- A
An Azure Policy assignment that uses an allowed locations policy
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.
- B
A Reader role assignment at the management group
Why wrong: Reader only controls access to view resources and cannot block deployment to specific regions.
- C
A CanNotDelete lock on the subscription
Why wrong: A lock prevents deletion or changes to protected resources, but it does not evaluate the deployment region.
- D
A tag requirement enforced only by resource group naming
Why wrong: Tags and naming conventions do not prevent deployments in disallowed Azure regions by themselves.
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.
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 to block deployment of Azure resources in any region except East US and West US. What should they configure?
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.
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 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.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
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.
- ✗
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.
- ✗
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.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often 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.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure Policy uses a deny action effect that is evaluated during the PUT request to Azure Resource Manager before the resource is provisioned. The 'allowed locations' policy leverages the `Microsoft.Azure.Policy` provider to compare the `location` property of the resource against a list of permitted regions, and if the location is not in the list, the request is rejected with a 403 (Forbidden) status. This policy can be applied at the management group, subscription, or resource group scope, and it supports both built-in and custom definitions for granular control.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Manage Azure Identities and Governance — study guide chapter
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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 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.
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
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. 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.
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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