The answer is to assign the custom role to the VMOperators group at the RG-Prod scope. This is correct because Azure role-based access control (RBAC) allows you to define a custom role with specific actions—like restarting VMs—and then apply that role at a particular scope, such as a resource group, to limit its effect. By assigning the role at the RG-Prod scope, you ensure that the VMOperators group can only restart virtual machines within that resource group, while being denied create, delete, or resize actions everywhere else. On the AZ-104 exam, this tests your understanding of scope inheritance and how custom roles differ from built-in roles; a common trap is assuming the role itself contains the restriction, when in fact the scope of the assignment is what enforces the boundary. Remember the memory tip: “Role defines what, scope defines where”—the custom role grants the restart permission, but the resource group scope locks it down to that specific container.
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.
Your company has an Azure subscription named Prod-Sub. You create a custom role that allows users to restart virtual machines but not create, delete, or resize them. You need to ensure that members of the VMOperators group can use this custom role only for virtual machines in the RG-Prod resource group. What should you do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assign the custom role to VMOperators at the RG-Prod scope.
Option B is correct because assigning the custom role at the RG-Prod scope restricts the role's permissions to only the virtual machines within that specific resource group. This meets the requirement that VMOperators can restart VMs but not create, delete, or resize them, and only within RG-Prod.
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.
✗
Assign the custom role to VMOperators at the subscription scope.
Why it's wrong here
This grants the permissions across the entire subscription, which is broader than required.
✓
Assign the custom role to VMOperators at the RG-Prod scope.
Why this is correct
This applies the permissions only to resources in the RG-Prod resource group and follows least privilege.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor role to VMOperators at the RG-Prod scope.
Why it's wrong here
This built-in role is too broad because it allows more actions than restarting VMs.
✗
Assign the custom role to VMOperators at the management group scope.
Why it's wrong here
This would make the permissions available to a wider set of subscriptions and resources than needed.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the scope of role assignments, thinking a subscription-level assignment can be restricted by a condition, but Azure RBAC does not support conditions for built-in or custom roles without Azure Policy or attribute-based access control (ABAC), which is not mentioned in the question.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure RBAC scopes are hierarchical: management group > subscription > resource group > resource. When a role is assigned at a resource group scope, the permissions apply only to resources within that group, not to resources in other groups or at higher scopes. The custom role definition must explicitly include the 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/restart/action' permission and exclude 'write' or 'delete' actions to prevent creation, deletion, or resizing.
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.
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: Assign the custom role to VMOperators at the RG-Prod scope. — Option B is correct because assigning the custom role at the RG-Prod scope restricts the role's permissions to only the virtual machines within that specific resource group. This meets the requirement that VMOperators can restart VMs but not create, delete, or resize them, and only within RG-Prod.
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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