AZ-104 Monitor and Maintain Azure Resources Practice Question
Exhibit
Recovery Services vault > Backup jobs Job: Backup of vm-app-07 Status: Failed Error details: "Backup failed because the VM agent is not in a ready state." Additional note: The VM was created from a custom image.
Based on the exhibit, what should the administrator check first to resolve the backup failure for the Azure VM?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to storage or networking changes (like redundancy or availability zones) when the real issue is a missing or broken VM Agent, which is a prerequisite for any guest-level operation including backup extensions.
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
✓
Verify that the Azure VM Agent is installed and running on the VM.
The Azure VM backup failure is most commonly caused by the Azure VM Agent (also known as the Windows Guest Agent or Linux Agent) not being installed, outdated, or in a non-responsive state. The backup extension relies on the VM Agent to execute snapshots and coordinate with the Azure Backup service; without a healthy agent, the backup process cannot initiate. Therefore, verifying the agent's installation and status is the first troubleshooting step.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the backup retention period in the vault policy.
Why it's wrong here
The backup retention period in the Recovery Services vault policy defines how long recovery points are kept, not whether new snapshots can be created. The failure occurs during the snapshot phase because the VM Agent is not ready, so no backup point is generated at all. Extending retention only affects previously successful backups that exist; it cannot help a job that fails at the agent health check or coordination step.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question were about a backup job that succeeds but the administrator wants to keep recovery points for a longer duration to meet compliance requirements, then increasing the backup retention period in the vault policy would be the correct action.
- ✓
Verify that the Azure VM Agent is installed and running on the VM.
Why this is correct
Azure VM backups depend on a healthy VM agent so Azure can coordinate snapshot and extension operations. If the job reports that the agent is not in a ready state, the first troubleshooting step is to confirm the agent is installed, running, and up to date. Custom images sometimes miss the agent or contain a broken installation, which causes backup jobs to fail immediately.
- ✗
Move the VM to a different availability zone.
Why it's wrong here
Moving the VM to a different availability zone or re-creating it as zonal does not install or repair the Azure VM Agent inside the guest operating system. The agent's configuration, missing installation, or broken state resides on the VM's OS disk, which remains largely unchanged when the VM is redeployed to another zone. This action also does not address the communication failure between the VM and Azure Backup service; it only changes infrastructure placement, leaving the reported error unresolved.
When this WOULD be correct
An administrator needs to improve VM availability during a zone-wide outage. The question would ask: 'Which action should be taken to protect a VM from an availability zone failure?'
- ✗
Change the storage account redundancy to ZRS.
Why it's wrong here
Changing storage account redundancy to ZRS only affects how data is replicated across availability zones for durability and availability. It does not alter the state of the Azure VM Agent, which is a guest-level service responsible for communication with the Azure fabric. Since the backup failure stems from the agent being unhealthy or absent, modifying redundancy—which may even require recreating the storage account—won't fix the root cause and could introduce unnecessary downtime.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question described a scenario where backup failures occur due to storage account redundancy not meeting the required durability or availability SLA, such as when the backup policy requires geo-redundant storage but the account uses LRS.
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.
✓Verify that the Azure VM Agent is installed and running on the VM.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Azure VM backups depend on a healthy VM agent so Azure can coordinate snapshot and extension operations. If the job reports that the agent is not in a ready state, the first troubleshooting step is to confirm the agent is installed, running, and up to date. Custom images sometimes miss the agent or contain a broken installation, which causes backup jobs to fail immediately.
✗Increase the backup retention period in the vault policy.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The backup failure is due to the VM Agent not being installed or running, which is required for Azure Backup to take snapshots. Increasing the retention period does not address the root cause of the failure.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question were about a backup job that succeeds but the administrator wants to keep recovery points for a longer duration to meet compliance requirements, then increasing the backup retention period in the vault policy would be the correct action.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may assume that backup failures are often related to policy misconfigurations, such as retention settings, rather than understanding that the VM Agent is essential for snapshot-based backups.
✗Move the VM to a different availability zone.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Moving the VM to a different availability zone does not resolve backup failures caused by the Azure VM Agent not being installed or running. Backup failures are typically related to agent issues, not zone placement.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An administrator needs to improve VM availability during a zone-wide outage. The question would ask: 'Which action should be taken to protect a VM from an availability zone failure?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability zone concepts with backup reliability, thinking that changing zones can fix backup issues, or they may overgeneralize zone redundancy as a solution for all failures.
✗Change the storage account redundancy to ZRS.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Changing storage account redundancy to ZRS does not resolve backup failures caused by the Azure VM Agent not being installed or running. Backup failures typically relate to agent issues, not storage redundancy.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question described a scenario where backup failures occur due to storage account redundancy not meeting the required durability or availability SLA, such as when the backup policy requires geo-redundant storage but the account uses LRS.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that increasing redundancy (ZRS) improves backup reliability, but Azure Backup failures are rarely caused by storage redundancy settings; the agent is the more common culprit.
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?”
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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