Question 1,148 of 1,170

Manage Azure Identities and Governance →mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is to create a custom RBAC role and assign it at the resource group scope. This is correct because a custom role allows you to precisely define allowed actions, such as Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/start/action, stop, and restart, while explicitly excluding delete permissions like Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/delete. By scoping the assignment to the resource group, you ensure the help desk group can only perform these power operations on VMs within that specific group, without affecting resources elsewhere. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the principle of least privilege and the difference between built-in roles (which often include delete rights) and custom roles. A common trap is choosing a built-in role like Virtual Machine Contributor, which grants delete access; always remember that custom roles are required when you need to strip away specific permissions. Memory tip: think “custom + scope” — custom for fine-grained actions, scope to limit the blast radius.

AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question

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.

An administrator wants to let a help desk group start, stop, and restart virtual machines in one resource group, but the group must not be able to delete the VMs or any other resource in the group. Which two actions should the administrator take? Select two.

Question 1mediummulti select

Full question →

A
Create a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions.
A custom role is required because the built-in roles are broader than the help desk's task. Limiting the actions keeps the permission set aligned with the actual operational need.
B
Assign the custom role to the help desk group at the resource group scope.
The resource group scope ensures the help desk can manage only the VMs in that group. Group assignment also keeps future membership changes easy to manage.
C
Assign Virtual Machine Contributor to the help desk group.
Why wrong: Virtual Machine Contributor includes far more capabilities than start, stop, and restart. It would violate the requirement to prevent deletion and other management actions.
D
Apply a CanNotDelete lock to the resource group.
Why wrong: A CanNotDelete lock blocks deletions, but it does not grant the operational permissions needed to start or stop VMs. RBAC is still required.
E
Use Azure Policy to block VM deletion and leave RBAC unchanged.
Why wrong: Policy is not a substitute for the required operational permissions. The group still needs a role assignment that allows the start, stop, and restart actions.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Create a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions.

Option A is correct because creating a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions ensures the help desk group can perform only those specific operations without any delete permissions. This role must be assigned at the resource group scope (Option B) to limit its effect to that resource group, preventing the group from modifying or deleting resources in other scopes. Together, these two actions fulfill the requirement precisely.

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.

✓
Create a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions.
Why this is correct
A custom role is required because the built-in roles are broader than the help desk's task. Limiting the actions keeps the permission set aligned with the actual operational need.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Assign the custom role to the help desk group at the resource group scope.
Why this is correct
The resource group scope ensures the help desk can manage only the VMs in that group. Group assignment also keeps future membership changes easy to manage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Assign Virtual Machine Contributor to the help desk group.
Why it's wrong here
Virtual Machine Contributor includes far more capabilities than start, stop, and restart. It would violate the requirement to prevent deletion and other management actions.
✗
Apply a CanNotDelete lock to the resource group.
Why it's wrong here
A CanNotDelete lock blocks deletions, but it does not grant the operational permissions needed to start or stop VMs. RBAC is still required.
✗
Use Azure Policy to block VM deletion and leave RBAC unchanged.
Why it's wrong here
Policy is not a substitute for the required operational permissions. The group still needs a role assignment that allows the start, stop, and restart actions.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often choose Virtual Machine Contributor (Option C) thinking it provides only VM management, but it actually includes delete permissions and broader resource control, or they incorrectly combine a CanNotDelete lock (Option D) with an existing role, not realizing the lock does not grant the required start/stop/restart actions.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Custom RBAC roles are defined using a JSON role definition with Actions, NotActions, and AssignableScopes. For VM start/stop/restart, the required actions are Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/start/action, Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/powerOff/action, and Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/restart/action, combined with Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/read for visibility. Assigning the role at the resource group scope uses Azure RBAC's hierarchical inheritance, where permissions apply to all child resources within that group, but not to other resource groups. A real-world scenario is a help desk that needs to troubleshoot VMs by rebooting them without risking accidental deletion of storage accounts or network interfaces in the same group.

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.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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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: Create a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions. — Option A is correct because creating a custom RBAC role with only VM start, stop, restart, and read actions ensures the help desk group can perform only those specific operations without any delete permissions. This role must be assigned at the resource group scope (Option B) to limit its effect to that resource group, preventing the group from modifying or deleting resources in other scopes. Together, these two actions fulfill the requirement precisely.

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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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on AZ-104

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. 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?

medium

A.Owner at the RG-Dev scope
✓ B.Virtual Machine Contributor at the RG-Dev scope
C.Reader at the subscription scope
D.Contributor at the subscription scope

Why B: 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.

Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026

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