How to Block Azure Resource Deployment to Specific Regions
The platform team wants to block deployment of Azure resources in any region except East US and West US. What should they configure?
Quick Answer
The answer is an Azure Policy assignment using the built-in 'allowed locations' policy definition. This works because Azure Policy acts as a gatekeeper at the Azure Resource Manager level, evaluating every deployment request against your defined rules before any resource is created. By assigning this policy at a management group or subscription scope and configuring its parameters to allow only 'East US' and 'West US', any attempt to deploy resources in other regions is automatically denied, effectively blocking non-compliant deployments. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of governance controls versus role-based access control—a common trap is confusing Azure Policy with RBAC, but remember that Policy enforces rules on resource properties, not user permissions. For a quick memory tip, think of Azure Policy as the bouncer checking a guest list: it only lets resources into the regions you’ve explicitly invited.
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Azure Policy with Azure RBAC roles or resource locks, mistakenly thinking that a Reader role or a CanNotDelete lock can restrict where resources can be deployed, when in fact only Azure Policy can enforce such location-based governance rules.
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 that uses an allowed locations policy
Azure Policy's 'allowed locations' built-in policy definition enables you to restrict the regions where resources can be deployed. By assigning this policy at a management group or subscription scope with a parameter list containing only 'East US' and 'West US', any attempt to deploy resources in other regions will be denied at the Azure Resource Manager level, effectively blocking non-compliant deployments.
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 that uses an allowed locations policy
Why this is correct
Azure Policy is designed to enforce configuration rules such as approved regions. An allowed locations policy can deny deployments outside East US and West US, which directly matches the requirement. This is governance, not authorization, so RBAC is not the right tool for controlling where resources can be created.
- ✗
A Reader role assignment at the management group
Why it's wrong here
Reader only controls access to view resources and cannot block deployment to specific regions.
When this WOULD be correct
When the question asks for a way to allow a team to view all resources across a management group hierarchy without making changes, a Reader role assignment at the management group is the correct answer.
- ✗
A CanNotDelete lock on the subscription
Why it's wrong here
A lock prevents deletion or changes to protected resources, but it does not evaluate the deployment region.
When this WOULD be correct
A CanNotDelete lock would be correct if the question asked to prevent accidental deletion of critical resources (e.g., a production subscription) while still allowing modifications and deployments.
- ✗
A tag requirement enforced only by resource group naming
Why it's wrong here
Tags and naming conventions do not prevent deployments in disallowed Azure regions by themselves.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked for enforcing a naming convention that includes region codes (e.g., 'east-rg') to ensure resources are deployed in specific regions, a tag requirement via resource group naming could be used as a governance tool.
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.
✓An Azure Policy assignment that uses an allowed locations policyCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Azure Policy is designed to enforce configuration rules such as approved regions. An allowed locations policy can deny deployments outside East US and West US, which directly matches the requirement. This is governance, not authorization, so RBAC is not the right tool for controlling where resources can be created.
✗A Reader role assignment at the management groupWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A Reader role assignment grants read-only access to resources but does not prevent deployment in disallowed regions; it only limits management operations, not resource creation.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
When the question asks for a way to allow a team to view all resources across a management group hierarchy without making changes, a Reader role assignment at the management group is the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse role-based access control (RBAC) with policy enforcement, thinking that restricting permissions can block deployments, but RBAC controls who can act, not what can be deployed.
✗A CanNotDelete lock on the subscriptionWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A CanNotDelete lock prevents deletion of resources but does not restrict deployment to specific regions. The question asks to block deployment in disallowed regions, which requires a policy, not a lock.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A CanNotDelete lock would be correct if the question asked to prevent accidental deletion of critical resources (e.g., a production subscription) while still allowing modifications and deployments.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse locks with policies, thinking that a lock can restrict where resources are deployed, or they may overestimate the scope of locks as a governance tool.
✗A tag requirement enforced only by resource group namingWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
A tag requirement enforced only by resource group naming does not block deployment in disallowed regions; it only enforces naming conventions, not regional restrictions.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked for enforcing a naming convention that includes region codes (e.g., 'east-rg') to ensure resources are deployed in specific regions, a tag requirement via resource group naming could be used as a governance tool.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse tag-based naming conventions with actual policy enforcement, thinking that requiring a region tag in the resource group name can prevent deployment in other regions.
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?”
Go deeper
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Key term
Azure Resource Manager
Azure Resource Manager (ARM) is the deployment and management service for Azure that provides a consistent management layer for creating, updating, and deleting resources in your Azure account.
Key term
Subscription
A subscription is a payment model where you pay a recurring fee to access a product or service instead of buying it once and owning it forever.
About these practice questions
This AZ-104 question is part of Courseiva's 1,049-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on AZ-104
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. A company wants to stop users from creating resources in any Azure region except East US and West US across all subscriptions. Which Azure feature should be used to enforce this requirement?
medium- A.An Azure RBAC role assignment
- ✓ B.An Azure Policy assignment with a Deny effect at the management group scope
- C.A CanNotDelete resource lock on the subscriptions
- D.A tag inheritance rule on the management group
Why B: Azure Policy with a Deny effect at the management group scope is the correct choice because it can enforce a location constraint across all subscriptions under that management group. The Deny effect prevents the creation of resources in non-compliant regions at the time of deployment, ensuring that only East US and West US are allowed. This is a governance control that applies to all subscriptions within the scope, making it the ideal solution for this requirement.
Variation 2. An Azure subscription contains several resource groups. You need to ensure that users can create virtual machines only in regions approved by the security team. Existing noncompliant VMs can remain unchanged. What should you do?
hard- A.Apply a ReadOnly lock to each resource group.
- ✓ B.Assign a policy that denies resources in disallowed locations.
- C.Create an action group in Azure Monitor.
- D.Move all existing VMs to approved regions.
Why B: Azure Policy can enforce organizational standards by evaluating resources for compliance. The built-in 'Not allowed locations' policy denies the creation of resources in specified regions, ensuring users can only deploy VMs in approved regions. Since the requirement is to allow existing noncompliant VMs to remain unchanged, a deny effect policy (without a 'DeployIfNotExists' or 'Modify' effect) will only affect new deployments, leaving existing resources untouched.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.