AI-102 Plan and manage an Azure AI solution Practice Question
Your Azure AI Search indexer is failing to index documents from an Azure Blob Storage container. The error message shows 'AccessDenied'. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Microsoft often tests the distinction between authentication (who you are) and authorization (what you can do), leading candidates to confuse a missing role assignment with a configuration error like a misspelled container name or schema mismatch.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The search service's managed identity lacks 'Storage Blob Data Reader' role.
The 'AccessDenied' error indicates that the Azure AI Search service lacks the necessary permissions to read data from the Azure Blob Storage container. The most likely fix is to assign the 'Storage Blob Data Reader' role to the search service's system-assigned managed identity, which grants read access to blob containers and their contents.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The blob container name is misspelled in the datasource.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause a 'ContainerNotFound' error, not AccessDenied.
- ✗
The indexer execution interval is set too high.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause infrequent indexing, not access errors.
- ✓
The search service's managed identity lacks 'Storage Blob Data Reader' role.
Why this is correct
AccessDenied indicates missing permissions to read blobs.
- ✗
The index schema does not match the blob metadata.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause field mapping errors, not AccessDenied.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AI-102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AI-102 exam.