize the operator dashboard and manage devices in Azure IoT Central
• add and manage devices from IoT Central
  • Manage devices in your Azure IoT Central application
• monitor devices
  • Monitor device connectivity using Azure CLI
  • Quickstart: Use Azure IoT Central to monitor your devices

Implement Edge (15-20%)

Set up and deploy an IoT Edge device

• create a device identity in IoT Hub
  • Understand the identity registry in your IoT hub
  • Use the IoT extension for Azure CLI for Azure IoT Hub device management
  • Glossary of terms for Azure IoT Edge
• deploy a single IoT device to IoT Edge
  • What is Azure IoT Edge
  • Quickstart: Deploy your first IoT Edge module to a virtual Windows device
  • Quickstart: Deploy your first IoT Edge module to a virtual Linux device
• create a deployment for IoT Edge devices
  • Learn how to deploy modules and establish routes in IoT Edge
  • Understand IoT Edge automatic deployments for single devices or at scale
• install container runtime on IoT devices
  • Use the Windows ML container Insider Preview with Azure IoT Edge Runtime
  • Install the Azure IoT Edge runtime on Debian-based Linux systems
  • Install the Azure IoT Edge runtime on Windows
• define and implement deployment manifest
  • Learn how to deploy modules and establish routes in IoT Edge
• update security daemon and runtime
  • Azure IoT Edge security manager
  • Security standards for Azure IoT Edge

Develop modules

• create and configure an Edge module
  • Develop your own IoT Edge modules
• deploy a module to an Edge device
  • Deploy Azure IoT Edge modules from the Azure portal
  • Deploy Azure IoT Edge modules with Azure CLI
  • Deploy Azure IoT Edge modules from Visual Studio Code
• publish an IoT Edge module to an Azure Container Registry
  • Use the Windows ML container Insider Preview with Azure IoT Edge Runtime

Configure an IoT Edge device

• select and deploy an appropriate gateway pattern
  • How an IoT Edge device can be used as a gateway
• implement module-to-module communication
  • Understand the Azure IoT Edge runtime and its architecture
• implement and configure offline support
  • Understand extended offline capabilities for IoT Edge devices, modules, and child devices

Process and manage data (15-20%)

Configure routing in Azure IoT Hub

• implement message enrichment in IoT Hub
  • Tutorial: Use Azure IoT Hub message enrichments
• configure routing of IoT Device messages to endpoints
  • Tutorial: Use the Azure CLI and Azure portal to configure IoT Hub message routing
  • Tutorial: Use the Azure CLI to configure IoT Hub message routing
  • Tutorial: Use an Azure Resource Manager template to configure IoT Hub message routing
• define and test routing queries
  • IoT Hub message routing query syntax
• integrate with Event Grid
  • React to IoT Hub events by using Event Grid to trigger actions

Configure stream processing

• create ASA for data and stream processing of IoT data
  • Process real-time IoT data streams with Azure Stream Analytics
• process and filter IoT data by using Azure Functions
  • Processing data from IoT Hub with Azure Functions
• configure Stream Analytics outputs
  • Azure Stream Analytics on IoT Edge

Configure an IoT solution for Time Series Insights (TSI)

• Implement solutions to handle telemetry and time-stamped data
  • Time series solutions
• create an Azure Time Series Insights (TSI) environment
  • Tutorial: Create an Azure Time Series Insights environment
• connect the IoT Hub and the Time Series Insights (TSI)
  • Add an IoT hub event source to your Time Series Insights environment

Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize IoT solutions (15-20%)

Configure health monitoring

• configure metrics in IoT Hub
  • Tutorial: Set up and use metrics and diagnostic logs with an IoT hub
• set up diagnostics logs for Azure IoT Hub
  • Tutorial: Set up and use metrics and diagnostic logs with an IoT hub
• query and visualize tracing by using Azure monitor
  • Trace Azure IoT device-to-cloud messages with distributed tracing (preview)

Troubleshoot device communication

• establish maintenance communication
  • Tutorial: Use a simulated device to test connectivity with your IoT hub
• verify device telemetry is received by IoT Hub
  • Quickstart: Send telemetry from a device to an IoT hub and read it with a back-end application (.NET)
• validate device twin properties, tags and direct methods
  • Understand and use device twins in IoT Hub
  • Understand and invoke direct methods from IoT Hub
• troubleshoot device disconnects and connects
  • Monitor, diagnose, and troubleshoot disconnects with Azure IoT Hub

Perform end-to-end solution testing and diagnostics

• estimate the capacity required for each service in the solution
  • Choose the right IoT Hub tier for your solution
• conduct performance and stress testing
  • Accelerating IoT solution development and testing with Azure IoT Device Simulation
  • Azure IoT Hub StressTest (GitHub)
• set up device D2C message tracing by using Azure Distributed Tracing
  • Trace Azure IoT device-to-cloud messages with distributed tracing (preview)

Implement security (15-20%)

Implement device authentication in the IoT Hub

• choose an appropriate form of authentication
  • IoT device authentication options
  • Security practices for Azure IoT device manufacturers
• manage the X.509 certificates for a device
  • Device Authentication using X.509 CA Certificates
• manage the symmetric keys for a device
  • Quickstart: Provision a simulated device with symmetric keys

Implement device security by using DPS

• configure different attestation mechanisms with DPS
  • How to use different attestation mechanisms with Device Provisioning Service Client SDK for C
• generate and manage x.509 certificates for IoT Devices
  • Device Authentication using X.509 CA Certificates
• configure enrollment with x.509 certificates
  • Quickstart: Enroll X.509 devices to the Device Provisioning Service using C#
• generate a TPM endorsements key for a device
  • Quickstart: Enroll TPM device to IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service using C# service SDK
  • Device provisioning: Identity attestation with TPM
• configure enrollment with symmetric keys
  • How to provision legacy devices using symmetric keys

Implement Azure Security Center (ASC) for IoT

• enable ASC for IoT in Azure IoT Hub
  • Quickstart: Onboard Azure Security Center for IoT service in IoT Hub
• create security modules
  • Quickstart: Create an azureiotsecurity module twin
• configure custom alerts
  • Quickstart: Create custom alerts

Additional Tips and Resources

I hope this AZ-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Certification Exam Study Guide helps you pass the exam and get the Azure IoT Developer Speciality certification. 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
• Learn Microsoft Azure in 2020

I hope you enjoyed my AZ-220 Azure IoT Developer Study Guide. Did I miss any link, or do you have any recommended AZ-220 Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Certification Exam Study resources? Let me know in the comments.