AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question
A support engineer must restart and view the properties of virtual machines only in RG-Dev. The engineer must not gain access to other resource groups in the subscription. What should the administrator do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose Option A, mistakenly thinking the Reader role at subscription scope is harmless, but it actually grants read access to all resources in the subscription, violating the explicit restriction to RG-Dev only.
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
✓
Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope.
The Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope grants the engineer the necessary permissions to restart and view properties of virtual machines within that resource group, while restricting access to other resource groups. This role includes actions like Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/start/action and Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/read, which cover the required tasks without granting broader management rights.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Assign the Reader role at the subscription scope and the Virtual Machine Contributor role at RG-Dev scope.
Why it's wrong here
The Reader role at subscription scope grants read access to every resource group and resource under the subscription, including those outside RG-Dev. Combined with Virtual Machine Contributor at RG-Dev, this exposes unnecessary data (e.g., secrets, configurations, other resource properties) across the entire subscription, violating least-privilege principles even though the VM management actions are scoped correctly.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement were to allow the engineer to view (but not restart) VMs in RG-Dev and also view (but not modify) resources in other resource groups, then Reader at subscription plus Virtual Machine Contributor at RG-Dev would be correct.
- ✓
Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope.
Why this is correct
Assigning the Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope provides exactly the required permissions: Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/read to view properties and Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/restart to restart VMs, while limiting inheritance to that resource group. This follows least privilege because the engineer can manage VMs in RG-Dev but cannot touch VMs or other resources elsewhere in the subscription.
- ✗
Assign the Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope.
Why it's wrong here
The Contributor role at RG-Dev grants full management access to all resource types within the resource group, not just virtual machines. This includes the ability to create, modify, and delete networks, storage accounts, and other resources, which is far broader than the stated need to restart and view VM properties. It also carries a higher risk of accidental or malicious changes to non-VM resources.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question required the engineer to have full management access to RG-Dev (e.g., deploy, delete, and modify all resources) but no access to other resource groups, the Contributor role at RG-Dev scope would be correct.
- ✗
Create a custom role at the subscription scope and assign it to the engineer.
Why it's wrong here
Creating a custom role at subscription scope, even with only the exact VM restart and read actions, would apply that role to all resource groups and resources under the subscription. This broad inheritance means the engineer would unnecessarily gain the permission to manage VMs in every resource group, not just RG-Dev, and custom roles add administrative overhead when a built-in role already meets the requirement at a narrower scope.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement was to grant specific permissions (e.g., restart and view properties) across multiple resource groups or the entire subscription, and no built-in role met the need, a custom role at subscription scope would be appropriate.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-104 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Assigning the Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope provides exactly the required permissions: Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/read to view properties and Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/restart to restart VMs, while limiting inheritance to that resource group. This follows least privilege because the engineer can manage VMs in RG-Dev but cannot touch VMs or other resources elsewhere in the subscription.
✗Assign the Reader role at the subscription scope and the Virtual Machine Contributor role at RG-Dev scope.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Assigning Reader at subscription scope grants read access to all resources in the subscription, violating the requirement that the engineer must not access other resource groups.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to allow the engineer to view (but not restart) VMs in RG-Dev and also view (but not modify) resources in other resource groups, then Reader at subscription plus Virtual Machine Contributor at RG-Dev would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Reader at subscription is harmless for viewing, but it still grants read access to other resource groups, which is prohibited.
✗Assign the Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Contributor role includes write permissions beyond restarting and viewing properties, such as deleting resources or creating new ones, which violates the least privilege principle required by the question.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question required the engineer to have full management access to RG-Dev (e.g., deploy, delete, and modify all resources) but no access to other resource groups, the Contributor role at RG-Dev scope would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Contributor is the minimum role for restarting VMs, overlooking that Virtual Machine Contributor is more restrictive and sufficient for the task.
✗Create a custom role at the subscription scope and assign it to the engineer.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Assigning a custom role at subscription scope would grant permissions across all resource groups, violating the requirement that the engineer must not access other resource groups.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement was to grant specific permissions (e.g., restart and view properties) across multiple resource groups or the entire subscription, and no built-in role met the need, a custom role at subscription scope would be appropriate.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think a custom role is needed to precisely limit permissions, but overlook that scoping it at subscription level grants access to all resource groups, not just RG-Dev.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-104blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Dynamic Membership Groups
Key term
Contributor role
The Contributor role is a built-in Azure role that grants full access to manage resources within a scope but does not allow granting access to other users.
Key term
Group
A group is a collection of users, devices, or other objects that are assigned permissions and policies together for simplified management in identity and governance systems like Microsoft Entra ID.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-104 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 AZ-104 exam.