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
A misspelled container name yields a datasource-not-found or container-not-found error, not AccessDenied, which signals authentication or authorisation rejection. It is tempting because datasource misconfiguration is a common indexer failure, and correcting the container name would be the fix when the error reports the container is missing.
- ✗
The indexer execution interval is set too high.
Why it's wrong here
Execution interval governs scheduling frequency only; a high value delays runs but never produces AccessDenied, which is an authentication or authorisation rejection. It is tempting because schedule tuning is a routine indexer setting, and lowering the interval would be the fix when indexing simply runs less often than required.
- ✓
The search service's managed identity lacks 'Storage Blob Data Reader' role.
Why this is correct
Blob indexers authenticate to storage using the search service's managed identity. Without the Storage Blob Data Reader role assignment on the container or account, the indexer cannot read blobs, producing the AccessDenied error described in the stem.
- ✗
The index schema does not match the blob metadata.
Why it's wrong here
Schema mismatches cause field-mapping warnings or documents to be skipped, not an AccessDenied authorisation failure. It is tempting because index schema alignment is a frequent indexer problem, and remapping fields would be the fix when documents index but their content is missing or malformed.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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