AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement build and release pipelines
Your release pipeline deploys to multiple environments (Dev, QA, Prod) using approvals. You need to ensure that the deployment to Prod only proceeds if the deployment to QA succeeded and an approval is granted. Which combination of triggers and pre-deployment conditions should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse 'After release' (which triggers based on release creation, not stage completion) with 'After stage' (which triggers based on a specific preceding stage's outcome), leading them to pick Option B or A without recognizing the need for explicit stage dependency.
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 the trigger on Prod to 'After stage' and select QA as the stage, and add a pre-deployment approval on Prod.
It configures the Prod stage trigger to 'After stage' with QA selected as the preceding stage, ensuring that the release to Prod only starts after QA completes successfully. Adding a pre-deployment approval on Prod then enforces that a manual approval is granted before the deployment actually begins. This combination satisfies both conditions: dependency on QA success and required approval.
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 the trigger on Prod to 'Automatic' and add a post-deployment approval on QA.
Why it's wrong here
Setting the Prod trigger to 'Automatic' starts the Prod deployment immediately after release creation, regardless of the QA stage outcome. A post-deployment approval on QA only occurs after QA has already deployed and does not act as a gate on Prod, so a failed QA could still lead to a Prod deployment without any human approval before Prod starts.
- ✗
Set the trigger on Prod to 'After release' and add a pre-deployment approval on Prod.
Why it's wrong here
The 'After release' trigger initiates the Prod deployment as soon as the release is created, not after the QA stage has completed successfully. The pre-deployment approval on Prod adds a manual authorization step but does not evaluate QA results, meaning a failed QA stage would not block the release from reaching the approval and being deployed.
- ✗
Set the trigger on Prod to 'Manual only' and add a pre-deployment approval on Prod.
Why it's wrong here
Setting the trigger to 'Manual only' means the Prod stage will not automatically start when QA finishes; an operator must manually queue the deployment. Even with a pre-deployment approval on Prod, there is no automatic dependency on QA success, so the required sequence of QA passing and then an authorized approval before Prod deployment is not enforced.
- ✓
Set the trigger on Prod to 'After stage' and select QA as the stage, and add a pre-deployment approval on Prod.
Why this is correct
Setting the Prod trigger to 'After stage' and selecting QA creates a dependency where the Prod deployment is queued only after the QA stage completes successfully, so a QA failure will prevent Prod from starting. Adding a pre-deployment approval on Prod then provides the required human authorization before the actual deployment, ensuring both QA success and an explicit approval gate.
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Designing a Build Pipeline
Key term
Release pipeline
A Release pipeline is an automated sequence of steps that takes software from code commit to production deployment, ensuring quality and consistency.
Key term
Pipeline
A pipeline is an automated series of steps that takes code from development to production, ensuring quality and speed.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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