This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement build and release pipelines. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
You have a multi-stage YAML pipeline that deploys to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). The pipeline uses a deployment job with a strategy of 'runOnce'. You need to ensure that if the deployment fails, the pipeline automatically redeploys the previous successful version. Which strategy should you use instead?
Use the 'canary' strategy with manual intervention
Why wrong: Canary strategy does not automatically roll back; it requires manual approval or additional steps.
Use the 'blueGreen' strategy and configure automatic swap
Why wrong: BlueGreen strategy requires manual swap; it does not roll back automatically.
Use the 'runOnce' strategy with a rollback task
Why wrong: runOnce does not support automatic rollback; you would need custom scripting.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Use the 'rolling' strategy and configure 'on:failure: always'
Option B is correct because the 'rolling' strategy in Azure DevOps deployment jobs supports an 'on:failure' hook that can be configured to run actions like 'always', which can trigger a rollback to the previous successful version. This ensures automatic redeployment of the last stable release upon failure, meeting the requirement without manual intervention.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Use the 'canary' strategy with manual intervention
Why it's wrong here
Canary strategy does not automatically roll back; it requires manual approval or additional steps.
Use the 'blueGreen' strategy and configure automatic swap
Why it's wrong here
BlueGreen strategy requires manual swap; it does not roll back automatically.
Use the 'runOnce' strategy with a rollback task
Why it's wrong here
runOnce does not support automatic rollback; you would need custom scripting.
Option-by-option analysis
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-400 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
Why this is wrong here
Canary strategy does not automatically roll back; it requires manual approval or additional steps.
Why this is wrong here
BlueGreen strategy requires manual swap; it does not roll back automatically.
Why this is wrong here
runOnce does not support automatic rollback; you would need custom scripting.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-400blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the 'rolling' strategy's 'on:failure' hook with the 'blueGreen' strategy's swap capability, assuming automatic swap implies rollback, but swap only shifts traffic and does not revert the deployment on failure.
Detailed technical explanation
In Azure DevOps, deployment job strategies like 'rolling' allow you to define 'preDeploy', 'deploy', 'routeTraffic', and 'on:failure' hooks. The 'on:failure' hook can execute tasks such as 'helm rollback' or 'kubectl rollout undo' to revert to the last successful release. This is particularly useful in AKS deployments where Helm charts or Kubernetes manifests are used, as the rollback can target the previous revision stored in the cluster's rollout history.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design and implement build and release pipelines — This question tests Design and implement build and release pipelines — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Use the 'rolling' strategy and configure 'on:failure: always' — Option B is correct because the 'rolling' strategy in Azure DevOps deployment jobs supports an 'on:failure' hook that can be configured to run actions like 'always', which can trigger a rollback to the previous successful version. This ensures automatic redeployment of the last stable release upon failure, meeting the requirement without manual intervention.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-400 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-400 exam.
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