AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Two Azure virtual machines run the same automation script and both need access to Key Vault and Storage. The script must keep working if one VM is redeployed, and the team wants the same identity to be usable by both VMs. What should the administrator use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A user-assigned managed identity attached to both VMs
A user-assigned managed identity is the correct choice because it is created as a standalone Azure resource and can be assigned to multiple VMs. This ensures both VMs share the same identity for accessing Key Vault and Storage, and the identity persists independently of any single VM's lifecycle, so redeploying one VM does not break access for the other.
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.
✗
A system-assigned managed identity on each VM
Why it's wrong here
This identity is tied to a single resource and cannot be shared across multiple VMs.
✓
A user-assigned managed identity attached to both VMs
Why this is correct
A user-assigned identity is reusable, can be shared, and survives VM replacement or redeployment.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
A service principal stored in a configuration file on the VMs
Why it's wrong here
This introduces secret handling on the hosts and is less secure than a managed identity.
✗
A storage account access key stored in the script
Why it's wrong here
This only helps with storage and does not provide a secure identity for Key Vault access.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a system-assigned managed identity can be shared across VMs because it is 'managed,' but they overlook that it is inherently tied to a single resource's lifecycle and cannot be assigned to multiple resources.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, a user-assigned managed identity is represented as a service principal in Azure AD, and when assigned to a VM, the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) endpoint provides an access token for that identity. The token is obtained via the Azure REST API at `http://169.254.169.254/metadata/identity/oauth2/token`, allowing the script to authenticate without any stored credentials. This design ensures that even if one VM is redeployed, the identity remains available as long as it is assigned to the new VM instance.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
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: A user-assigned managed identity attached to both VMs — A user-assigned managed identity is the correct choice because it is created as a standalone Azure resource and can be assigned to multiple VMs. This ensures both VMs share the same identity for accessing Key Vault and Storage, and the identity persists independently of any single VM's lifecycle, so redeploying one VM does not break access for the other.
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.
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Question Discussion
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