Assigning the Reader Role at Management Group Scope to Give Read Access to Multiple Subscriptions
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Exhibit
Management group layout:
- Corp
- Prod
- AppSub1
- AppSub2
- AppSub3
- Sandbox
- DevSub1
Requirement:
- OpsGroup must read everything in Prod only
- New subscriptions added under Prod should inherit access automatically
Based on the exhibit, the Prod management group contains three subscriptions that host application workloads. An operations group must be able to read all current and future resources in those Prod subscriptions, but it must not have access to Sandbox. Where should you assign the Reader role?
Exhibit
Management group layout:
- Corp
- Prod
- AppSub1
- AppSub2
- AppSub3
- Sandbox
- DevSub1
Requirement:
- OpsGroup must read everything in Prod only
- New subscriptions added under Prod should inherit access automatically
A
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Corp management group.
Why wrong: This would include Sandbox as well as Prod, which exceeds the stated access boundary. The requirement specifically excludes Sandbox.
B
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Prod management group.
Assigning at the Prod management group gives inherited read access to every subscription, resource group, and resource under Prod. It also automatically applies to future subscriptions added under Prod, while keeping Sandbox out of scope.
C
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at one application resource group in AppSub1.
Why wrong: That would cover only one resource group and would not extend to the other Prod subscriptions or any future subscriptions under Prod.
D
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at each subscription individually.
Why wrong: This is more administrative work and is easy to miss when new subscriptions are added. It also fails the requirement for inherited access to future subscriptions under Prod.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Prod management group.
Assigning the Reader role at the Prod management group scope ensures that OpsGroup inherits read permissions to all current and future subscriptions and resources within that management group, while excluding the Sandbox subscription which is outside the Prod hierarchy. This leverages Azure RBAC inheritance, where roles assigned at a management group propagate to all child subscriptions and resource groups, meeting the requirement for a single assignment that covers all Prod workloads without granting access to Sandbox.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Reader to OpsGroup at the Corp management group.
Why it's wrong here
This would include Sandbox as well as Prod, which exceeds the stated access boundary. The requirement specifically excludes Sandbox.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the requirement was to grant read access to all resources under the Corp management group, including Sandbox, or if Sandbox was not under Corp.
✓
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Prod management group.
Why this is correct
Assigning at the Prod management group gives inherited read access to every subscription, resource group, and resource under Prod. It also automatically applies to future subscriptions added under Prod, while keeping Sandbox out of scope.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at one application resource group in AppSub1.
Why it's wrong here
That would cover only one resource group and would not extend to the other Prod subscriptions or any future subscriptions under Prod.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement were to grant read access only to a specific application resource group (e.g., for a single app's operations team) and not to other resources in the subscription, assigning Reader at that resource group would be correct.
✗
Assign Reader to OpsGroup at each subscription individually.
Why it's wrong here
This is more administrative work and is easy to miss when new subscriptions are added. It also fails the requirement for inherited access to future subscriptions under Prod.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement was to grant read access only to existing subscriptions without any future subscriptions, or if the subscriptions were not under a management group hierarchy, assigning at each subscription individually 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 Reader to OpsGroup at the Prod management group.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Assigning at the Prod management group gives inherited read access to every subscription, resource group, and resource under Prod. It also automatically applies to future subscriptions added under Prod, while keeping Sandbox out of scope.
✗Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Corp management group.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Assigning Reader at the Corp management group would grant read access to all subscriptions under Corp, including Sandbox, which violates the requirement that OpsGroup must not have access to Sandbox.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the requirement was to grant read access to all resources under the Corp management group, including Sandbox, or if Sandbox was not under Corp.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think assigning at a higher scope (Corp) is more efficient, overlooking that it would include unintended subscriptions like Sandbox.
✗Assign Reader to OpsGroup at one application resource group in AppSub1.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Assigning Reader at a single resource group in AppSub1 would only grant read access to that specific resource group, not to all current and future resources across all three Prod subscriptions as required.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to grant read access only to a specific application resource group (e.g., for a single app's operations team) and not to other resources in the subscription, assigning Reader at that resource group would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that assigning at a resource group is sufficient and simpler, overlooking the need for broader scope across multiple subscriptions and future resources.
✗Assign Reader to OpsGroup at each subscription individually.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Assigning Reader at each subscription individually would grant access to the three Prod subscriptions, but it would not cover future subscriptions added to the Prod management group, violating the requirement for future resources.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement was to grant read access only to existing subscriptions without any future subscriptions, or if the subscriptions were not under a management group hierarchy, assigning at each subscription individually would be appropriate.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that assigning at the subscription level is sufficient and more direct, overlooking the need for inheritance to cover future subscriptions under the management group.
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?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose subscription-level assignments (Option D) because they think it's more precise, but they miss the requirement for future resources and the efficiency of a single management group assignment that automatically covers new subscriptions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure RBAC role assignments at management group scope use Azure Resource Manager's hierarchical inheritance model, where permissions flow down to all child management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups. The Reader role grants read-only access to all resource types, including metadata and tags, but not to data plane operations (e.g., reading blob data in a storage account). In a real-world scenario, if a new subscription is added to the Prod management group, OpsGroup automatically gains read access without any additional configuration, demonstrating the scalability of management group scoped assignments.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
Model
Acronym
Who Controls Access?
Best For
Discretionary Access Control
DAC
Resource owner
Small teams, file shares
Mandatory Access Control
MAC
System / security labels
Classified govt / military
Role-Based Access Control
RBAC
Administrator (via roles)
Enterprise environments
Attribute-Based Access Control
ABAC
Policy engine (user + resource attributes)
Fine-grained, dynamic policies
Rule-Based Access Control
RuBAC
System rules / ACLs
Firewall rules, network ACLs
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Manage Azure Identities and Governance — This question tests Manage Azure Identities and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Assign Reader to OpsGroup at the Prod management group. — Assigning the Reader role at the Prod management group scope ensures that OpsGroup inherits read permissions to all current and future subscriptions and resources within that management group, while excluding the Sandbox subscription which is outside the Prod hierarchy. This leverages Azure RBAC inheritance, where roles assigned at a management group propagate to all child subscriptions and resource groups, meeting the requirement for a single assignment that covers all Prod workloads without granting access to Sandbox.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Variation 1. Based on the exhibit, a compliance team must read all current and future resources in every subscription under the Corp management group. Where should you assign the Reader role?
easy
A.Assign Reader at the RG-Finance resource group scope.
✓ B.Assign Reader at the Corp management group scope.
C.Assign Reader separately at each subscription scope.
D.Assign Reader only at the individual resource scope.
Why B: Assigning the Reader role at the Corp management group scope applies the role to all current and future subscriptions and resource groups within that management group hierarchy. This is because Azure RBAC roles assigned at a management group scope are inherited by all child management groups, subscriptions, and resources, ensuring the compliance team can read all resources across the entire Corp hierarchy without needing separate assignments.
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Question Discussion
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