AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement build and release pipelines
You need to implement a build retention policy that automatically deletes old builds after 30 days, but keeps the latest 5 builds regardless of age. Which configuration should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse the 'Minimum number of builds to keep' with a maximum limit, or they misremember the exact field names (e.g., 'Number of runs to keep' or 'Number of builds to retain'), leading them to select options that do not exist in the Azure DevOps UI.
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
✓
Set 'Days to keep builds' to 30 and 'Minimum number of builds to keep' to 5
In Azure Pipelines, the 'Days to keep builds' and 'Minimum number of builds to keep' settings work together to enforce a retention policy that deletes builds older than 30 days while ensuring that at least the latest 5 builds are retained, even if they exceed the age limit. This configuration directly matches the requirement to delete old builds after 30 days but keep the latest 5 builds regardless of age.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set 'Number of days to keep runs' to 30 and 'Number of runs to keep' to 5
Why it's wrong here
Azure Pipelines retention is configured via 'Days to keep builds' and 'Minimum number of builds to keep' — there's no 'Days to keep runs' / 'Number of runs to keep' setting.
- ✗
Set 'Maximum retention policy' to 30 days and 'Number of builds to retain' to 5
Why it's wrong here
No such setting; retention policy is per pipeline.
- ✓
Set 'Days to keep builds' to 30 and 'Minimum number of builds to keep' to 5
Why this is correct
Deletes builds older than 30 days but keeps at least 5.
- ✗
Set 'Number of days to keep artifacts' to 30 and 'Number of artifacts to keep' to 5
Why it's wrong here
Applies to artifacts, not builds.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.