- A
Owner at the RG-Dev scope
Why wrong: Owner grants full management rights, including access management.
- B
Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scope
This limits VM management to the target resource group without broader subscription access.
- C
Reader at the subscription scope
Why wrong: Reader does not allow managing virtual machines.
- D
Contributor at the subscription scope
Why wrong: Contributor at the subscription scope is much broader than required.
Question 881 of 1,170
Virtual Machine Contributor Role — Grant VM Management at Resource Group Scope | Azure Administrator Explained
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
You need to let a junior administrator manage virtual machines only in the RG-Dev resource group. The administrator must not be able to change role assignments or manage other resource groups. Which role assignment should you use?
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
✓
Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scope
The Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope grants the junior administrator full permissions to manage virtual machines (including start, stop, restart, delete, and modify VM configurations) but explicitly denies the ability to manage role assignments (RBAC) or access to other resource groups. This aligns with the principle of least privilege, ensuring the administrator can perform their required tasks without exceeding their authority.
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.
- ✗
Owner at the RG-Dev scope
Why it's wrong here
Owner grants full management rights, including access management.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement were to grant full management of all resources in RG-Dev, including the ability to assign roles to others, then Owner at RG-Dev scope would be correct.
- ✓
Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scope
Why this is correct
This limits VM management to the target resource group without broader subscription access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Reader at the subscription scope
Why it's wrong here
Reader does not allow managing virtual machines.
When this WOULD be correct
A junior administrator needs to view (but not modify) all resources across the entire subscription for auditing purposes, without any management capabilities. Reader at subscription scope would be correct.
- ✗
Contributor at the subscription scope
Why it's wrong here
Contributor at the subscription scope is much broader than required.
When this WOULD be correct
A junior administrator needs full management access to all resources in a subscription, but should not be able to change role assignments. In that case, Contributor at the 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.
✓Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scopeCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
This limits VM management to the target resource group without broader subscription access.
✗Owner at the RG-Dev scopeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Owner role at RG-Dev scope grants full access, including the ability to manage role assignments, which violates the requirement that the administrator must not be able to change role assignments.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to grant full management of all resources in RG-Dev, including the ability to assign roles to others, then Owner at RG-Dev scope would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Owner is necessary for managing virtual machines, not realizing that Owner includes role assignment permissions that are explicitly prohibited in this scenario.
✗Reader at the subscription scopeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Reader at the subscription scope grants read-only access to all resources in the subscription, but does not allow managing virtual machines (e.g., start, stop, modify). The requirement is to manage VMs, which requires write permissions.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A junior administrator needs to view (but not modify) all resources across the entire subscription for auditing purposes, without any management capabilities. Reader at subscription scope would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Reader provides sufficient management access or confuse read access with the ability to manage VMs, or they may focus on the 'not change role assignments' constraint and overlook the need for write permissions.
✗Contributor at the subscription scopeWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Contributor at the subscription scope grants full management access to all resource groups in the subscription, including the ability to create and delete resources, which violates the requirement to restrict management to only RG-Dev.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A junior administrator needs full management access to all resources in a subscription, but should not be able to change role assignments. In that case, Contributor at the subscription scope would be appropriate.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Contributor provides sufficient control without Owner privileges, but they overlook that Contributor at the subscription scope applies 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?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the Contributor role (which includes RBAC write permissions) with the Virtual Machine Contributor role, or they incorrectly assume that a subscription-scope role can be restricted by the administrator's intent, but Azure RBAC does not support implicit scoping—permissions are granted exactly at the assigned scope.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure RBAC roles are composed of specific Actions, NotActions, and DataActions. The Virtual Machine Contributor role includes actions such as Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/* and Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/*, but explicitly excludes Microsoft.Authorization/*/write, preventing role assignment changes. Under the hood, Azure RBAC evaluates permissions using a deny-first model, where explicit denies (via NotActions) override any allows, ensuring that even if a role grants broad compute permissions, RBAC management remains locked. In a real-world scenario, this role is ideal for delegating VM lifecycle management to a DevOps engineer without risking privilege escalation or accidental changes to other resource groups.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
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: Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scope — The Virtual Machine Contributor role at the RG-Dev scope grants the junior administrator full permissions to manage virtual machines (including start, stop, restart, delete, and modify VM configurations) but explicitly denies the ability to manage role assignments (RBAC) or access to other resource groups. This aligns with the principle of least privilege, ensuring the administrator can perform their required tasks without exceeding their authority.
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.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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