AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Always

  Why it's wrong here

  Always forces the container runtime to restart the container process regardless of its exit code, even after a clean exit with code 0. For a one-time import job, this creates an infinite loop of repeated executions: every time the batch completes successfully, ACI immediately starts it again, causing duplicate imports and wasted compute. It also prevents the deployed resource from ever reaching a stable 'Completed' state, which is incompatible with a finite batch workload.

  When this WOULD be correct

  For a container group running a long-lived service like a web server that must be automatically restarted after any crash or stop, 'Always' is correct.

• ✗

  OnFailure

  Why it's wrong here

  OnFailure is tempting because it restarts only when the container exits with a non-zero exit code, which seems to protect against transient errors. However, this policy is still designed for jobs that should retry after failures and then stop — it does not match the exhibit's requirement that the job simply run once and stop, whether it succeeds or fails. The presence of OnFailure would mask the distinction between a completed run and a failed run in monitoring, because both eventually leave the container stopped but the failed one incurs restart delays and potential side effects. It also contradicts the typical pattern for an idempotent, scheduled batch process that should not auto-retry within the same deployment.

  When this WOULD be correct

  A container group runs a batch processing job that should automatically restart only if it fails (non-zero exit code). For example, a data transformation task that must be retried upon failure until success.

• ✓

  Never

  Why this is correct

  Never is the correct restart policy for a one-time task that should stop after finishing successfully. The exhibit describes a batch-style import job, not a long-running service. Using Never ensures the container exits and stays stopped until the next deployment or scheduled run. That behavior matches operational expectations for a completed import process.

• ✗

  UnlessStopped

  Why it's wrong here

  UnlessStopped is a host-level policy from Docker that means the container restarts unless it was explicitly stopped by a user or the deployment is removed. In Azure Container Instances, this policy is not the default and is generally intended for long-running daemon-style containers, not one-shot tasks. For the batch import job, this policy would keep the container alive or restart it on reboots or platform maintenance events, which defeats the purpose of a finite run and could cause the import logic to execute more than once. It also requires manual intervention to stop the container afterward, breaking the automated expectation that the job completes and exits on its own.

  When this WOULD be correct

  In a Docker environment (not Azure Container Instances), 'UnlessStopped' is a valid restart policy. An exam question about Docker container restart policies where the container should restart unless explicitly stopped would have 'UnlessStopped' as the correct answer.

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.

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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