Question 1easymultiple choice
Full question →easymultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Help desk staff must start, stop, and restart virtual machines in one application resource group. They must not create or delete VMs or modify networking or disks. Which built-in role should you assign?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Reader
Reader allows viewing resources only and does not permit any power-state changes on virtual machines.
B
Distractor review
Virtual Machine Contributor
This role is broader than needed and is not the best match when the requirement is only operational control.
C
Best answer
Virtual Machine Operator
Virtual Machine Operator is the appropriate least-privilege choice for operational control of VMs. It allows actions such as starting, stopping, and restarting virtual machines without giving full management rights over creation, deletion, or related networking and disk resources. That makes it a better fit than broader contributor roles when the team only needs day-to-day operations.
D
Distractor review
Contributor
Contributor can manage many resource types and is much broader than the limited VM operations described here.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: authentication is not authorization
Logging in proves the user can authenticate. It does not automatically mean the user is allowed to enter privileged or configuration mode. Watch for AAA authorization, privilege level and command authorization details.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This kind of question is testing the difference between identity and permission. A user may successfully log in to a router because authentication is working, but still fail to enter configuration mode because authorization is missing, misconfigured or mapped to a lower privilege level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Authentication checks who the user is.
- Authorization controls what the user is allowed to do after login.
- Privilege levels affect access to EXEC and configuration commands.
- AAA, TACACS+ and RADIUS can separate login success from command access.
TExam Day Tips
- Do not assume successful login means full administrative access.
- Look for words such as cannot enter configuration mode, privilege level, authorization or command access.
- Separate login problems from permission problems before choosing the answer.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
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Question 2
You are deploying a stateless web application on Azure virtual machines. The solution must automatically add and remove instances based on CPU demand and allow all instances to be managed as one logical group. Which Azure compute feature should you deploy?
Question 3
You are deploying a Windows Server VM for an internal app. The VM must support Secure Boot and vTPM later, its OS disk must survive host moves, and the team wants the lowest-cost managed disk tier that still behaves like a normal writable OS disk. Which two choices should you make? Select two.
Question 4
You need to deploy several identical virtual machines and ensure that the failure of a single Azure host does not affect all of them. Which feature should you use?
Question 5
You need to connect VNet-Hub and VNet-Spoke so that resources in both virtual networks can communicate privately over the Microsoft backbone. Both virtual networks are in the same region. What should you configure?
Question 6
You need to create a storage account that provides the lowest-cost redundant storage for non-critical data and only needs protection against local disk or server failure within a single datacenter. Which redundancy option should you choose?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-104 question test?
Authentication checks who the user is.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Virtual Machine Operator — Virtual Machine Operator is the best fit when staff need only power-state and operational control over virtual machines. It provides the ability to start, stop, and restart VMs without granting the broader resource creation and deletion permissions of Contributor-style roles. This preserves least privilege while still letting the help desk handle routine operational tasks efficiently. Why others are wrong: Reader is view-only and cannot change VM state. Virtual Machine Contributor and Contributor both grant more permissions than the requirement calls for, which weakens least privilege. The question is about choosing a role that matches a narrow operational need, not broad administrative control.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
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