AZ-104 Study Plan: Hands-On Tasks and Targeted Practice
Build an AZ-104 preparation routine around practical Azure tasks, varied questions, and review of code, diagrams, and mistakes.
Use IT Mastery to establish which Azure administration tasks need attention, then spend study time on those tasks. Choose a pace that fits your experience; a calendar alone cannot establish readiness.
Choose a starting pace
| Your starting point | A useful structure |
|---|---|
| You administer Azure regularly | A 7–14 day review cycle focused on weak domains and unfamiliar current features. |
| You understand Azure but lack breadth | A 4-week cycle combining small practical exercises with topic and mixed practice. |
| You are new to administration | Extend the same cycle over 8–12 weeks and use Microsoft learning modules before each exercise. |
These are planning examples, not completion deadlines. Use the blueprint map to check coverage against the current Microsoft outline.
A four-week working plan
| Week | Main work | Evidence to keep |
|---|---|---|
| 1: Access and storage | Review users, groups, licenses, roles, policy, and tags. Follow a storage request through network access and authorization; practise a recovery operation. | One explained access decision and one storage recovery checklist. |
| 2: Deploy and operate compute | Read a small Bicep file, inspect its dependencies, and review what-if output. Compare VM availability and host encryption. Practise container and App Service configuration. | An annotated configuration showing what changes and why. |
| 3: Connect, observe, and recover | Trace a network path through routes, NSGs, DNS, and the service endpoint. Interpret monitoring data, alerts, backup settings, and regional recovery requirements. | A network fault explanation and a monitoring or recovery decision. |
| 4: Mix and revisit | Complete varied mixed practice. Revisit weak tasks with different conditions and review current official documentation for unresolved details. | A shorter list of recurring mistakes, with reasons rather than remembered answers. |
Keep earlier domains in later sessions. For example, a container image-pull failure can involve identity, networking, or deployment configuration even during a compute review.
Microsoft includes Bicep, Container Apps, encryption at host, alert processing, and both vault families in its current AZ-104 skills outline . Give these named tasks deliberate attention when older course material barely mentions them.
Use a repeatable study session
- Recall: explain yesterday’s difficult decision without looking at the answer.
- Inspect: read a short Microsoft example or examine a setting in your own training environment.
- Practise: answer a focused set, including uncertain questions you happened to get right in your review notes.
- Explain: identify the decisive evidence and why the nearest alternative fails.
- Revisit: test the same capability in a later mixed set with different details.
For hands-on work, choose a training subscription and a bounded exercise. Check the services involved and remove resources you no longer need when the exercise is complete.
Include the exhibits
The refreshed AZ-104 practice includes questions with diagrams, code, and tables where they help test the task. Take time to read them:
- Trace diagram connections using their labels and direction.
- Read a Bicep reference as a dependency, rather than assuming resources deploy in file order.
- Check every relevant rule in a table, including supplied defaults.
- Read a log’s time range and collection conditions before drawing a conclusion.
Use the scenario guide if a wrong answer came from misreading the exhibit rather than missing a definition.
Keep an error record that changes your practice
| Record | Example |
|---|---|
| Task | Diagnose a VM that cannot reach a private endpoint. |
| Deciding evidence | The service name resolves to a public address from the affected VM. |
| Gap | I changed permissions before checking name resolution. |
| Next action | Review the private DNS path, then try a different endpoint scenario. |
Avoid copying complete answers into your notes. Write the rule and the evidence that makes it apply.
Before your appointment
Use timed mixed practice once you can explain decisions across the domains. Microsoft’s certification page currently lists 100 minutes for the assessment; confirm your appointment details and any accommodations through the official certification page .
A strong practice score is useful feedback, but there is no IT Mastery percentage that guarantees a Microsoft result. Repeated success on a familiar static set can reflect answer recognition. Look for consistent reasoning on varied questions and the ability to perform the underlying task.
Use cheat sheet to choose final gaps, and official resources to check the exam outline and interface.