AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement a source control strategy
This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement a source control strategy. 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 organization is migrating from Azure Repos to GitHub. You have 200 repositories with complex branching strategies and build policies. You need to preserve the commit history and branch policies. What is the best migration approach?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use the GitHub Importer tool with a custom mapping script to migrate repositories and policies
The GitHub Importer tool, combined with a custom mapping script, is the correct approach because it can migrate repositories along with their commit history and branch policies from Azure Repos to GitHub. This tool handles the complex branching strategies and build policies by allowing you to define mappings for users, branches, and policies, ensuring a seamless transition without manual recreation or data loss.
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.
✗
Manually recreate each repository in GitHub and copy the code from Azure Repos
Why it's wrong here
Manual recreation loses history and is time-consuming.
✗
Use a third-party tool to perform a mirror clone and then push to GitHub
Why it's wrong here
Mirror clone preserves history but not branch policies.
✓
Use the GitHub Importer tool with a custom mapping script to migrate repositories and policies
Why this is correct
GitHub Importer preserves history and can map branch policies.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use git push --force to push all branches to GitHub and recreate policies manually
Why it's wrong here
Force push preserves history but policies must be recreated manually, risking errors.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a simple git push --force (Option D) is sufficient for migration, overlooking that branch policies are not stored in the Git repository itself but in the platform's metadata, requiring a tool like GitHub Importer to transfer them.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The GitHub Importer tool uses the Azure Repos REST API to fetch repository data, including commit history, and then applies a custom mapping script to translate Azure DevOps branch policies (e.g., required reviewers, build validation) into GitHub branch protection rules. This process ensures that policies like minimum number of reviewers and status checks are preserved, which is essential for maintaining governance in a migration involving 200 repositories with complex branching strategies.
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 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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-400 question in full detail.
Design and implement a source control strategy — This question tests Design and implement a source control strategy — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use the GitHub Importer tool with a custom mapping script to migrate repositories and policies — The GitHub Importer tool, combined with a custom mapping script, is the correct approach because it can migrate repositories along with their commit history and branch policies from Azure Repos to GitHub. This tool handles the complex branching strategies and build policies by allowing you to define mappings for users, branches, and policies, ensuring a seamless transition without manual recreation or data loss.
What should I do if I get this AZ-400 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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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