The answer is to attach an action group that includes email and SMS receivers. This is correct because an Azure Monitor metric alert defines only the trigger condition—such as average CPU exceeding 85% for 10 minutes—but it cannot send notifications on its own. An action group is the separate resource that specifies the notification channels, like email, SMS, or webhook, and must be linked to the alert rule for any alerts to actually reach people. On the AZ-104 exam, this tests your understanding that alerts and action groups are decoupled; a common trap is assuming the alert rule itself handles notifications, or forgetting to add any action group at all. A helpful memory tip is “alert triggers, action delivers”—the alert fires the condition, but the action group does the actual notifying. Without that link, the alert remains silent, even when the metric threshold is met.
AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of monitor and maintain azure resources. 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.
Exhibit
Alert rule summary
------------------
Scope: vm-prod-01
Condition: Percentage CPU > 85
Evaluation frequency: 1 minute
Window size: 10 minutes
Severity: 2
Action groups: None
Notifications: Not configured
Status: Enabled
Metric sample
-------------
12:00 CPU 72%
12:01 CPU 88%
12:02 CPU 91%
12:03 CPU 89%
12:04 CPU 87%
12:05 CPU 90%
12:06 CPU 86%
12:07 CPU 92%
12:08 CPU 94%
12:09 CPU 88%
Based on the exhibit, a production VM must send an email and SMS notification if average CPU stays above 85% for 10 minutes. The team created the alert rule, but no one receives notifications when the condition is met. What should the administrator add to the alert rule?
Alert rule summary
------------------
Scope: vm-prod-01
Condition: Percentage CPU > 85
Evaluation frequency: 1 minute
Window size: 10 minutes
Severity: 2
Action groups: None
Notifications: Not configured
Status: Enabled
Metric sample
-------------
12:00 CPU 72%
12:01 CPU 88%
12:02 CPU 91%
12:03 CPU 89%
12:04 CPU 87%
12:05 CPU 90%
12:06 CPU 86%
12:07 CPU 92%
12:08 CPU 94%
12:09 CPU 88%
A
Add a diagnostic setting that sends VM metrics to a Log Analytics workspace.
Why wrong: Diagnostic settings export data for analysis, but they do not by themselves send alert notifications to people or systems.
B
Attach an action group that includes email and SMS receivers.
Azure Monitor alert rules need an action group to trigger notifications or automation when the metric condition is met. The alert already evaluates correctly, but it has no notification target. Adding an action group with email and SMS receivers enables the response the business wants.
C
Change the alert to use a log query instead of a metric condition.
Why wrong: A log alert could work, but the metric alert already matches the CPU threshold requirement. The missing piece is notification delivery, not the alert type.
D
Create a resource lock to prevent changes to the virtual machine.
Why wrong: A lock protects against modification or deletion, but it does not generate alerts or notify operators about high CPU usage.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Attach an action group that includes email and SMS receivers.
The alert rule is correctly configured to trigger when the average CPU exceeds 85% for 10 minutes, but notifications are not being sent because no action group is attached. An action group defines the notification channels (e.g., email, SMS, webhook) that fire when the alert is activated. Without an action group, the alert can fire silently, so the administrator must attach an action group containing the desired email and SMS receivers.
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.
✗
Add a diagnostic setting that sends VM metrics to a Log Analytics workspace.
Why it's wrong here
Diagnostic settings export data for analysis, but they do not by themselves send alert notifications to people or systems.
✓
Attach an action group that includes email and SMS receivers.
Why this is correct
Azure Monitor alert rules need an action group to trigger notifications or automation when the metric condition is met. The alert already evaluates correctly, but it has no notification target. Adding an action group with email and SMS receivers enables the response the business wants.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Change the alert to use a log query instead of a metric condition.
Why it's wrong here
A log alert could work, but the metric alert already matches the CPU threshold requirement. The missing piece is notification delivery, not the alert type.
✗
Create a resource lock to prevent changes to the virtual machine.
Why it's wrong here
A lock protects against modification or deletion, but it does not generate alerts or notify operators about high CPU usage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think the alert rule itself includes notification settings, but Azure separates the alert condition (metric/log) from the notification mechanism (action group), so you must explicitly attach an action group to receive alerts.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Monitor metric alerts evaluate resource metrics at a frequency of 1 minute (for most metrics) and can use aggregation windows (e.g., 10 minutes) to detect sustained conditions. The action group is a separate Azure resource that defines notification endpoints; when an alert fires, it invokes the action group via HTTPS or SMTP, and each receiver type (email, SMS) has its own delivery protocol and throttling limits (e.g., SMS is limited to 1 message per 5 minutes per phone number). In production, ensure the action group's email domain is not blocked by spam filters and that SMS carriers are supported in the target region.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — This question tests Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Attach an action group that includes email and SMS receivers. — The alert rule is correctly configured to trigger when the average CPU exceeds 85% for 10 minutes, but notifications are not being sent because no action group is attached. An action group defines the notification channels (e.g., email, SMS, webhook) that fire when the alert is activated. Without an action group, the alert can fire silently, so the administrator must attach an action group containing the desired email and SMS receivers.
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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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 notify the operations team by email when average CPU utilization on VM-App01 exceeds 80 percent for 15 minutes. Which Azure Monitor components should you configure?
medium
✓ A.A metric alert and an action group
B.An activity log alert only
C.A resource lock and Azure Advisor
D.A budget alert
Why A: A metric alert monitors a specific performance metric (like CPU utilization) and triggers when a threshold is exceeded for a defined duration. An action group defines the notification action (e.g., sending an email) when the alert fires. Together, they meet the requirement to email the operations team when average CPU exceeds 80% for 15 minutes.
Variation 2. An operations team wants an email notification when the average CPU percentage on a VM stays above 85 percent for 10 minutes. Which two Azure Monitor components should they configure? Select two.
easy
✓ A.A metric alert rule
✓ B.An action group
C.Azure Bastion
D.A Recovery Services vault
E.A resource lock
Why A: A metric alert rule is correct because it monitors a specific VM performance metric (e.g., Percentage CPU) and triggers when the average value exceeds 85% for a duration of 10 minutes, as defined by the aggregation granularity and evaluation frequency. This rule evaluates the metric data at regular intervals and fires an alert when the condition is met, enabling automated notification.
Variation 3. A team wants an email and SMS notification whenever the average CPU on a production VM stays above 85% for 10 minutes. The same notification setup may be reused by other alerts later. Which Azure feature should you configure?
easy
A.Metric alert rule
✓ B.Action group
C.Diagnostic setting
D.Resource lock
Why B: B is correct because an Action Group is the Azure component that defines the notification actions (email, SMS, webhook, etc.) to be triggered when an alert fires. The question specifies that the same notification setup should be reusable by other alerts later, which is exactly the purpose of an Action Group: it decouples the notification configuration from the alert rule itself. You would create a Metric Alert Rule to monitor the CPU metric, but that rule references an Action Group to send the email and SMS.
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