- A
An Azure Policy assignment at the subscription scope with a deny effect.
Azure Policy is the governance feature that evaluates resources against rules, reports compliance, and can block noncompliant deployments when the deny effect is used. Assigning it at the subscription scope applies the rule to all resources in that subscription. This matches the requirement to enforce tagging and to show existing noncompliant resources in compliance views.
- B
A Contributor role assignment at the subscription scope.
Why wrong: Contributor only controls what a user can do. It does not enforce tag requirements or produce compliance reporting for resource configurations. Permissions and policy are separate controls in Azure.
- C
A resource lock on the subscription.
Why wrong: A lock prevents certain management actions, such as deletion or modification, but it cannot validate whether resources have required tags. It also does not generate policy compliance reports.
- D
A custom RBAC role that includes tag write permissions.
Why wrong: Tag write permission might let someone add tags manually, but it does not enforce a standard or block noncompliant deployments. RBAC grants access; it does not evaluate or deny resource configuration based on policy rules.
AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. 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.
The platform team wants every resource deployed in a subscription to include an Environment tag. New resources that do not meet the rule must be blocked, and existing noncompliant resources should appear in compliance reports. What should be configured?
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
An Azure Policy assignment at the subscription scope with a deny effect.
Azure Policy with a deny effect at the subscription scope is the correct choice because it enforces a rule that blocks the creation or update of any resource that does not include the required 'Environment' tag. The deny effect actively prevents noncompliant deployments, while the policy itself evaluates existing resources and marks them as noncompliant in compliance reports, meeting both requirements.
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.
- ✓
An Azure Policy assignment at the subscription scope with a deny effect.
Why this is correct
Azure Policy is the governance feature that evaluates resources against rules, reports compliance, and can block noncompliant deployments when the deny effect is used. Assigning it at the subscription scope applies the rule to all resources in that subscription. This matches the requirement to enforce tagging and to show existing noncompliant resources in compliance views.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
A Contributor role assignment at the subscription scope.
Why it's wrong here
Contributor only controls what a user can do. It does not enforce tag requirements or produce compliance reporting for resource configurations. Permissions and policy are separate controls in Azure.
- ✗
A resource lock on the subscription.
Why it's wrong here
A lock prevents certain management actions, such as deletion or modification, but it cannot validate whether resources have required tags. It also does not generate policy compliance reports.
- ✗
A custom RBAC role that includes tag write permissions.
Why it's wrong here
Tag write permission might let someone add tags manually, but it does not enforce a standard or block noncompliant deployments. RBAC grants access; it does not evaluate or deny resource configuration based on policy rules.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure Policy (which enforces rules and blocks noncompliant resources) with RBAC roles (which control permissions) or resource locks (which prevent accidental deletion), failing to recognize that only Azure Policy can both block new noncompliant resources and report on existing ones.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Policy uses a policy definition with a JSON rule that evaluates resource properties during deployment (via Azure Resource Manager) and can apply a 'deny' effect to reject noncompliant requests before the resource is created. The policy assignment at the subscription scope ensures all resources in that subscription are evaluated, and the compliance state is continuously reported in the Azure Policy dashboard, including existing resources that are scanned during periodic evaluation cycles. This mechanism leverages Azure Resource Manager's role-based access control (RBAC) integration to enforce policies at the resource provider level.
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.
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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: An Azure Policy assignment at the subscription scope with a deny effect. — Azure Policy with a deny effect at the subscription scope is the correct choice because it enforces a rule that blocks the creation or update of any resource that does not include the required 'Environment' tag. The deny effect actively prevents noncompliant deployments, while the policy itself evaluates existing resources and marks them as noncompliant in compliance reports, meeting both requirements.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-104 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-104 exam.
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